N Scale J Class DCC Lights Issue

[callouscade]

Hello!

I just installed a SoundTraxx Micro Tsunami in my Bachmann N Scale J Class locomotive. This is my first time using DCC, and I was very excited on how easy everything was to setup and get going!

I'm having a problem with the lights however.... in forward, the forward AND Reverse light are on, but flicker sporadically and are relatively dim. In reverse, both the forward AND reverse light are STILL on, but bright and consistent. Does anyone know where I might start to look for where the problem is?

I will say that before the DCC installation, neither light worked in either direction.

Thanks
Cade

 

[MikeOwnby]

If the lights weren't working at all before you installed DCC you may have an existing fault in the factory circuit board that's going to make troubleshooting difficult. Barring that, also check that your own solder connections to the factory board aren't getting a little too friendly with one of their neighbors. I've generally found that when I have lights acting like that I've got something shorted and I need to figure out what before it burns something out in the decoder, but that was with the lights always working properly before the DCC install. Good luck.

 

[callouscade]

If the lights weren't working at all before you installed DCC you may have an existing fault in the factory circuit board that's going to make troubleshooting difficult. Barring that, also check that your own solder connections to the factory board aren't getting a little too friendly with one of their neighbors. I've generally found that when I have lights acting like that I've got something shorted and I need to figure out what before it burns something out in the decoder, but that was with the lights always working properly before the DCC install. Good luck.

Thanks for the reply! I did a lot of troubleshooting and discovered it IS for sure a faulty PCB in the tender of the locomotive.

I disconnected the engine from the tender and the reverse light worked in both directions. So I unplugged the decoder from the forward light control... and the reverse light worked normally, on in reverse and off in forward.
Then I took the reverse lead from the controller and put it on the forward light slot on the tender, and sure enough the reverse light came on in reverse, which should have been the front light, and turned off in forward (the forward lead was disconnected)
With the loco plugged in and the reverse light control from the decoder still on the forward light, boy lights turned on.
Sooo the forward light channel is shorting somewhere with the rear light.

I tried tracing the PCB to find a problem but there was nothing I could see on the surface. Just need a replacement PCB.

Thanks
Cade

 

[tootnkumin]

I'll chime in with a question for Mike if that's OK. Is there any reason the Bachmann board can't be discarded and the Tsunami Micro wired in, in it's place?

 

[callouscade]

I'll chime in with a question for Mike if that's OK. Is there any reason the Bachmann board can't be discarded and the Tsunami Micro wired in, in it's place?

One issue is the lights... you need all the resistors to power the LEDs without burning them up. If you could figure out what Resistors are needed, or replace the LEDs with ones you DO know what you need for, you could do that.

I don't believe the motor has any resistors or capacitors in line with it... I could be wrong though.

Cade

 

[MikeOwnby]

I'll chime in with a question for Mike if that's OK. Is there any reason the Bachmann board can't be discarded and the Tsunami Micro wired in, in it's place?

You can absolutely discard the Bachmann board, but then you really are working from scratch as far as putting resistors on the LEDs and such. The Bachmann board is just going to take up way less space and be more straightforward. You have all the required resistors put into what is basically the smallest practical space to run both the lighting and motor. Having said that, if you could actually come up with a smaller bundle of components, there's no reason not to. I'm just not sure in N-scale that you can do much better than the factory board where that's concerned.