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Hello- I just received the new Kato n scale ALC-42 locomotive with regular DC power. When I turned on the power of my layout for the first time running it, the front and rear lights didn’t turn on. I did install the optional Kato lighting kit for the engine bay after running it and those lights work fine. The engine also works fine.
Checking to see if anyone has encountered this issue. I plan on reaching out to Kato directly as I’m thinking the directional front and rear lights should work regardless of the optional engine pay light I installed.
thank you!
-Chris
Hello- I just received the new Kato n scale ALC-42 locomotive with regular DC power. When I turned on the power of my layout for the first time running it, the front and rear lights didn’t turn on. I did install the optional Kato lighting kit for the engine bay after running it and those lights work fine. The engine also works fine.
Checking to see if anyone has encountered this issue. I plan on reaching out to Kato directly as I’m thinking the directional front and rear lights should work regardless of the optional engine pay light I installed.
thank you!
-Chris
Did the lights work before you installed the optional lighting kit? if they did, then you need to check your wiring.
Did the lights work before you installed the optional lighting kit? if they did, then you need to check your wiring.
Hello! The lights didn’t work before installing the lighting kit. Thank you.
Hello! The lights didn’t work before installing the lighting kit. Thank you.
I'm not that familiar with Kato lighting kits, I'm assuming you've checked that the lights aren't already blown, and everything is wired correctly so you'll need to check the power feed wire's, could well be a broken wire or soldering has come loose.
I'm not that familiar with Kato lighting kits, I'm assuming you've checked that the lights aren't already blown, and everything is wired correctly so you'll need to check the power feed wire's, could well be a broken wire or soldering has come loose.
Sounds good. I'm not too handy when it comes to checking for the wires as n scale is a little small for me to see everything but I am pretty confident it might be a wire issue. The engine is brand new so had to be something defective from the factory.
Sounds good. I'm not too handy when it comes to checking for the wires as n scale is a little small for me to see everything but I am pretty confident it might be a wire issue. The engine is brand new so had to be something defective from the factory.
As it's brand new, it will be under warranty, so I suggest you carefully remove the lighting kit and contact the dealer you bought it from, explain that the lights don't work and ask for a replacement, or as you said in your original post, contact Kato directly.
As it's brand new, it will be under warranty, so I suggest you carefully remove the lighting kit and contact the dealer you bought it from, explain that the lights don't work and ask for a replacement, or as you said in your original post, contact Kato directly.
Update to the issue with the KATO N Scale ALC-42 front and backup lights not working. I live in Mount Prospect, IL so I was able to drive over to the Kato USA headquarters in Schaumburg, IL. Spoke with a couple of the staff members (very nice people). We opened up the shell again to check the light circuit board on top of the engine. The one I had was BLACK and the one that KATO installs should have been GREEN. They switched the light circuit board to the correct GREEN one and the lights now work. A Kato staff member wrote down the issue in case the Kato factory had sent out any other units with the incorrect circuit board. Hopefully my engine was the only one that had this issue. Just wanted to post here so everyone was aware in case you come across this issue for your ALC-42. Thank you!
Update to the issue with the KATO N Scale ALC-42 front and backup lights not working. I live in Mount Prospect, IL so I was able to drive over to the Kato USA headquarters in Schaumburg, IL. Spoke with a couple of the staff members (very nice people). We opened up the shell again to check the light circuit board on top of the engine. The one I had was BLACK and the one that KATO installs should have been GREEN. They switched the light circuit board to the correct GREEN one and the lights now work. A Kato staff member wrote down the issue in case the Kato factory had sent out any other units with the incorrect circuit board. Hopefully my engine was the only one that had this issue. Just wanted to post here so everyone was aware in case you come across this issue for your ALC-42. Thank you!
Great, glad you got it sorted out.
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