I have a RailKing triplex 30-1337-1 that both rear (red) tender lights quit working on, what is the likely hood that both bulbs burned out at once? The connector is plugged in and I can purchase the lights with wires from MTH but if it is more likely to be more than replacing the bulbs, it probably outside of my skill level. I do have a good volt/ohm meter but I don't know what voltage I should be looking for. Any thoughts?
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It is 6 volt bulb so plug it into the 2.4V battery and see if it lights. If so can be a defective wire (broken solder joint under heat shrink), bad board fet, bad pv. So hard to say, but easy to test bulb. G
@terryd73 posted:I have a RailKing triplex 30-1337-1 that both rear (red) tender lights quit working on, what is the likely hood that both bulbs burned out at once? The connector is plugged in and I can purchase the lights with wires from MTH but if it is more likely to be more than replacing the bulbs, it probably outside of my skill level. I do have a good volt/ohm meter but I don't know what voltage I should be looking for. Any thoughts?
Couple of things about this:
#1 it's a PS2 controlled light- so doing a reset, or even better using DCS and going down through the menu system to ensure the markers are on digitally is probably where I would start. I have seen engines where it's rare, but markers are off by default and you must have DCS and enable them. Again, making sure they are even turned on is kind of a first step.
From a DCS remote, click on the S5 key until the display shows more ->, then click on the S4 key. It will bring up a list of all the keys with a plain English description of their function. Scroll until you find the markers.
#2 Those marker lights might be LEDs in series- so if one failed, the pair is dead. It's a Y harness but again, rather than parallel, they might be in series.
MTH's new website has links for the manual and the parts listings https://www.mthtrains.com/products/30-1337-1
I filtered the list using the word "red" and it comes up
FYI, the marker lights as wired in PS2 and PS3 do not have a current limiting resistor- so I would caution that plugging into a 2.4V battery may not work (not enough forward voltage) and the lack of current limiting isn't ideal if you did have enough voltage.
If they are wired in parallel, yes the voltage is less, but if in series- probably close to that 6V but with current limiting is required to not instantly burn them out.
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