Issue with illuminated bumpers

[jwilharm]

Just bought new Lionel 6-12715 illuminated bumpers.  Neither of them will illuminate anywhere on the track.  Any thoughts on what the issue may be? 

[dwiemer]

I had one new out of the box out of 6 that I ordered that the light was out.  So, it is not beyond possibility that they are out.  Call Lionel and see what they say.  I have had good experience with their customer service....but you may be on hold for awhile.

Dennis

[jwilharm]

 Thanks Dennis.  I actually have an older one that the light come on ONLY if I press it hard onto the track with my hand.  So, I have 3 bumpers that do not really illuminate.  Something is fishy!

[joetrains]

   I've had trouble with them also. They are just cheaply made. Make sure the bulb is seated all the way and the contact strips are actually contacting the rails.

[ballastbob]

 I had a pair of bumbers that wouldn't light up either.  On closer inspection I noticed  that the copper strip in the middle of the bumper wasn't long enough to contact the power rail.  I added a small piece of flattened copper wire and made the contact strip a little longer.  Now they both work fine.

Bob

[jwilharm]

When you refer to the "power rail," are you referring to the center rail?  I ask, because the bumpers I have, the copper wire clearly is meant to attach to one of the outside rails, not the inside rail.   And they fit tightly on the outside rails, so there is no issue with contact.

ballastbob

 I had a pair of bumbers that wouldn't light up either.  On closer inspection I noticed  that the copper strip in the middle of the bumper wasn't long enough to contact the power rail.  I added a small piece of flattened copper wire and made the contact strip a little longer.  Now they both work fine.

Bob

 

[joetrains]

   There are two copper strips. One as you have found comes down the side to contact the outside rail. The other runs from the bottom of the bulb toward the rear of the bumper to contact the center rail. If you  turn the bumper upside down you will see it.  Again make sure the bulb is seated on the copper strip.

[bfskinner]

Thanks joetrains. Now we're getting somewhere.

The most useful items I have in my shop are my el cheapo multimeter and several sets of jumper wires. I use different colored wires about 20 inches long, typically 18 gauge, that end in insulated alligator clips. I use red and black wires so that I can easily keep "polarity" straight.

Trouble-shooting an end-of-track bumper should not be difficult. Basically, they require two leads, one coming from the transformer and the other going back to it -- thereby completing the circuit. (I know this sounds like first-grade, but bear with me.)

Each bumper will have two parts that make electrical contact, whether the illuminating device is an incandescent bulb or a more modern LED.

With the older die-cast metal bumpers, the copper strip picks up power from the center rail, passes it through the bulb, and returns it through the metal frame itself, which contacts both outer rails.

With the newer plastic bumpers, because the plastic frame is an insulator,  therefore it cannot be part of the circuit. Instead, there are two wires. One has to pickup power from the center rail, route it throught the bulb, and return it to the transformer via the outside rails.

I would take each one of these bumpers off the track; and, using my alligator clips, connect the device to a small transformer via temporary connections to the parts described above. If the bulb doesn't light, either the bulb is bad, loose in its socket or mount, or something is corroded somewhere. You can use the OHMS scale of the meter to check continuity; that is, to ensure that power is actually getting in, doing some work, and coming out of the bumper. Continuity is another word for a ensuring that there are no breaks in the electrical circuit anywhere within the device.

If it won't work on the bench, it's certainly not going to work on the track. When you do get it to work, look carefully at how it is supposed to connect to the track. Make sure that the attachment points to the rails, and the rails themselves, are clean, shiny and tight. As has been pointed out above, sometimes, with the older metal ones, the copper contact-pieces get bent and do not contact the center rail, or the screws that grab the outside rails are missing or not tight.

This sounds elementary, and indeed it is flashlight-level* electrical circuitry, but once a new operator has fixed an item like this he can take away a sense of satisfaction and move on to more complex repairs.

