MTH E6 illuminated number boards question, PICTURES ADDED

Most (ALL?) of their premier diesels do have lights for each. The number board lights can sometimes be attached to the motor cover housing. It depends on each model and where there's room.

 Sometimes, someone has removed the shell and not taken care on replacing it. There can be springs that carry the current to these lights that need to be in the correct place.

Looks like it has PS3 and are these:

https://mthtrains.com/20-20461-1

Hit LNB softkey.  That is lighted number boards.

Engineer Joe,

I don't usually do repairs myself so I'm rarely under the hood of my engines but I didn't see anything like what you suggest. I'll have to open them up again. I did see springs but they looked to be in contact with the smoke unit. Thanks for your reply.

Engineer-Joe posted:

Looks like it has PS3 and are these:

https://mthtrains.com/20-20461-1

yes that is the set I have

Marty Fitzhenry posted:

Hit LNB

Marty, I did that and a factory reset. Thanks for the reply.

I did have a brand new engine a few years back that the one LED marker didn't work. Although it seemed weird to MTH and I that only one was out, they sent me a new set.

 You can test the LEDs with batteries if your careful and know how much power to put in the right place. Else, let a tech look at it.

Marty Fitzhenry posted:

Hit LNB softkey.  That is lighted number boards.

that should have been the first thing to do. I slipped again.

Is there a bracket on the nose of the chassis with LEDs in it.  Normally for E and F units the bracket on the chassis has lights and only markers are attached to shell.  Additionally, the interior lights are on a motor cover at the front, and probably low near the chassis.

If those LED not lite do the reset (feature) with DCS or Conventional Reset if not using DCS.  G

here are inside pictures of my E6 set. Notice the non connected electrical plugs.

What is at front on the chassis?  G

G, are these pictures any better for what you are looking for?  thanks

These appear to be the number board illumination bulbs.

They go to the springs here.  Check if the springs are actually making contact and that the plug under the springs isn't pulled out. 

Check the wiring to this contact pad, it mates with those springs.  If the springs aren't making good contact, or there's a broken or loose wire here, the boards will not light.

GRJ,

I thought the bulbs you are pointing out are the marker lights which are working fine. I was hoping the number boards in the middle of the engine would illuminate. Also the cab interior isn't lighting either.

thanks for your help.

Gerry, can you send us a picture of the number boards your talking about. You stated "middle of the engine". As far as the boards on the nose, it looks to me that in your very first picture, the bulbs in the black metal bracket for the number board, are not pushed through the rubber grommet far enough. Just to make sure they light at all, try starting the engine without the shell on it and see if the do light up. If they do, push the bulbs through the grommet enough to get them closer to the number board when the shell is in place. The bracket may also need to be bent forward or back a bit to get the bulbs to line up better too. Also, the cab light is only meant to be on when the engine is sitting still. Once you pull out, it turns off.

Well, the number boards are right there as well, so if they're not lit, there's no provision for lighting then in the shell.

This would be where the bulbs would be to light those, and I don't see any bulbs.  Is that harness perhaps left out of your unit?  Are the number boards translucent so that the light would come through?

Marker lights are lit on both units. I'm thinking the #13 number board should be lit. Maybe I'm mistaken? thanks again to everyone helping me with this.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Well, the number boards are right there as well, so if they're not lit, there's no provision for lighting then in the shell.

This would be where the bulbs would be to light those, and I don't see any bulbs.  Is that harness perhaps left out of your unit?  Are the number boards translucent so that the light would come through?

No translucent number board as you can see in my new pictures. Maybe because Santa Fe had number boards on the sides of their E6s? I was hoping those boards would be illuminated.

Nope, never seen those illuminated.  The only ones that it would seem possible are the ones on the nose.  Since they don't have numbers, they're obviously not lit.

You could, of course, get the number boards for the nose and light them pretty simply, the brackets for the lights are already there.  From the image below, it appears that translucent number boards would fit in the proper place to match the lights.  There are a number of techniques for producing the proper numbers on blank number boards.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Nope, never seen those illuminated.  The only ones that it would seem possible are the ones on the nose.  Since they don't have numbers, they're obviously not lit.

You could, of course, get the number boards for the nose and light them pretty simply, the brackets for the lights are already there.  From the image below, it appears that translucent number boards would fit in the proper place to match the lights.  There are a number of techniques for producing the proper numbers on blank number boards.

GRJ,

Thank you. Mystery solved. I thought the large number boards on the sides of the A units were supposed to be lit. I guess MTH uses a stock sticker on their boxes and in their instruction manual because it says they should be illuminated.

Are those 3 electrical connectors concerning at all? should they be connected somewhere?

thanks again!

The extra electrical connections are for stuff like rear lighting, but since you don't have any, they're not used.  If all the lights, smoke, couplers, etc. are working, they're obviously not used.   They are most likely using a standard wiring harness and just plugging in the features that the particular locomotive uses.  You could probably light the number boards with one of those connectors, assuming the sound & chain files have them active.

Yes, those pictures help.  You have an interior light, push it out of the grommet more and into the cab area.  Remember it goes off when engine is moving for PS-3.  Looks like MTH did not have illuminated NB on this model.  They would go on those side grommets and could be added if the NL are clear.

The added connectors are probably ditch lights and just extra.  I think MTH is using the standard diesel harness so there will be extra unused connectors.  No worry on those.  G

Gerry, we all assumed you were speaking of the front number boards because that is what we are accustomed to. Thank you for clarifying that you meant the middle. I'm scratching my head now because I have the E-8 set still in the box. Does anyone know if there like this too?

The cab light LED in PS/3 doesn't illuminate like the incandescent bulbs did for PS/2, it's more directional.  I like LED's for most of the engine lighting, the cab light is one place that I keep incandescent when I can.