Model Railroading > Bowser SP C628 Nose light (mars light) fix

I recently acquired a Bowser SP C-628 with LokSound Select factory installed.  The instructions show F5 as the function to activate the mars/gyralight.  My noselight came on with the headlight and did not oscillate...Time to tear it open and see what we can do...

Removed the couplers and the shell came off fairly easy. I noticed that two red wires went to the nose light and the cab headlight and confirmed they are the positive lead (so far so good).  Each had a brown wire return to the board in the same location.  Ok - that explains why they come on together.  I found the last pin on the plug shown in the photo (firemans side / left side of loco) was the ground for the "AUX 1" function of the decoder.  I cut the brown wire coming from the nose light - seen in the lower left of the photo and attached it to the location in the photo.

At that point, I had a flashing light.  Unfortunately, they programmed it as a rotary beacon...D'OH
I changed the function to a mars flash via the software and added a diffusing piece of tissue to the front of the LED since it seemed too intense and had a couple of real "hot" spots of intensity.

Now my only question: Were these MARS lights like the early GP30's or were they gyralights?  The decoder can be programmed for either flash/pulse pattern.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/15 21:09 by KA7008.

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Excellent!   Much Thanks for the tip!

The C628s were all delivered with MARS lights, not Gyralites, so go with the "Mars" lighting effect.   

Cheers,
Harry



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/15 21:39 by tracktime.

You can remove the plug, thread the wire through the hole and solder to the pin.  Replace the plug.  

Or, for the non-solder savvy folks: you can strip the end of the wire a little bit, slip into the opening making contact with the pin and tape the first inch into place so it can't back out.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/15 21:59 by KA7008.

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tracktime Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Excellent!   Much Thanks for the tip!
>
> The C628s were all delivered with MARS lights, not
> Gyralites, so go with the "Mars" lighting effect.
>   
>
> Cheers,
> Harry

Ah, no they were equipped with Gyralites. Saw them in operation.

http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/sp/sp4866rsb.jpg

Bob

ATSF100WEST......Out

ATSF100WEST Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> tracktime Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Excellent!   Much Thanks for the tip!
> >
> > The C628s were all delivered with MARS lights,
> not
> > Gyralites, so go with the "Mars" lighting
> effect.
> >   
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Harry
>
> Ah, no they were equipped with Gyralites. Saw them
> in operation.
>
> http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/sp/sp4866rsb.jpg
>
> Bob
>
> ATSF100WEST......Out

Actually, the housing in that prototype photo is a Mars light, not a Gyralite.  Quick spotting feature of a Mars brand light are rubber gaskets surrounding each lens, a "flatter" housing face, and twin screw downs and hinges on each side.  A Gyralite (specifically a model 20585, the counterpart to the Mars light in the photo), in comparison, is gasket-less (its lenses are gasketed from behind, between a rim on each lens and the rear of the lens openings on the case), has a more radiused face, and has a pair of hinges on one side, and single screw down wing nut on the other.  

http://trainweb.org/gyra/specs/20585.htm
http://trainweb.org/gyra/specs/20585dim.htm

It's possible that SP swapped lights in later years, especially as Mars brand lights fell out of favor, but as built, I agree with Harry...they came with Mars lights.  Of course, photos of the prototype in a given era should be the final arbitrator.  



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/15 23:18 by SP_8299.

>
> Ah, no they were equipped with Gyralites. Saw them
> in operation.
>
> http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/sp/sp4866rsb.jpg
>

The photo you refer to of the SP 4866 clearly shows a set of oscillating signal lights built by the Mars Signal Co.  You can tell it is a MARS light due to the four-bolt light housing in the nose, to say nothing of the square MARS red signal light between the number boards.  From a brief review of my photos, the majority of the C628s kept their MARS brand signal lights through their entire lifetimes. Exceptions include the 3114, and perhaps a few others. As SP_8299 says, review photos carefully, and let that be your guide.

Cheers,
Harry

Harry is right!

Regards, Jim Evans

tracktime Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Ah, no they were equipped with Gyralites. Saw
> them
> > in operation.
> >
> > http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/sp/sp4866rsb.jpg
> >
>
> The photo you refer to of the SP 4866 clearly
> shows a set of oscillating signal lights built by
> the Mars Signal Co.  You can tell it is a MARS
> light due to the four-bolt light housing in the
> nose, to say nothing of the square MARS red signal
> light between the number boards. 


For me the easier rule of thumb is to look for the rubber gaskets around the lenses.  If there, Mars; if not, Pyle.

Thanks for the tip. I picked my SP one this afternoon and made your correction. Works great. One question for you. How did you get the couplers out past the plow? When I did it I had to take the plows off which in turn caused the MU hoses to pop off. Not to happy about that. The other thing, I was adjusting the brighness and boom, the Mars light stopped working. After a bit of playing around and panic, I had visions of taking it apart again, I did a factory reset and all is back to normal. I changed the light type to Mars and left the rest alone. Looks great and runs really well too. Thanks agian for your insite and solution.