Repairing a Walthers 2-8-8-2 wiring harness and headlight

[Rasputen]

I'm repairing a Walthers 2nd run 2-8-8-2 for a fellow Railwire member.  For anyone who has a bunch of Life-Like/Walthers steamers, I was able to find the crimp-on pins and six pin 1.0mm pitch JST-SH connector shells from the eBay seller eitiwu in Hong Kong.  With the individual pieces you can make your own engine-tender harness with some nice black flexible wire. 

My problem is I noticed that the headlight doesn't work.  Has anyone ever removed the light from its housing??  I don't want to damage the housing since there are no parts available.  Is the front headlight a bulb???  I plugged an LED into the little PCB under the cab and it works fine.

[peteski]

Yes, it is a 1.5V light bulb.  The decoder has a resistor on the headlight function output, so the 1.5V bulb doesn't burn out.

I have taken it out and replaced it with a SMD 0603 LED.  IIRC, the headlight housing is not even glued to the steam pipe it sits on, and the bulb is just pressed into it (no glue). 

[Rasputen]

Thanks Peteski - I'll see what I can do. 

[peteski]

You're welcome.

0603 LED is a tight fit. I think I had to slightly bevel the corners (and the wires were soldered on the back (bottom) of the LED.  A 0402 LED would be easier to fit.  Once I bent the wires down and installed the headlight housing onto the pipe I sealed the back of the headlight with 5-minute epoxy, then painted it black, so the light doesn't shine through the back.  I had the model totally taken apart so this was fairly east do.

The resistor on the decoder might need to be supplemented by additional series-connected resistor to reduce the LEDs brightness.  That extra resistor can be placed on the circuit board of the loco (replacing one of the zero-ohm shunts installed there). Here are the headlight components apart and the steam pipe on which it is installed. As you can see, the headlight housing plugs into one hole, while the wires are passed through the other hole.

[haasmarc]

I wish I could get a couple of those traction tire drivers.  I just got a pre-traction driver version from my dad and it just doesn't pull very well.

[Rasputen]

Maybe you could cut a groove into the existing driver??  If I can ever find one that someone is parting out, I'll give it a try.

[Boilerman]

I have machined a groove in several of my Bachmann 2-6-6-2's for traction tires and had no issues in doing so, but have never done a Walthers 2-8-8-2, I would think it could be done.
Have you thought about using Bull Frog Snot?
I have used it on a couple of my locks that the traction tires had wore out and have had excellent success with it.

[peteski]

I wish I could get a couple of those traction tire drivers.  I just got a pre-traction driver version from my dad and it just doesn't pull very well.

Unfortunatley the drivers from the Walthers (2nd) run (if you could find one) cannot be used to retrofit the initial run models.

[Paradise275]

peteski, there were two sets of traction tire drivers included with the 2nd run Walthers 2-8-8-2.
The one you fixed for me (as shown in your photo) only had one set installed. I think I need to install the second set to increase the pulling power.
I think the loco being repaired belongs to another member of our club. LOL

Rick

[Mark5]

Yes, it is a 1.5V light bulb.  The decoder has a resistor on the headlight function output, so the 1.5V bulb doesn't burn out.

I have taken it out and replaced it with a SMD 0603 LED.  IIRC, the headlight housing is not even glued to the steam pipe it sits on, and the bulb is just pressed into it (no glue).

Cool Pete - does that LED have a "yellowish" cast to it?

Mark

[peteski]

peteski, there were two sets of traction tire drivers included with the 2nd run Walthers 2-8-8-2.
The one you fixed for me (as shown in your photo) only had one set installed. I think I need to install the second set to increase the pulling power.
I think the loco being repaired belongs to another member of our club. LOL

Rick

Are you sure about this Rick?
I also have both the 1st and 2nd run of the loco.  The second run only has one set of drivers with the TT (the rearmost drivers on the rear engine).  There is a spare set of geared drivers included in the box, but it is without the traction tires. It is included in case someone wants to  get rid of the TT.  Similar to what brass manufacturers to - they include both, TT and plain set of drivers for the modeler to decide which to use.

If you notice on your loco, the TT-equipped driver is gear driven and has no crank pins. This allows for replacing the TT without needing to pull off the siderods.  On that engine both the 3rd (main) and 4th (TT-equipped) drivers are gear driven.
The other engine only has the 3rd (main) driver set geared. And the 4th driver set on that engine is crankpin driven.  I suppose that if you did have a spare gear-driven driver set you could install it on that engine as the 3rd (main) driver. But that would make replacing the TT really painful since the crankpins and rods would have to be removed from at least the rear 2 drivers for tire replacement.

[peteski]

Cool Pete - does that LED have a "yellowish" cast to it?

Mark

Yes, it was a warm-white LED which came out of another Mallet tender (its rear light).  It does have a "yellowish" cast.