Broken HO Crossing Signal :(


HOScaledWill

HOScaledWill

Member
So as I was trying to wire my NJ International 1193 cantilever signals to my newly lit NJI 1172 crossing gates, one of my signals LEDs burned out.

Broken HO Cantilever Signal 1.png


One problem, you see that black wire wrapped around the bottom of the signal, that was the Positive wire and unfortunately it came out, it accidentally got yanked out and I don't know how to put it back in. Even if I did though that wouldn't make a difference because my even bigger problem is half the LEDs on this signal burned out.

NJ International LED signals come with a black wire, the Positive Wire, and two white wires with dropping resistors, at least the cantilevers, I haven't tried the mast signals or gated signals. On this signal and my other one though, the original resistors came apart (one of them I did purposely remove after the other three accidentally came out.) Aware that if I lit the LEDs directly to the flasher or any power source without a resistor the LEDs would burn right out! Thankfully I had some resistors that came with my 0603 LEDs Amazon.com: 25pcs Pre-soldered Micro Litz Wired Leads Red SMD Led 0603 + Muti-Resistor New: Home Improvement and since I had more resistors than LEDs, I decided to use those, using the 9.1-14V resistors and either the 1-5V or the 5.1-9V, and that's what you see in the picture, the replacement resistors that came with my Micro Litz LEDs! I didn't solder them but I did twist tie them (I know, I'm still planning to learn to solder soon.) So far that worked but when I tried to wire the signals, unbeknownst to me was one of the wires came undone and I accidentally put the wire to the flasher unit and ended up burning out the LEDs, I didn't know until it was too late! And I wondered why there was smoke rising too! Now I'm wishing I'd really checked before wiring the signal!

So the next day I called NJ International on the phone and told them what happened and asked them if they could repair the signal. I then learned NJI doesn't have a repair facility, so they cannot repair broken signals! 😮 So if you want NJI to fix your broken signals, forget about it, they cannot or will not! They advised me to go to a hobby shop or to a Model Train club to see if I can get them to repair the signal. I tried ACE The Hobby Place on 22nd Street and Kolb Road but they said they couldn't help, and Hobbytown USA is gone. There's only one choice left, the Gadsden-Pacific Division Toy Train Operating Museum. I've never been there before and have been meaning to but unfortunately they're temporarily closed, so I cannot go now! And what is more, NJI isn't going to have anymore signals in stock for who knows how long because of the Coronavirus and because the materials they use come from China but the place in China that supplies their stuff is either closed or understaffed, so replacing the signal will be almost impossible. So there's almost nothing I can do!

A whole lot of setbacks!

And I don't even know what LEDs NJ International uses in their signals, well even if I did I still don't know how to repair the signals or replace the LEDs, no one taught me how to do that. So I'm pretty much out of a signal and cannot repair or replace it. If only I'd checked before rewiring the signal! I'm so disappointed! 😞 All I can do now is wait! And it could be a year or so before I can get my signal fixed or get a new one!

But I ended up learning some things and sadly the hard way!

Let me share a few more pictures, show what I was basically trying to do
Broken HO Cantilever Signal 2.png
Broken HO Cantilever Signal 3.png
Broken HO Cantilever Signal 4.png

Those are pictures of my other signal and two of my NJI crossing gates with lights on them with my broken signal laying nearby! I was hoping to have and show both of my cantilever signals and my newly lit gates working but due to a mess-up, that just couldn't happen and it won't for a while! And also two of the LEDs on the gates need to be replaced, that's why they're not lit up!

This is all I can show you for now
NJI 1193 Cantilever and Lighted 1172 Gate 01.png
NJI 1193 Cantilever and Lighted 1172 Gate 02.png

This is only half of what I was hoping to show you and half of what I was hoping to do!

If anyone has any advice on how I can get my broken signal repaired, please let me know. Otherwise I'll have to wait for a replacement! And hopefully I taught you guys something, including the fact that NJ International doesn't have a repair facility and cannot repair your broken signals!
 
Just to clarify in my own mind, are any of the alternating flashers on the bridge and the crossbucks burned out? The problem with LED's on these factory installed pieces is that they are generally sealed into the structure, making replacement a bit of a hassle. If the black wire is the positive lead for all of the lights, how can any of them still be working? I'm not sure where the black wire would connect to the positive leads from all the LED's. It might be necessary to Google LED's for model trains and see what is available. You'd have to carefully drill out the existing LED's and insert the new ones. As far as the hassle is concerned, you might just want to replace the signal bridge(s) with new ones. Walthers is listing 2-lane ones on sale today at $37.98. When you say you saw smoke, was it coming from your control module? If so, that may also be shot. Azatrax has them, as well as the infrared detectors, which I have used. He also shows the same 2-lane cantilever bridge for $39.50. That is the same as the Walthers unit. Most of the other crossing equipment is NJ International from them or from Azatrax is out-of-stock, probably since they may be made in China, and obtained them is not possible with COVID19 restrictions! Don't know what else to recommend.
Best of luck!
 
