Question on Quantum dcc loco


Resqnu

Resqnu

Member
I thinking about purchasing a NIB Broadway Limited Class J 4-8-4 with a Quantum QSI dcc chip that was purchased in 2006-2007. Seller states it has never been used except to test and make sure it was running correctly. From videos I've seen, I like the sounds and performance for the Broadway Limited class j with the Paragon dcc sound chip with chugging smoke and sound. How does the Quantum chip compare to the Paragon 2 chip? Does anyone have any input/recommendations on the Quantum dcc sound chip in these older units and do they produce smoke? Could the Quantum be replaced with a newer Paragon chip if these are issues with it and smoke added?

Is this question posted in the right forum?

Thanks for any input
 
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They do sound good, but only produce smoke when the decoder fails.
Many people don't care for the paragon 2 decoder, as they can be a little more failure prone. You can probably buy a Paragon 2 decoder with J sounds preloaded directly from BLI, but you would then have to wire it, and buy a smoke unit for it, and wire that.
Personally, I'd use it as-is, you'll probably be happier with it longer.
 
bnsf971 said:
They do sound good, but only produce smoke when the decoder fails.
Many people don't care for the paragon 2 decoder, as they can be a little more failure prone. You can probably buy a Paragon 2 decoder with J sounds preloaded directly from BLI, but you would then have to wire it, and buy a smoke unit for it, and wire that.
Personally, I'd use it as-is, you'll probably be happier with it longer.
Click to expand...

Thanks bnsf,
Good to hear about the sound. The price is good for the unit and feel safe buying it. It is just new, but older unit. I'm not married to any dcc sound chip right now. New to dcc. My son wants the smoke, didn't know if that is something that can be added or too expensive to add? FYI, I will be using an NCE Powercab if that matters.
 
Resqnu said:
Thanks bnsf,
Good to hear about the sound. The price is good for the unit and feel safe buying it. It is just new, but older unit. I'm not married to any dcc sound chip right now. New to dcc. My son wants the smoke, didn't know if that is something that can be added or too expensive to add? FYI, I will be using an NCE Powercab if that matters.
Click to expand...
http://www.gaugemaster.com/seuthe.html

It will always be on, and will not puff.
 
Have ran this loco 5-6 times with last night being the last time. We I went to run the trains tonight, my NCE Powercab kept rebooting as if the track was shorting. Long story short, after looking any issues, I removed all locos. The Powercab powered up correctly. Installed a few engines and all was great until I placed the BLI class J on the track. The track shorted out again. Any ideas? It ran fine last night.


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The class j is to bli what the challenger is to mth... the one that got away. I love bli... except for that one. Best suggestion is to rip out the decoder and replace. Qsi is the Achilles heel of those locos.
 
It has the Qsi Quantum decoder and is a 2006 model. So the decoder is bad? Which decoder would you suggest for must realistic sound?


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Not a clue, unfortunately. Tsunami heavy steam would fit the bill. But I'm struggling with upgrading a bunch of my own locos to sound at the moment too. It's not easy to figure out. All I can tell you for sure is I have half a dozen bli steamers. Half paragon which I love, and half Qsi of about the same era as yours, which are a regular pita for me. Finicky, funky and not reliable... hell, I'm thinking of renaming my layout to the "F, F & NR"...
 
Lol. It is a sound loco already. I have no clue which decoder would sound the most realistic. I saw the Tsunami Heavy which lists the 4-8-4 and I would think the current Paragon 2 BLI sells would be the same as their current decoder in there current 4-8-4 class j.


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Terry,

Does MTH sell synchronized fan driven smoke units as replacement parts? Could one of those fit into his locomotive?

I have heard MTH has the best HO smoke units, is that true?

I have one HO sound locomotive an Athearn Genesis GP40-2 with Tsunami Sound and it sounds fantastic!

I am use to big Lionel Legacy locomotives sounding great, but I can't believe how good the little HO sounds!
 
Unplug the tender from the locomotive, then place each on the track separately. It's very possible something is touching something else and causing the short. Look for screws hanging down and touching wheels, bare wires touching on the connector to the tender, and debris wedged up underneath.
I have a spare QSI board you could put your J chip in, but it is for a diesel, and the connections are different. You would have to know what you are doing, as far as where all the unmarked black wires go, in order to make it work.
If you go the Tsunami route, you would want the Southern Steam version, which has the right bells and whistles for the J.
 
bnsf971 said:
Unplug the tender from the locomotive, then place each on the track separately. It's very possible something is touching something else and causing the short. Look for screws hanging down and touching wheels, bare wires touching on the connector to the tender, and debris wedged up underneath.
I have a spare QSI board you could put your J chip in, but it is for a diesel, and the connections are different. You would have to know what you are doing, as far as where all the unmarked black wires go, in order to make it work.
If you go the Tsunami route, you would want the Southern Steam version, which has the right bells and whistles for the J.
Click to expand...

After unplugging and trying each on the track. The tinder is good. The loco causes a short when placed on the track. Investigating the causes.


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I looked the loco over the outside well and don't see anything that would be causing a short. I have not taken the shell off.


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Our club has a BLI Mikado that caused a short only when backing up. One of the drivers had a tiny spot that would only make contact when torque was applied in that direction. I replaced that driver set, and all was good with it again.
 
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