Athearn RTR engine lighting

[Anonymous]

Has anyone else noticed that the lights on the Athearn RTR units do not light up, or are very dim at low speeds? I did some testing and figured out that the lead on the side of the DCC board is used for the motor. I installed a 10 ohm resister on the motor lead and now the lights are nice and bright and the engine now runs the same speed as my older Athearn engines that I have directional lighting installed. My only concern is will this have any effect on the life span of the DCC board. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Greg

[Don Gibson]

Shouldn't make any difference in the life of the board.

Since motor speed and lights are individually controlled on DCC I have to believe you are running DC.

ATHEARN engines (and some ATLAS) use a 12v -14volt bulb which means you have to be running 10 volts or better to see it. By adding a resistor to the motor you have slowed it down and compensated by increasing the voltagefrom the power pak - The higher voltage will make an incandescent bulb burn brighter.

You may want to replace your resistor with a wirewound one. It will be getting hot.

[Anonymous]

Don,

Thanks for the response and the information.

Just an FYI, the RTR engines have 1.5 v light when a DCC decoder board is installed whether one is running DCC or DC.

Greg