trailrider said:
Just to clarify in my own mind, are any of the alternating flashers on the bridge and the crossbucks burned out? The problem with LED's on these factory installed pieces is that they are generally sealed into the structure, making replacement a bit of a hassle. If the black wire is the positive lead for all of the lights, how can any of them still be working? I'm not sure where the black wire would connect to the positive leads from all the LED's. It might be necessary to Google LED's for model trains and see what is available. You'd have to carefully drill out the existing LED's and insert the new ones. As far as the hassle is concerned, you might just want to replace the signal bridge(s) with new ones. Walthers is listing 2-lane ones on sale today at $37.98. When you say you saw smoke, was it coming from your control module? If so, that may also be shot. Azatrax has them, as well as the infrared detectors, which I have used. He also shows the same 2-lane cantilever bridge for $39.50. That is the same as the Walthers unit. Most of the other crossing equipment is NJ International from them or from Azatrax is out-of-stock, probably since they may be made in China, and obtained them is not possible with COVID19 restrictions! Don't know what else to recommend.
Best of luck!
Click to expand...

Hey @trailrider

Well unfortunately the LEDs on both the bridge and mast are burnt out, half the lights on the bridge and half on the pole.

From you said according to the black positive wire, I guess what happened was the lights burned out first because of the resistors coming from the white negative wires, which I meant to say. Then the black wire came off. Well I guess the signal could still work if I touch the end of the wire to where it came off but I cannot reconnect it, not sure even taping it would help or even soldering it.

Something else about the LEDs on the cantilever, they are not all in sync, when the left upper lights shine, the right crossbuck lights shine, and when the right upper lights light up, the left crossbuck lights light (see photos above,) that's how the signals came.

The smoke didn't come from the control module, it came from the signal itself! That might be what led me to discover that I connected the white negative wire to those LEDs directly to the flasher, forgetting to reattach the resistors! And I've had bad experiences with LEDs before because of not using resistors (and not having any or not knowing I should have used them) and having them burn out so quickly! I didn't think LED signals could smoke!

And with me having all those wires there and all those resistors, from the signals and from the gate-mounted LEDs, it was confusing!

I don't like to talk about this but I did use Walthers brand cantilever signals and they worked like a charm, but I lost total interest in them and never want to see those again whether in catalogs or owned by others. And I cannot use them anyway due to the mounting stems and me using my floor instead of a work bench, one reason I don't use Tomar Industries signals, I cannot use signals with mounting stems, and it would look silly if I tried to! No, I prefer Busch signals, NJI signals, and older model signals, signals you just sit down on a table or floor. True NJI signals are more expensive, but they're the only signals I'll use. I forgot about Azatrax.

My only hope and option is to just replace the entire signal, as soon as they go back in stock again and if I have enough money to buy one once it's available but only God knows if and when they'll be in stock again!

I emailed a local model train club about the issue but I'm yet to hear back from them.

Well, thanks for the help.

On a brighter note, I am hoping to obtain the following overtime:

-3 more NJI 1193 cantilevers (including a replacement for the one that's broken)

-4 pairs of the 1095 crossbuck signals (I'm planning to replace my Busch signals with these!)

-2 more pairs of NJI 1172 red and white bar gates.

-3 to 5 pairs of the NJI 1170 red and white A-type gates (actually they're called wishbone gates)

-1 50-pack of the Bowerful 0603 SMD LEDs with Muti Resistors from Amazon for the NJI gates

-30 gauge wires (I got 28-gauge but they're a bit too wide!)

-3 Circuitron FL-2HD flasher modules (for my incandescent-lit signals and gates, I don't think the regular FL-2s are good enough to power 8 bulbs and I done burned three of my FL-2s out. One is sent back for repairs but now I have to send back the other two for the same reason, but I plan to reuse those for the LED signals.

And perhaps a new Bachmann crossing gate set (with red and white stripes) and 16 of the ModelModz prewired LEDs (they actually work with the Busch signal flasher units and fit well in Bachmann crossing gate signals!) But this won't happen for at least two months!


@flyboy2610 Fun fact, my nickname is "Pooh Bear." My mother gave me that nickname for some reason. Liked it, then hated it when I was a teen, then reembraced it again in my late 20s or early 30s! But I digress!
 
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When my son was born, he was full term but not very big. His nickname was "Smurf".
My favorite character from the Winnie the Pooh books and TV specials was always Eeyore. I don't know why, I just loved him then and still do!
Eeyore.jpg


Doesn't need to be a reason, I suppose. Wouldn't matter, anyway. Never does.
 
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