HO Genesis SD70ACe/GP50 lights questions?

[Matt Florack]

Hello all,

I have questions involving three HO locomotives in my fleet, all made by Athearn Genesis... They include two SD70ACes (one model each of UP #1983 and CSXT #4849) and a high-nose GP50 (NS #7022)... Each one of them has an issue with its lights I need some advice on fixing...

After running a train on the layout last night with #1983 in the consist, I noticed both ditch lights on the unit had blown (they had both been working properly up until that point)... I had heard that the regular bulbs Athearn puts in these units are troublesome, but I had not had any issues until last night... As for the #4849, all of its lights work properly, but one of the front headlights is constantly flickering on and off and has been since I bought the thing a few months back; I suspect that particular bulb might not be long for this world... All of 4849's lights are also absurdly dim, and I've become interested in the idea of replacing them in this unit, in addition to #1983 which definitely needs to have it done...

Replacing the bulbs in the SD70ACes doesn't seem too difficult to me, but I need advice from those who have replaced the bulbs before... Should I go with replacement Athearn bulbs or invest in some of the LED retrofit kits out there? If the LED lights are worth pursuing, which one do you all recommend? I know there's the Ulrich kit out there, but I'm not excited about paying $64 for light bulbs of any sort... There's also some guy on "that auction site" (Mr. Monster Roy Mayo I believe he calls himself) that sells kits for $29; are these worth it? I'm running standard DC; would I have any complications replacing the lights or would it simply be removing the old and putting in the new?

As for that GP50 of mine, it has a particularly amusing issue with its lighting... It's a high-hood NS unit, with both front and rear ditchlights... When running the unit long-hood forward, the long-hood headlights light up as they're supposed to, but the ditchlights on the long hood end do not... Switch direction and run the unit short-hood forward? Well, then the short-hood headlights and ditchlights illuminate as they're meant to, but the rear ditchlights light up as well... Without taking the unit apart I can tell this likely is a wiring issue from the factory; how difficult would it be to wire the rear ditchlights correctly?

Thanks for reading all of that, and any advice you can provide! 

[hon30critter]

Hi Matt:

Check out these prewired LEDs. They will work well for your headlights but they may be a bit too large for the ditch lights. However, you could substitute prewired 0402 LEDs for the ones supplied with the circuits, or you could use fibreoptic cable to get the light into the ditch light housings.

http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/bl-212.html

Personally I would recommend using warm white instead of cool white even though your locomotives are from a newer era. The cool white LEDs have a pronounced blue cast to them.

Note that they start to work at 7 volts so before buying them I would suggest that you measure your locomotives' start voltages. I believe there are work arounds if the locomotives start at less than 7 volts but they will limit your top speed. I suspect that the more expensive circuits will work at lower voltages but I'm not sure. I'm into DCC so my DC knowledge is limited.

Here are some prewired 0402 LEDs:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/C0402WM-20pcs-Pre-soldered-micro-0-1mm-Copper-Wired-WARM-WHITE-SMD-Led-0402-NEW-/221746798816?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33a123a0e0

In case you are not familiar with the nomenclature, '0402' refers to the physical size i.e. .040" x .020". Tiny!

Dave

 

[UPinCT]

Hi Matt,

I'd go with the led's as well. 

Here's  what I used.

http://www.ulrichmodels.biz/athearn-sd70ace-sd70m-led-lighting-upgrade-kit/

Derek