I'm wondering how to reprogram my Bachmann Alco switchers that came with factory installed Tsunami sounds. Specifically the lights.
I have an Alco S4 in Santa Fe paint and a brand new Alco S2 in US Army paint that arrived in the mail today.
They are both nice locos. The sound configuration is very easy to change and customize. But the headlight and backup light seem to operate strangely.
Santa Fe Alco S4: Going forward the headlight is on and the backup light is off. Normal enough. But if going in reverse, the backup light comes on and the headlight stays on. A little odd.
US Army Alco S2:, Going forward the headlight is on and the backup light is on. When going in reverse, the backup light is on and the headlight is on. Very odd.
I read the Tsunami guide and entered a value of zero for both CV 49 (Headlight) and CV 50 (Backup Light) in both the S4 and S2. Hoping a value of zero means simple on/off for the light without dimming. But even with a zero entry, nothing changed in either loco. I did a CV read back to see if my changes took and they did.
So why might the lights be operating like this? Could they be wired incorrectly?
I probably will have to go inside to see how the lights are wired. They are LEDs by the way.
Oh almost forgot. I'm not sure if this is important or not, but the S4 had factory set values of 129 for both CV 49 and CV 50. The S2 had factory set values of 142 for both CV 49 and CV 50.
And if anyone is interested, I set the following sound CVs to what sounded good to me. Maybe you can use these as well.
Matt from Anaheim, CA and Bayfield, COClick Here for my model train photo website
Those are the correct CVs to adjust. Are you sure they have the new values? And it was quite common for the rules to say that switchers should have both lights on all the time. That whole basic directional lighting thing got started when it was discovered it could be done cheaply and easily with DC, and it made the loco look like something was happening, but it's hardly prototypical. And depending on the era you are modeling, they may not have used the headlights on road locos during the day unless it was bad weather, so the whole "Rule 17 Dimming" thing may not actually apply. An contrary to all the DCC manufacturers calling it that, Rule 17 involves more than just dimming the headlight when stopped. It may be somewhat over the top unless you are really into prototypical operations, but decoders these days have enough settings and there are enough functions to truly operate the lights the way they are controlled on a real loco.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Setting CV33=1 (Headlight) and CV34=2 (Back-up) should have both lights directional.Giving a value of 3 to either CV will make the corresponding light non-directional.
Hmm, interesting about CV 33 and 34. Thanks for the tip.
The lights now work as one would expect. How prototypical? I'll have to look into how the Santa Fe operated their switcher lights in 58. Might be tougher to find any info on how the Army operated their switcher headlights back then.
Hi SW Chief,
I too have the same issue with a Bachmann S4. Mine was purchased in the UK as DCC ready so I fitted a Lenz Standard decoder. The lighting malfunction was exactly as you described.
Tried another decoder and the same condition prevailed. So, I concluded that there is a problem with the PCB lighting board and wrote an e-mail to Bachmann. So far, no reply,but this was only a couple of days ago (26th Dec 2012).
When I receive a reply, I'll get back to you.
Regards - Keith Woodbridge UK