ARRGH!! What is it about Athearn and their stupid lights!!!

[canazar]

Arrggghh! [:(!] [banghead]
Ok now that I have vented a little.. I have a question.... Seems to me that here and their I have heard grumblings about Athearns lights burning out. ALOT

Well, I have 2 GP60M in the RTR Plug-n-Play DCC along with a newer Geni SD70

Well, about 2 weeks ago, one of the bulbs went out in the nose. No problem.. got ome replacement bulbs, 1.5 volts, and after digging the stupid thing out for 30 minutes, I replaced and Wow, life was good.

Then tonight.... With in 15 minutes.. one of the rear lights goe sout in the other.. I swear a bit. No problem. I fire up the SD70 to take my mind off it.. Guess what. I turn on the ditch lights and it is giveing me the freakin one eye look. One ditch light. COOKED [banghead]

So, ok... couple of questions,,,,,

Are the modeling Gods offended and its just me, or does this happen with Athearns? (newer?)

Are the ditch lights the same as other lights? will the same size work?

Thanks for listening. ugh... I guess I know what I get to do tommorow.[V]

[Vampire]

The Gods aren't angry with you. I think Athearn is using some cheap bulbs in their loco's. I've had multiple bulb failures in 2 SD70M's and at least one F7. The ditch lights are the worst... I've replaced them all now and these loco's aren't more than a year or two old.

I used Miniatronics 1.5V bulbs as replacements. These have the added benefit of slightly thinner wire than the stock bulbs, making them a bit easier to install as ditch lights. Do yourself a favor and replace ALL the bulbs at once when you open up the loco. Hopefully you won't get stuck with ol' one eye for a long time after that! [B)]

[jwr_1986]

Vampire,

How do you get the ditch light bulbs out. I'm converting my NS SD70 over to DCC and I'm dreading replacing these if they blow. Thanks

Jesse

[Fergmiester]

Anythoughts of going with LED's? They're good for 10,000 hours and draw considerably less power. Come in all kinds of sizes.

Fergie

[Anonymous]

Athearn uses 1.5 volt, 15 milliamp bulbs. Most of the bulbs that you buy in the LHS are 30 or 50 milliamp. The smaller milliamp bulbs require a larger resistor in series with the bulb. In my SD75 I used 1,000 ohm resistors and got a nice "glow". I've got to go back and put in 910 ohm resistors. I run my HO layout on "N" scale setting to prolong the life of all of the locos.

Bob

[canazar]

Thanks you guys for the info. It has confirmed my hopes. (The Gods arent angry with me) I do have the monitronics bulbs. Nice to know why the Athearn are so cheap. And nice to know the bulbs I am putting in are stronger. (Thanks Bob)

Last nite I decided that I will go to LED but most likey wait till the summer when it is too hot in the garage to work. Make a good bench project and I can sit in the AC. The GP60's would be easy to convert. The SD70 kinda has me nervous.

Again, thanks for the info. I am at peace. I will not be throwing my foam and sculpt-a-mold into the sky in a effort of sacrafice.


Best Regards
John k

[Eriediamond]

Hey Teffy, What do you mean when you say you run your layout on N scale setting? Is that something to do with DCC? Thanks Ken

[tstage]

John,

Good choice. LED's are the way to go. They not only look better than the incondescent bulbs (being "constantly" on), but their intensity isn't dependent on how fast the locomotive is moving. They can be sitting still on the track and shine just as bright as if they were cruising along at 60 scale MPH's. I switched my 2 lomotives to LED's when I switched to DCC and have absolutely no regrets...

Tom

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Eriediamond

Hey Teffy, What do you mean when you say you run your layout on N scale setting? Is that something to do with DCC? Thanks Ken

N, HO and large scale all have different voltages for DCC and the N scale is slightly lower to prevent burnout.
Maybe someone would know what the voltages are exactly.

[Vampire]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jwr_1986

Vampire,

How do you get the ditch light bulbs out. I'm converting my NS SD70 over to DCC and I'm dreading replacing these if they blow. Thanks

Jesse

First I disconnected the wires from the PWB mounted above the motor, then pulled them out through the front pilot. Then I carefully broke the ditch lights loose from the anticlimber. I had success on 3 of these but mangled the last one... had to request a replacement from Athearn. I made sure the new bulbs fit up inside the ditch light casings and enlarged the opening with a small drill bit if needed. Then I fed the wires back through the anticlimber and pilot and glued the ditch lights back to the anticlimber, making sure the bulbs stayed in position. Once the glue was set I pulled the wires back inside, carefully tucking them back beneath the anticlimber, and reconnected them to the PWB.

One thing to watch out for... I've seen a few posts about 12V bulbs melting the plastic around them. I guess some bulbs get a lot hotter than others. Something to check out before you put the loco back together.

Good luck! [tup][tup]

[cwclark]

Have you considered using fiber optic strands and white LEDs?...that's what i do..i remove the original bulbs and plastic lenses then take 1.5mm fiber optic strands, flare them with a candle on the end so they fit in the headlight sockets, then run them thru the headlights long enough to reach the back of the engine shell, then install two white light LED's with resistors, , cover them with shrink tubing and insert the fiber optic strands into the shrink tubing against the tops of the LED's...it's a really good looking light and LEds last a long time...Chuck

[Anonymous]

Hey canazar. AC's now a days would only cost you just under $200.00 now a days.
BNSFrailfan.

[jfugate]

QUOTE: Originally posted by tstage

John,

Good choice. LED's are the way to go. They not only look better than the incondescent bulbs (being "constantly" on), but their intensity isn't dependent on how fast the locomotive is moving. They can be sitting still on the track and shine just as bright as if they were cruising along at 60 scale MPH's. I switched my 2 lomotives to LED's when I switched to DCC and have absolutely no regrets...

Tom

Tom:

Well, maybe. Where can you get 1.2mm LEDs to fit into an SP gyralight housing? And in my experience, LEDs are just a bit too abrupt to simulate a gyralight effectively.

I use Miniatronics 1.5v 30ma bulbs because they're only 1.2mm in diameter and they look great with lighting effects. They are rated at 1,000 hours ... which at typical model RR use of a few hours a month is good for about 10 years.

The only really small LEDs I've seen are surface mount and you have to carve on them if you're going to fit them onto an HO gyralight housing. The nice thing about the 1.5v bulbs is you just drill a #55 hole and they go right in. I fix them in place with a dab of clear silicone sealant so I can get them out again.