Gp40 lights too dim

[Gone loco]

Hi all, I have just purchased  a dcc version of a bachmann GP40 , the lights are yellow and are too dim, is it possible to increase the density of the lights, hope someone can help,
P.s I use a digitrax dcs51 zepher system, thanks in advance.

[Doneldon]

loco-

Some Bachmann locos use small LEDs and a light pipe resulting in a fairly dim headlight. You can put a brighter LED in or use a surface mount LED right in the light fixture if you want more intense light.
                                                                                                            -- D

[Gone loco]

Thanks for that info, I was thinking that that would be a solution, but,  I heard that the lights may be able to be adjusted by my digitrax zepher, can anyone confirm this?

[richg]

I have never heard of this with the diesels but you could try a decoder reset. CV8, enter 8.

I know the dim light issue exist with some the Bachmann steamers.

You could replace the decoder board with the NCE Bach-DSL decoder which comes with the LED's on the decoder. Specifically made for Bachmann DCC diesels.

There is a HO forum here also.

Rich

[AGSB]

With the headlight turned on, my Dynamis controller will alternate the headlight between high intensity and low intensity by pushing the F1 button.
I have a Bachmann GP9 locomotive.

[jward]

been running with a zephyr for 9 years. I have never come across any references to controlling the intensity of headlights with dcc, other than the 3 basic settings, bright, dim and off.  somebody can correct me if i'm wrong, but I don't think you can control the brightness in any dcc decoders functions. the Bachmann decoders supplied in your gp40 are very basic, stripped down decoders. anything as sophisticated as user defined brightness would not be supported by these decoders.

your best bet would be to replace the led headlights with something brighter.

[AGSB]

Even the cheapest TCS and Digitrax decoders allow the dimming of headlights (Rule 17) to be mapped to the controller function keys.

I don't follow your response, "I have never come across any references to controlling the intensity of headlights with dcc, other than the 3 basic settings, bright, dim and off." If you don't control these with DCC how are you doing it?

Possibly the OP has inadvertently hit a function key and dimmed the headlight.

[jward]

the original poster was complaining about the dimness of the factory Bachmann  headlight. decoders can be programmed to adjust many things, headlights are not one of them. there is no cv you can reprogram which will make your headlights brighter.

[AGSB]

Got to disagree.
Download the spec sheets for the decoders, they all allow the dimming of headlights, even the Bachmann 2 function decoder, which I assume is in this engine. Also, I am telling you what I can do with my controller - a Dynamis basic system and a Bachmann GP9 engine #1725.

[jward]

if you disagree you are missing the point. dimming the headlights is not the same as adjusting the overall brightness.  put another way, you can adjust the top speed of a locomotive and the low speed to suit your taste, you can adjust the acceleration and deceleration rates. you cannot adjust the peak brightness of the headlights. you can dim them or turn them off, but you can't adjust how dim they are in the dim setting.

[Doneldon]

AGSB-

Don't confuse the ability to dim a light with the ability to brighten one. The dimming is used most often, I believe, for Rule 17 lighting which is only a dimming function. There is no further control about how dim or how bright the light will be. And there's a reason to keep factory lights as installed: upping the power to a bulb or LED is likely to substantially shorten the component's life. There's nothing like full voltage or over-voltage to burn through lights. That's why I suggested modifying the light circuit rather than going to additional voltage.

                                                                                                                                                                      -- D

[NarrowMinded]

I ''ll have to search my Pdf' s  but TCS DECODERS do have the ability to set the intesity there is also an incandescent or LED setting, it's been a while since I have played with my stock decoders in bachmann locks but it seems like I found at least the LED/incandescent setting in some obscure instruction sheet I had for them.

NM-Jeff

[jward]

I looked through the tcs decoder manual:

http://tcsdcc.com/public_html/Customer_Content/Technical_Info/Tech_Manuals/Comprehensive%20Programming%20Guide.pdf

the only intensity adjustment I could find was an intensity adjustment of the dimming feature and other lighting effects such as mars lights or ditch lights. the overall headlight brightness cannot be adjusted.

that said, it wouldn't be too hard technically speaking for that feature to be built into a decoder. but I've never run across it anywhere. currently, I am using decoders by atlas, Bachmann, digitrax, nce and tcs. none of them support an adjustment to overall headlight brightness.

doneldon,
you mentioned keeping the original lighting configuration so as not to exceed the capabilities of the decoder I,e voltage and current. i'm thinking that decoders designed to operate incandescent lights should have no trouble operating led headlights. the advantage of leds is twofold: they don't burn out when properly installed, and their current consumption is far less than the equivalent incandescent bulb. therefore, by converting the headlight to an led you should be able to adjust brightness by varying the series resistor used with the led. this won't work if the decoder outputs are designed for leds as the resistors would be part of the decoder. but correct me if i'm wrong here, aren't most incandescent headlights operating at a higher voltage than an led? which would make the external series resistor a necessity if you are going to convert your headlight to led. and as I mentioned before, varying the value of this external resistor is your brightness adjustment......

[AGSB]

No, I am not saying you can increase or decrease the overall intensity of the headlight, what I am trying to say is that possibly the OP has inadvertently hit a function key on his controller and has "dimmed" the headlight per the Rule 17 function. On my controller this is a latch function.

[GG1onFordsDTandI]

You've all stated pretty much the same thing, in different ways, all while seeming say "no wrong" to each other .
Try to "read between the lines a bit folks. An art, language, is like paint, people don't all use it the same way .
My turn , Here what I got so far:
Any "light" is best used as mfg. intended. Maximum power to a light may, or may not be adjustable, depends on the board. The most likely way to adjust is cv 17 and is limited to three settings off/dim/bright(fine adjustments are not possible here). This function can be mapped to the keys(and posters train may be on dim). Increasing power, by cv adjustment, may be available for "bulb" engines(more research required). Drastically increasing power requirements of circuits is a bad idea without deep thought, more so for LEDs. IE, it is possible to increase LED brightness by changing to a brighter LED but the circuit may be "taxed" by it. Running brighter LED off an incandescent (higher amp) circuit is likely "safer".
How my finger painting!