Graham Farish 4MT Tank with MS Sound and Stay-Alive

Kit: MS490; SugarTwist6; 2x 470uF Tall Tantalums

Another revisit with a view to seeing how a Zimo MS sound kit will make the install easier. Remove the 4MT's body and tender shell.

We maximise space by removing the 6pin DCC socket and PCB, refreshing any wires that look a little suspect from motor or pick-ups.

Our custom 3D SugarTwist6 speaker (originally designed for the Farish 3MT Tank), seems like a close fit up in the cab roof, but it is slightly to wide with the glazing in place. Rather than remove the glazing, we gently file the ends of the speaker so that it neatly slides into place. Be very careful doing this though, as the contacts are quite exposed and may be broken off if you take too much off.

Our decoder is an MS490 (now MS491, but similar size). We remove all unwanted lighting wires, as well as motor and track wires, as we'll be connecting the model's wires direct to the decoder for these. Less wiring joins is essentially to keep the installation compact. We'll be using a pair of 470uF Tall/Narrow Tantalums for stay-alive, joined in parallel. We can connect these direct to the MS490/491, which supports a maximum of 1000uF/16V direct.

Tantalums and speaker are connected, decoder and Tantalums covered in Kaptop tape.

Speaker is BlackTack'd into the roof, Tantalums up into the bunker, and we carefully position the decoder centrally as the bunker goes back on. It is surprisingly roomy in there, so goes in quite comfortably!

Body back on, and running very well, especially with the little stay-alive on board.

Please note that these guides are provided as useful resources for you, as-is. YouChoos cannot be held responsible for errors in the information, or for any damage caused to your models or equipment if you choose to follow any of the steps detailed here.