I selected the Richmond Controls Golden White LED for the rear
to have a color balance with their SMD LED in the headlight.
Once the LED and resistor are in place, I use a 9-volt battery
to test for operation. With one polarity, the LED should light.
With the opposite polarity, it should be dark. Note or mark the
tab that is connected to the positive battery lead when the LED
lights (12).
Install about 6 inches of blue wire to the tab that was positive
when the LED lit. Install about 6 inches of yellow wire on the
other tab. I used the 30 AWG wire from TCS.
Route the wires out through the gray plastic holder (12). Save
this assembly for use when the loco is put back together.
3.2 Front light
I selected a Richmond Controls Golden White SMD LED for the
front light, as it saves valuable room inside the loco. Now is the
time to install that LED, so that the glue can dry. Richmond sells
12
12: Rear light assembly with blue wire tab marked (+).
DCC Impulses column - 7
3.0 Preliminary Assembly
My next step is to install the new lights in the shell. This way,
the glue can be setting up while you are doing other tasks. If
you send the frame halves to George for machining, it will be
a few days to a couple of weeks before you have them back to
reassemble the loco. If you machine the frame yourself, count
on a few hours work in the shop, see section 4.
3.1 Rear light
Find the rear light assembly you removed from the cab. The
rear light assembly comes apart by pulling the circuit board out
from the gray plastic housing.
Remove the copper strips, the 270-ohm resistor and the yel-
low LED from the board. Install a 750-ohm 1/4-watt or 1/8-
watt resistor and a Golden White 3 mm LED from Richmond
Controls. Don’t worry about polarity on either item at this
point. The resistor has no polarity issues and we’ll determine
the LED’s polarity later.
11
11: The frame halves split before drive train removal.
MRH-Jan 2013
