I recently noticed as I was placing some passenger cars on my new layout that the Walthers coaches had light kits installed. I placed them on the track, turned on the power and nothing. I just assumed that when I bought theses coaches with the kits already installed and that they were complete. Took the roof off and there was the lighting strip, attached and touching the metal contact strips at one end of the coach. I traced the metal contacts as best I could, turned to coach over then noticed the trucks. They had what appeared to be screws in the top of the trucks, two each, holding the bolster in place. But I noticed the screw heads did not touch the metal strips in the bottom of the coach, therefore no electrical contact, I guess. Is this how the electrical pick-ups are designed or is it a design flaw.
It would seem to me that when you purchase a Walthers coach with lighting it would be all included-even the trucks that would make good electrical contact. Any suggestions as to what to do?
I know that this subject has been discussed many times before, but I have been out of the loop for several year and I am just getting back in so I appreciate everybody's patience.
Robert
I installed Walthers light kits in a set of Rivarossi cars. They were fine for a year or so, but that same truck screw cantact became unreliable. I fixed it by adding a wire instead.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Robert,
There should be 4 screws, 2 on each side of the truck. The side frames are metal, which are screwed to the plastic bolster. Unscrew the trucks from the car and look at the metal piece purtruding from the bottom of the car. They are semi spring loaded and You should be able to move them in/out slightly. They may be binding slightly from assembly. Another possibility would be the metal strips at the light bar are not touching good enough for contact to the two strips. People have said they have soldered wires to the strips instead of the contact strips. I also had that problem...but did not add wires, instead I soldered a Kadee coupler knuckle spring to the light board and that solved My problem. Mine are mainline cars and I added the light kits to them, ten of them to be exact and they all work great!
Photo may be clicked on for larger view:
I used Silver bearing solder paste to solder the springs.....that way there is no need to hold the spring in place. The spring sits in the paste and you just need to add heat........one hand job!
I suspect that is Your problem with power pick-up....the contacts at the roof of the car.
Good Luck!
Frank
Frank and Mr B: Thanks for the tips, I am going to try these ideas in the A.M.
I had a similar problem on a Walthers LW car. One of the things I discovered in trying to sort out connectivity problems is that the strips and weights (which send power from the far end) are stainless steel so they will not accept solder.
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
You can solder stainless steel.......
https://www.wikihow.com/Solder-Stainless-Steel
I have done it with a Dremel Butane torch for some RC work.
Take Care!
ZStripe,
That is a really interesting approach! I plan to install lighting kits in some of my passenger cars and would like to make sure that electrical contact is firm. Which brand of silver bearing solder paste are you using?
zstripe Robert, There should be 4 screws, 2 on each side of the truck. The side frames are metal, which are screwed to the plastic bolster. Unscrew the trucks from the car and look at the metal piece purtruding from the bottom of the car. They are semi spring loaded and You should be able to move them in/out slightly. They may be binding slightly from assembly. Another possibility would be the metal strips at the light bar are not touching good enough for contact to the two strips. People have said they have soldered wires to the strips instead of the contact strips. I also had that problem...but did not add wires, instead I soldered a Kadee coupler knuckle spring to the light board and that solved My problem. Mine are mainline cars and I added the light kits to them, ten of them to be exact and they all work great! Photo may be clicked on for larger view: I used Silver bearing solder paste to solder the springs.....that way there is no need to hold the spring in place. The spring sits in the paste and you just need to add heat........one hand job! I suspect that is Your problem with power pick-up....the contacts at the roof of the car. Good Luck! Frank
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
AntonioFP45,
I have been using Solder-It paste for about 3yrs. now and am very pleased with it. I don't use regular solder hardly at all anymore. The paste is so much more easier to use and one hand is free to use...no need to hold the solder to the work. Unfortunately it has gone up in price since I started using it, but what hasn't. I have also been using the Aluminum/Pot metal solder paste, it takes some practice, but it also is great.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Solder-It-SP-7-Silver-Bearing-Solder-Paste-7-1-Gram-Syringe/48345692
zstripeDremel Butane torch
Maybe out of the car, but what I tried would have resulted in a mess of melted plastic istead of a passenger car
G Paine zstripe Dremel Butane torch Maybe out of the car, but what I tried would have resulted in a mess of melted plastic istead of a passenger car
zstripe Dremel Butane torch
I have used an HO rail joiner, clipped in half then opened up slightly with a fine flat bladed screw driver or one of the ground-down X-acto #11s I have on hand.
