Bachmann GS-4 light issue


malibu43

malibu43

Active Member
I have a Bachmann DCC GS4 from about 2009 or 2010. It's been very rarely used and I only use it on a DC loop with 22" radius curves.

I've observed that when running forward, the headlight shuts off when going around the curve and then comes back on on the straight section. When running in reverse, the light on the tender stays on all the way around the loop.

I dont understand enough about how it's wired to figure out or fix why this is happening, especially given that it's wired through the DCC decoder.

Does anyone have any experience with the light wiring in this Loco (or a similar one) and have any idea why this is happening?

Thanks!
 
I remember some of those grounding the headlight to the pickup of the pilot truck. If yours is the same, it could simply be losing contact with ground as it goes around a curve. Does it do the same on both left and right curves?
 
So I flipped the locomotive around and ran it the other way around the loop. Tender light still stays on all the time when in reverse. However, now when running forward the headlight stays on in the curve and shuts off on the straight.

It definitely seems to have to do with the pickups/grounding for DC light operation being forced against rails in a turn, but beyond that I'm still not sure what to do next...
 
Weird. Just tried the second direction again (clockwise) and the headlight works the entire way around. Still cuts out on the corners when going counter clockwise.
 
You probably need to open it up and check the factory wiring job on your light bulb. I've seen and fixed some pretty poor factory wiring, soldering, and assembly work on all trains in all scales that were produced in China.
 
So, while handling the locomotive and messing with things trying to figure out what was happening, one of the wires pulled out of the plug that runs from the tender to the locomotive. I've tried to fix one of those before and it was a PIA. I'm just going to pay the $50 plus shipping for Bachmann to fix the plug and the lighting issue all at once. The failing wire could have been related to the light anyway...
 
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