cudaken wrote:looking for the number to Athearn again, Cuda Ken
looking for the number to Athearn again, Cuda Ken
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
locoi1, good eye's there, well I think! My self, I would not know a resistors from a diode if my life depended on it. I just pulled out a Dash 9 board I have and it does look's a little driffrent than the one in the SD-50. I will pull the shell later and do a side by side.
Thanks again, looking for the number to Athearn again, Cuda Ken
I hate Rust
Cuda Ken
I magnified the pic and did not see any resistors on that board. What I do see is diodes for directional lighting. The 8 pin plug would bypass the diodes. I would scrap the board and hardwire the decoder with a couple 1K 1/4 watt resistors for the stock bulbs or go with LEDs.
Pete
I pray every day I break even, Cause I can really use the money!
I started with nothing and still have most of it left!
I don't have the modelpower # handy, 146?, but the other brand I use is circuitron
there numbers are
7411, 7414, 7416, and 7418
they come in 2-6-12 packs
Anyone have the right bulb part number? That should be a lot easier.
the Athearn quick plug board that the decoder plug into reduces the voltage, but the Athearn bulbs just are not very high quality, and I do not think they can handle much more than 1-1.25 volts for very long, and don't handle shock well at all.
I use the modelpower grain of sand bulbs, they have lens ends, as replacements as the Athearns burn out.
I have not needed to replace a modelpower bulb yet, except the ones blown by my own stupidity.
When I use them in other applications, I use a 820 ohm resistor for each bulb, 1000 ohms are too much and only just allow them glow.
another option is to install a 10 ohm resistor into the blue wire of the JST plug/harness (pigtail) that you have the decoder attached, the lights won't be as bright, but they will last longer
The Athearn bulbs are 1.5 Volt and the decoder lighting output is 12 Volts. You must wire a 1,000 Ohm resistor in series with each bulb or use a TCS decoder with the built-in voltage regulator for Athearn bulbs.
I have a Athearn RTR DCC SD-50 ready engine that eats head lamps in 5 minutes or less. I am running a Digitrax DH123PS decoder. I have been using Athearn ATHG63843 lamps. Bag states they are for SD70-SD75. I bought them for a Athearn SD-45-2 after speaking with a person at Athearn. Thought if they would work for a SD-45-2 they might work in the SD-50. They have been fine in the SD-45-2 I will add.
Here is the SD-50 that keeps eating the lights with the shell off.
When I order the lights I told my LHS I want 6 lights, he thought I want 6 bags. Each bag has 4 lights so I have a few.
Am I using the wrong bulb, or wrong decoder? I have the same decoder in a little newer style SD-50 with no problems. It has 2 wires from each truck, not the metal arms with wires solder to it like the PIC I posted. One in the PIC came stock that way, not a kit bash.
Could it be the printed circuit board?
Thanks for the coming answers as well.