I have a MTH Forty Niner with Proto sound 1 and a Williams Burlington F7 2010. Is there anyway I can make the headlights brighter? When my MTH DCS remote is connected all lights on the layout are brighter but as you all probably know Proto 1.0 and analogue will not run with the remote. If anyone can give me a tip on how to get consistently brighter lights that would be appreciated.
Can't stop working on the railroad!
For the Williams unit, there are a few methods you can use. One is to see what the cruising voltage is at the track and buy a bayonett bulb that matches that more closely. For instance a 12 volt bulb. My William engines all cruise at 10 volts. Another method that works very well is to buy a 3mm LED in warm white from Evans designs. These already have the resistors attached. You attach one wire to the red wire that supplies the factory bulb, and the other wire to a chassis ground nearby. They are always bright.
Another method used by some is to wire your engine in series. This creates a higher start up and crusing voltage resulting in a brighter bulb as well. I use a lower voltage bulb and the Evans LED's in my Williams engines.
Roger
Many of the MTH Proto-1 locomotives used low voltage lights about 2.5 volts. You can wire a nice bright LED in place of them if that floats your boat.
You might check the position of the bulb in the Williams Loco. I have a Williams GP9 that has the bulbs mounted below the headlight openings on the shell. I went with the LED replacement on it.
Going with an LED light is probally better than going with a lower voltage incandescent as it will heat up more to produce a brighter light.
If you have MTH's DCS; set it to track voltage and you can operate any conventional engine by adjusting the output to the track with the remote. DCS won't control PS-1, as that is mainly a glorified sound system.
Lee F.
Thanks I have them installed in the Dummy and will be doing the head unit today. Thanks for the advice from everyone. One more question in the dummy unit there was a two prong poer plug does anyone have any idea what this is for?
Don't know what the plug is for, where do the wires go?
They go to the trucks. I have since learned that it is so you can make it a powered unit with the Williams upgrade kit. Thanks for your concern.
Makes sense, there is a WIlliams conversion kit to make the dummy units into powered units.
I have successfully installed LED into all my locomotives. I just wanted to thank everyone in this forum who helped me out. I also found another great place to order LED's from they don't come wired but it is simple to do yourself especially if you have been in the mode RR hobby for a while. http://www.quickar.com/discrete.php?session=dcMMp7FJ&sort=color. Thanks again everyone!
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