Shrink wrapped decoders


tootnkumin

Well-Known Member
Staff member
In particular for the purposes of this question. The Tsunami TSU-1000 type DCC/sound decoders. I know they warn you not to remove the shrink wrapping around the decoder, but is it only there to hold the heat sink along the bottom of the decoder and would it's partial removal over the the wiring sockets at each end cause any harm to the decoder from overheating. I would like to remove those sockets and solder the wires directly to the board in order to reduce it's thickness.
 
most of the reason for the shrink wrap is just to eliminate electrical shorts on the decoder itself ..
just put a new shrink on afterwards ...it's not that hard to do ..
 
I would, of course check with Soundtraxx about the warranty, but IIRC, you have to pare away some of the shrink wrap around the sockets for the Keep Alive connector. It has been awhile, but I recall having a "zero-time" sound module on a TSU-2200, after having installed it, and paring away the coating, and they honored the warranty. Check with them, however.
 
Thanks for all the answers. These are way out of warranty now anyway. I've had them a couple of years or so. These do appear to have a piece of metal, probably aluminum along the bottom, inside the wrap, as a heat sink, so I guess so long as that is still held in place, it will still do it's job. The smooth base does make them easy to stick down with DS tape.
 
I would be very surprised if the shrink wrap was the only thing holding the heat sink on.
 
I would be very surprised if the shrink wrap was the only thing holding the heat sink on.
Probably not, but it won't hurt to leave it on. I have seen, on Google images, pictures of these without any wrap at all, only viewed from the top, so whether they had any heat sink on them is not obvious. On these Atlas engines I'll remove the thin plastic sheet that covers the underside of the dynamic fan openings to improve air circulation anyway. Painting the decoder flat black will cover what's left of it's blue wrap.
 
Way back in the olden dayes of yore, the Throttle Up people told me the shrink wrap did double duty to prevent accidental contacts/shorts, and to help dissipate excess heat from the decoder. The wrap helps conduct the heat away from the tiny parts that could be damaged.
 



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