Speaker installation: How did you do it?


R

RexHea

RAIL BENDER
After experimenting with my 2-8-0 tender with a 28x40mm speaker, I realized that there was a definite need to seal the tender top with the bottom. The difference in sound quality is amazing by just holding the top down firmly with my hand.
I have thought about a narrow strip of black electrical tape over the short rim of the ridge on the tender bottom to act as a gasket. What kind of experience or ideas do you have in increasing the sound quality of your self-installed speakers?
 
Few thoughts:
1. Electrical tape probly will not do the job.
2. Think if it like those speaker boxes us youngon's have thumping in our trunks
3. Caulking...
4. Build a more perment box on the inside of the tender, separate from the shell, mounted to the chassis...

Might work, the ones I've seen go into older Athearn shells have a completely sealed box between the speaker and the shell...
 
I assume that you are referring to making a "gasket" mount for the speaker...on my Spectrum 2-8-0, I put in the Soundtraxx "plug-n'-play sound decoder, but on my Spectrum 4-6-0 I used a "ring" of clear silicon to mount it to the tender floor.

If you are referring to "securing sections of the tender", I used a tiny drop of CA on each side of the 4-8-0 tender... and the sound quality was great.

Bob
 
Bob, what I am trying to do is seal the tender shell to the tender bottom to be air tight. As is, the shell allows air to get in decreasing the sound quality. I just tried out the tape method, but where it made a huge difference, there is still not a real good seal.

Josh, I thought about silicon caulking, but I don't know if I can avoid a big mess with it. Also, I need to have the ability to remove the shell as needed. The idea of a box made of styrene material attached to the floor sounds like a promising idea. Since I am using a speaker that takes up a lot of room, I'll have to see about the fit.
 
The box can work many ways, normaly you'll want to seal the area behind the speaker, so you can build it into the shell, semi-permently with silicon caulk (that'll come back of with some hand prodding...).

I guess, trial and error!
 
Rex... sounds like the box is the answer, if it will fit !!! In case that doesn't work, do you think you could use some 3M double sided tape (like they use to mount signs, etc.) around the edge's of the tender bottom, and after the shell is in position, trim off the external excess with an Exacto blade ?

Bob
 
I appreciate the ideas fellows. Tomorrow, I will take another look at it and see if I can utilize one of your methods. Bob, your idea of the 2-sided tape gave me an idea to use something like foam weather stripping. I don't know where I can find some thin enough, but I bet it would work good. I am going to use silicon to seal around the plug at the end.
 
Bob...you win!
I looked at the options and because of all the wiring and the size of the speaker, a box would have been a very tight fit and because of this may not have offered enough air space for that size speaker. (I can certainly see the potential in using a box)

I looked at a roll of the double sided mounting tape (foam) that I had hanging around and saw that it wasn't as sticky on one side as I thought it would be. I stuck it on the outer side of the "alignment" ridge on the tender bottom, trimmed, and put the shell on. The thickness of this tape was perfect. It would compress enough to allow the shell to go over it, but still expand to make a seal.

Now the sound will make you jump backwards.:D

Thanks very much to both of you guys.
 
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