I just installed a NCE DA-SR decoder in my Athearn Genesis F7, a basic drop-in decoder. The F7 has four light bulbs, two on upper housing and two on the lower. They all worked on DC before I installed the decoder. I soldered the connections rather than use the plastic cover/clips. I made sure I replaced each wire from the DC light board to the decoder, one at a time (except the lights which had 2 or 3 wires on each of the connections) to. Any suggestions???
-Bob
Life is what happens while you are making other plans!
You burned out the light bulbs if you did not use a 1K Ohm resistor with each bulb. Athearn Genesis uses 1.5 Volt incandescent bulbs, but a DA-SR decoder's light output is close to 12 Volts DC.
You'll have to replace the bulbs or substitute LEDs. Either way, you must put resistors in one of the leads to each bulb or LED.
You may have blown the lamp driver circuit(s) too. Check them out before you get too far.
Joe
Bob, welcome to the club, not that you want to be a member.
I am King of fried DA-SR decoders and burned out Athearn Genesis incandescents.
Over time, I have become an expert on these issues.
First, if you didn't use resistors, you burned out the bulbs.
Second, it is fairly easy to blow the function outputs for the lights on a DA-SR.
Third, count your blessings. The Genesis incandescent bulbs are among the worst.
Replace them with surface mount LEDs from Ulrich Models. I did that on both sets of my Athearn Genesis F7A locos, and the results are impressive.
If, for some reason, you decide to stick with incandescent bulbs, use resistors on 1.5 volts. Do not use 12 volt incandescents which don't require resistors but the added heat will melt the plastic shell.
Rich
Alton Junction
Thanks guys, for the bad news (LOL). I kind of suspected that was the case. I have a few other Genesis F3/F7 locos, most with burned out lights. I plan to use LED's on all my locos eventually. I have had good luck with 12volt LED's on most of my conversions, but they are 3mm and too big for the Genesis. I have never tried or used a surface mount LED but read a little about them. I guess this is my lucky day to jump into them.
farrellaa Thanks guys, for the bad news (LOL). I kind of suspected that was the case. I have a few other Genesis F3/F7 locos, most with burned out lights. I plan to use LED's on all my locos eventually. I have had good luck with 12volt LED's on most of my conversions, but they are 3mm and too big for the Genesis. I have never tried or used a surface mount LED but read a little about them. I guess this is my lucky day to jump into them. -Bob
Bob,
Take a look at this thread.
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/744/p/218713/2413249.aspx#2413249
Rich,
Thanks, that was some great info. I pasted it into Word so I can have it for easy reference in the train room. I will have to get my parts on order soon, including a mini connector, as I like to have the shell removable without a string of wires to keep intact.
farrellaa Rich, Thanks, that was some great info. I pasted it into Word so I can have it for easy reference in the train room. I will have to get my parts on order soon, including a mini connector, as I like to have the shell removable without a string of wires to keep intact. -Bob
The mini-connector is a great idea. I haven't done that so the shell goes everywhere the chassis goes.
Ulrich Models has some LED repalcement kits for some Gensis locos. They also have a nifty little board with resistors to make a convenient tie point for surface mount (and really any) LEDs. Why Athearn keeps living in the dark ages with those poor light bulbs on even their top end models is beyond me. Especially when they poke them through the shell like on the RS-3, it looks like a pre-war toy train.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
rrinker Why Athearn keeps living in the dark ages with those poor light bulbs on even their top end models is beyond me. Especially when they poke them through the shell like on the RS-3, it looks like a pre-war toy train.
Why Athearn keeps living in the dark ages with those poor light bulbs on even their top end models is beyond me. Especially when they poke them through the shell like on the RS-3, it looks like a pre-war toy train.
LOL
Ain't that the truth.
Probably so they can keep selling those inferior 1.5 volt incandescent bulbs.
Lord knows how many I bought before I wised up.
I saw the resistor board on the Ulrich site and may try one, but I also plan to try some of the 2.2K resistors first, to see what the difference is from the 1K's.
I also just finished upgrading an Athearn SD40 (Bluebox) with LED's and DCC decoder. I used a mini connector since my LED's were glued into light boxes in the shell. The connector is accessible thru the removable hatch (?) on top of the engine. Thanks again guys.