Then I slip the joiner over the shiny plated metal tab of the Walthers car, place the end of a tinned 26 or 30 gauge, silicone flexible wire into the joiner, crimp it with smooth-jaw pliers, add a little flux, then touch it very quickly with a hot iron and a dab of solder before the near-by plastic melts.
The solder probably doesn't make an actual bond with the plated tab but it does strengthen the crimp and secures the wire to the joiner.
I have dozens of the various (older) Walthers lighting kits but I generally strip the components off the board and add my own capacitor and diodes for "flicker free" lighting. With DCC I don't need a rectifier. I use the clear plastic part as a support for the led strings. I remove the incandescent bulbs that Walthers uses. I know their newer lighting kits are LED.
Too many times I've pried the roof off of a Walthers passenger car, installed the light bar, tested it and everything was fine only to snap the roof back on and find out that the contact with the little tab has been interrupted. Seems to be worse on the heavyweight cars .
Cheers! Ed
Although the torch I use has a pin-point 3/8'' long flame.......I would never attempt to do any soldering with the parts still in the car......Big No No.....you are asking for trouble. With the Walthers cars every part can be disassembled, by removing the screws that hold everything together once the roof is removed. The springs for instance that I added to the light bar, were installed out of the car.
One thing I would like to point out on the Walthers cars....I don't know how they did it on the RTR light bar in the cars, but you will get light bleed through even the tightly sealed seam on the roof. I found that out after I did one. My fix was to use 1/2'' Automotive black pin-stripe tape from the roof line to the top of the window glazing. That is what the black is that is seen in the photo. I tried painting it first, but that did not work the way I wanted........the tape worked the best. Absolutely NO light bleed through.
zstripe you will get light bleed through even the tightly sealed seam on the roof.
Yep, had that problem too. Next time I pull the roof, it will get a stripe of black paint to shield the bleed.
Frank,
Requesting a favor: If you don't mind, please provide a quick description of the procedure that you use for the application of soldering paste (and if you have any, photos).
I've been looking at YouTube vids but have haven't found one with applications for scale modeling.
Thank you
zstripe AntonioFP45, I have been using Solder-It paste for about 3yrs. now and am very pleased with it. I don't use regular solder hardly at all anymore. The paste is so much more easier to use and one hand is free to use...no need to hold the solder to the work. Unfortunately it has gone up in price since I started using it, but what hasn't. I have also been using the Aluminum/Pot metal solder paste, it takes some practice, but it also is great. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Solder-It-SP-7-Silver-Bearing-Solder-Paste-7-1-Gram-Syringe/48345692 Take Care! Frank
I have a number of things I must do today.......but later hopefully, I will take a couple pictures for You to review to show how I use the paste. It is quite easy, once You get the hang of it. What I actually like is the one hand free and trust Me...it is at least 5 times stronger than 60-40 and You don't need as much. I did a test on brass rod, which I use alot. 60-40 will break free when soldering rod to rod. With the paste/silver bearing solder, the bond rod to rod will bend the rod where the bond is...but will not break free.
This working sliding chain link fence gate was assembled using the paste as is the rest of the fence. All hardened 3/64''/1/32'' brass rod...hardly any filing is necessary after soldering......once You have a little experience:
I'll take a couple photos about where to put the paste and iron later.
