Sound chips

[joe123]

Hi Lads, Can you buy new murphy models loco with the sound chips installed? cheers.

[WRENNEIRE]

They dont come from the supplier with chips installed but you can have them installed by the retailers if you wish

However they are simple to install, even I can do it!

[Noel]

Hi Lads, Can you buy new murphy models loco with the sound chips installed? cheers.

 

As WRENNEIRE says it is fairly straight forward especially on the 201 class which has an opening in the body for the decoder. The 071 and 201 class already have speakers fitted so you just need to plug the decoder in. The 141/181s do not come with a speaker, so will need one installed in the supplied plastic speaker cradle and two wires then soldered onto the 141/181 electric circuit board.

 

The 071 class requires the removal of four screws from under the body just above the bogies, but it is easy to get a screw driver through the bogie undersides, then the central body sections pulls off. The 141/181 seem a little trickier until you figure out how to get the central body section to come off. It is a snap fitting with four plastic lugs that protrude through the side of the two walkways. I use two wooden ice cream sticks to pick the side of the body panel over the lugs and then prise the body section slightly upward, repeating the same at the other end. It feels very stiff and like it will never come off, but force is not needed, instead a simple technique to prise the lugs inwards and then it will move. One of the cab ends comes off freely, but the other should remain fixed to the central body section.

 

One the 071 and 141/181 once the body has been removed its easy to install the decoders by just removing the existing blanking plate and then press the 21 pin decoder on the right way up. There is one pin missing and one hole missing so folks don't attempt to fit the decoder chip upside down or wrong way around.

 

Once installed any decoder will have a default address of 3 which you can subsequently change usually to match the numbers painted on the loco itself for ease of use.

 

If you are thinking of 141/181s look at these links. But this is not needed for 071 or 201s:

 

http://irishrailwaymodeller.com/showthread.php/3534-How-to-get-body-shell-off-a-MM-141-181-In-reality/page2

 

http://irishrailwaymodeller.com/content.php/362-Installing-sound-in-a-141

Edited January 18, 2016 by Noel

[Noel]

141/181 To get the body off pinch the sides of the body using ice cream sticks and gentle pull upwards. See the four orange lugs protruding from the central body. These are what need to be pinched to release the body. One cab separates.

 

Empty speaker cradle on the 141/181 - some folk remove this and the lugs to fix larger speaker bodies. I used it as designed.

 

Solder wires to speaker

 

Solder speaker wires to loco PCB at the SP+ and SP- holes

 

Insert the decoder the correct way up (i.e. there is one hole blocked on the decoder and one pin missing on the loco PCB)

 

On the advice of others here I also drill a small hole on the top of the body over the decoder for heat dissipation.

[irishthump]

141/181 To get the body off pinch the sides of the body using ice cream sticks and gentle pull upwards. See the four orange lugs protruding from the central body. These are what need to be pinched to release the body. One cab separates.

 

Empty speaker cradle on the 141/181 - some folk remove this and the lugs to fix larger speaker bodies. I used it as designed.

 

Solder wires to speaker

 

Solder speaker wires to loco PCB at the SP+ and SP- holes

 

Insert the decoder the correct way up (i.e. there is one hole blocked on the decoder and one pin missing on the loco PCB)

 

On the advice of others here I also drill a small hole on the top of the body over the decoder for heat dissipation.

 

Great advice from Noel...

Only thing to add when removing the body make sure you unclip the ends of the handrails from the cab. It's very easy to forget and snap them off.

Some insist of removing the handrails completely to make it easier to remove the body shell but personally I think it's more hassle than it's worth.

[Noel]

Great advice from Noel...

Only thing to add when removing the body make sure you unclip the ends of the handrails from the cab. It's very easy to forget and snap them off.

Some insist of removing the handrails completely to make it easier to remove the body shell but personally I think it's more hassle than it's worth.

 

Opps, yes and Agree. I don't remove the handrails anymore when taking the body off because its a real pain getting them perfectly back on I use wooden ice cream sticks with the ends cut flat to pinch the sides by pushing them under the hand rails. The wood seems to be gentle on the body sides.

[joe123]

Great Advice Noel Thanks.

[Noel]

Great Advice Noel Thanks.

 

Cheers Joe. Just bare in mind you don't have any of the hassle above with the newer 071 and 201 models because they come with a speaker, so just plug in a 21pin sound decoder (i.e. with suitable sound project) and go. No wires, no solder. 5 mins to install.