For the plastic bumpers, the illustrations in the Owner's Manual clearly show the connections to the outside rails, although the contact for the center rail is obscured:

http://www.lionel.com/media/servicedocuments/70-2290-250.pdf

and

http://www.lionel.com/media/servicedocuments/71-2715-250.pdf

* Except that flashlghts use direct current from batteries, whereas three-rail toy train bumpers use alternating-current from a transformer. In either case, the voltages are quite low relative to house- current, so there is no danger.

.

[bfskinner]

Now that my last post has had a while to simmer, I will reveal a bit about its purpose and character. Of course, I wanted to give a serious answer to the question that was originally raised,  but even more than that I hoped to illustrate just how difficult it can be to supply an accurate and thorough answer to questions where you have no information as to the level of knowledge and experience that the questioner brings to the table.

So my post was actually a parody of itself, and a bit of a play on the famous overblown how-to-change-a-light-bulb instructions. I hope somebody got it. It also targets, by way of constrast, the one- or two-line shoot-from-the-hip responses that are either too brief or too techical to be of much help.

So why am I playing such games at this particular time? That may or may not be made clear shortly,  It probably doesn't matter very much to anyone else anyway.

. 

[jwilharm]

 BF,

Thanks for the info on where the bumper is suppose to contact the rails.  The copper strip suppose to touch the center rail wasn't even coming close on the 2 bumpers I have, one from the late 70s and the other one I just bought new.  Is this a known product defect?  You would think Lionel would get it right 30 some years later.  

I would like to affix the strip more securely to the center rail.  Do you recommend any good way to do that?  Simple electrical tape?

[bfskinner]

jwilharm

 BF,

Thanks for the info on where the bumper is suppose to contact the rails.  The copper strip suppose to touch the center rail wasn't even coming close on the 2 bumpers I have, one from the late 70s and the other one I just bought new.  Is this a known product defect?  You would think Lionel would get it right 30 some years later.  

I would like to affix the strip more securely to the center rail.  Do you recommend any good way to do that?  Simple electrical tape?

Glad I could be be of some help. I don't have one of the bumpers to look at, so I'll just have to resort to my favorite repair tool: two-part epoxy, either clear or gray, available at any hardware store.

The first thing I ask is whether I can hide the joint sufficiently. Then I mix and apply the epoxy liberally in order to embed the part I want to attach. (Sometimes even epoxy will not adhere to certain plastics, even after you have roughed up the surface a bit.)

I would likely secure the part  temporarily with a piece of tape or a piece of wire or the like. I've even been know to bury this temporary support in the epoxy and just leave it there.

In these cases, depending on the shape of the material, I have sometimes actually swabbed a dollop of epoxy all the way around an item (such as a beam) like a belt, so that the epoxy  completely encircles the object.. On other occasions, I have drilled small holes in the item so that the epoxy can ooze throught the holes and make more of a mechanical connection than an adhesive one. For low-stress jobs this can work well.

Using 5-minute epoxy can make these processes much easier, particularly if you have to keep turning the part in order to keep the hardening epoxy where you want it, until if firms up enough to stay put for the rest of the cure. I find that the slower-curing (24 hour) epoxies are stronger overall, but the five-minute kind is often easier to work with, and generally stops "creeping" in about 5 minutes and cures pretty well in about 15.

In the archives of this forum there is at least one article where I discuss how to cast new threads for those occasions when a plastic "boss" has stripped out, such as where a car-body is secured to the frame; The method is easy, and makes a permanent repair where the parts remain replaceable. You might check it out and see whether it gives you any ideas. I have even cast and shaped* new parts for die-cast locomotives, and reinforced cracked plastic bodies, on the inside, of course.

I think epoxy is the eighth-wonder of the modern world, and am constantly finding new uses for it, sometimes even in plain sight. It will take paint if primed properly, although this is it's poorest feature. If you find a primer and paint that will work on steel, it will likely work on epoxy.

I hope this helps.

*I have very little artsy-craftsy talent myself, but I am inspired by the story of the man who asked the sculptor how he produced the life-size statue of an elephant. The sculptor said, "I just obtain a very large rectangular block of marble, and then chip away everything that doesn't look like an elephant.".