Thanks, very much appreciated! I've been using 60/40 for a very long time and am looking forward to trying this alternative.
zstripe AntonioFP45, I have a number of things I must do today.......but later hopefully, I will take a couple pictures for You to review to show how I use the paste. It is quite easy, once You get the hang of it. What I actually like is the one hand free and trust Me...it is at least 5 times stronger than 60-40 and You don't need as much. I did a test on brass rod, which I use alot. 60-40 will break free when soldering rod to rod. With the paste/silver bearing solder, the bond rod to rod will bend the rod where the bond is...but will not break free. This working sliding chain link fence gate was assembled using the paste as is the rest of the fence. All hardened 3/64''/1/32'' brass rod...hardly any filing is necessary after soldering......once You have a little experience: I'll take a couple photos about where to put the paste and iron later. Take Care! Frank
Antonio,
Unfortunately...I forgot that I need both hands for operating My camera......so I had to wing it.
The first pick is of a jig I made to hold the fence together.......3/64'' brass rod posts and 1/32 stringers. I use a piece of Blue painters tape to hold the ends down. The jig is 100 scale ft. long and can be used to make smaller sections when need arises:
The second pic', shows the solder paste where I want to solder:
The third pic', shows them soldered.......on the fence I put the iron right in the top rail into the paste.....within seconds, the paste will bubble and turn silver.....remove iron then. I use a variable temp. 60watt soldering pencil with a 1/8'' chizel tip at around 50/55 watt to spread the heat faster......that is roughly 430 degrees, which is what the paste melts at:
Fourth pic' is the fence out of the jig.......I only soldered the 2 end posts.......this is without any filing done and it is already extremely strong:
Last pic',....working on another sliding gate, for another building complex:
Feel free to PM, for any help...
After seeing the ease at which Kato passenger cars can have lighting installed in them - In N scale no less! - I'm of the opinion that Walthers make it purpousfully difficult in order to sell more cars with the lights pre-installed. I tried to put a lighting kit in a Mainline series diner, and it was a pretty horrible experience. I wouldn't recommend it.
Excellent, thanks! So it does looks like a very simple and straight forward procedure. I will definitely give this a go.
Regarding the cost of the paste, I don't view it as excesively high as you only used a tiny amount of paste-per-joint. Looks like one tube will work for a good number of lighting kits, so it seems like a good value. A Walthers Mainline car averages $30+ and it doesn't even have flush fitting windows, LOL .
You information and photos were VERY HELPFUL! Again, thank you very much.
zstripe Antonio, Unfortunately...I forgot that I need both hands for operating My camera......so I had to wing it. The first pick is of a jig I made to hold the fence together.......3/64'' brass rod posts and 1/32 stringers. I use a piece of Blue painters tape to hold the ends down. The jig is 100 scale ft. long and can be used to make smaller sections when need arises: The second pic', shows the solder paste where I want to solder: The third pic', shows them soldered.......on the fence I put the iron right in the top rail into the paste.....within seconds, the paste will bubble and turn silver.....remove iron then. I use a variable temp. 60watt soldering pencil with a 1/8'' chizel tip at around 50/55 watt to spread the heat faster......that is roughly 430 degrees, which is what the paste melts at: Fourth pic' is the fence out of the jig.......I only soldered the 2 end posts.......this is without any filing done and it is already extremely strong: Last pic',....working on another sliding gate, for another building complex: Feel free to PM, for any help... Take Care! Frank
I want to thank all of you for your input, I only wish that Walthers would take a hint from Broadway Limited and their Burlington Passenger cars. I bought six coaches in various configurations. When I place those coaches on the track...WOW...what a lighting system and no fickering. The lights come on with barely a twist of the power knob on my MRC power supply. Walthers needs to wake up. Yes, I still run DC, but for my size layout I am fine, many of my engines have the dual Tsunami 2 amp sound decoder and they work great. And believe or not several of my Bachman's have sound decoders and they work great on DC as well.
I actually like MTH's approach. I have the full set of their 20th Century Limited passenger cars and they outfit them with LED modules with capacitors. All you have to do is place the car on the track and the caps slowly charge up. It probably takes about 1 min. to charge and 5 min. to discharge. No batteries to replace and no switches to remember to turn off. And, like the BLI cars - nary a flicker.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.