I am currently installing R/C and battery power in a Bachmann 3 truck Shay that I have had for about 5 years. I am using the Revolution for the R/C. I have the wiring diagram that Bob Hyman had put together, but he used the Air Wire and Phoenix Sound. I have also found 2 videos on YouTube that pretty much walks you through the installation, however they also used the Air Wire System. I have figured almost everything out for the installation of the Revolution with the exception of the Firebox light and the Ash pan flicker lights. Has anyone installed the Revo in a Bachmann 3 truck Shay and if so how do you wire the Firebox and Ashpan flicker lights. All help and suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Colin Criswell

Colin Criswell said:

I am currently installing R/C and battery power in a Bachmann 3 truck Shay that I have had for about 5 years. I am using the Revolution for the R/C. I have the wiring diagram that Bob Hyman had put together, but he used the Air Wire and Phoenix Sound. I have also found 2 videos on YouTube that pretty much walks you through the installation, however they also used the Air Wire System. I have figured almost everything out for the installation of the Revolution with the exception of the Firebox light and the Ash pan flicker lights. Has anyone installed the Revo in a Bachmann 3 truck Shay and if so how do you wire the Firebox and Ashpan flicker lights. All help and suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Colin Criswell

Colin,

This is a pretty heavy question! I cannot help the however, I believe there are a few that can. Nice to see you posting questions !

This post has been edited by :Rooster…never put a comma after HOWEVER

I have a 2 truck Shay that I converted to the RailBoss 4 RC. I am relatively certain that I just hooked the two wires of the flicker board to the battery (14.8v) terminals on the RailBoss board. It does ficker at a constant rate and does not flicker faster or slower based upon the engine’s speed which is good enough for me. I did this a number of years ago and did not take very good notes so I’d have to disassemble it to check my recollection.

You might want to review your wiring diagram for your engine to see if something similar would work for you. There is also a discussion on George Schreyer’s site regarding the Flickering Firebox and Cab Lights, perhaps there is something suitable there for you.

Mark, there are 3 wires to both the ashpan and the firebox. So acording to George Schreyer there is a Red and a Yellow LED. So I assume that one wire goes to the red and one goes to the yellow LED and the other is the common. I am concerned that the LED’s will not take 14.8 v. or 16.6 v when fully charged and will burn out. I guess I need to run it at track power and test the voltage output to the LED’s in the ashpit and fire box.

If you have the same flicker board as this diagram, it will take track voltage:

But if you don’t have this separate board, and the filcker comes from the main board, it’s a different case. This is from George’s site.

If you are just trying to hook directly to the LEDs, yes, you will burn them out and they will not flicker.

Update: https://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/dwg/dwgs/82494.pdf shows the wiring…

The flicker circuit is on the main board. So you would want to power the main board to get it to flicker… I would get a separate flicker board if you want them to flicker.

Greg

Thanks Greg. So since I could not find a separate board for the flicker lights in the Ash Pan and Fire box I decided that it really was not needed for what I will be using this locomotive for. Then as Greg said I might need to leave the main board in and power them from that board. Since I had not removed all of the wires from the main PCB I connected power back up to it. The fire box lit up and flickered. The Ashpan did not since I had already removed those wires. So I proceeded to remove the remaining wires. I then tried it again. Nothing this time. Then I saw that I had removed 6 wires that went to another PCB. So I soldered those 6 wires back on. (What a pain in the A$$ that was). Well that worked. The firebox lit up again. So I then proceeded to solder on the 3 wires for the Ashpan. I would get one soldered on and one of the other wires would break off. Anyway after finally getting them all soldered back on I tried it again and NOTHING worked. So somehow I must have fried the PCB with all of the heat I was using to solder the wires on.

I contacted Bachmann to see if I could buy another PCB. The one they use now does not match the one I have and they do not have anyother replacements. So if anyone has a spare or one they have taken out for their battery/rc conversion please let me know and what you are willing to let it go for.

If all else fails I will just not have the Firebox and Ashpan flicker. Most people would not see it anyway.

Thanks again for all of the help.

Colin

Contact TOC, and you can identify the board(s) perhaps he has some… you might also contact people who do the conversions and still tear out all the boards.

Greg

There is the Massoth Firebox Light module. I purchased one for my Bachmann Heisler but haven’t gotten around to installing it yet. I’m assuming that it will work as advertised.

Made mine out of a $5.00 voltage reducer board and 1 yellow and 1 red 3mm LED works great

Yeah, but do they flicker? Most leds stay on solid, and some blink, but flickering?

Greg

True flickering 3mm LEDs

Greg Elmassian said:

Yeah, but do they flicker? Most leds stay on solid, and some blink, but flickering?

Greg

Yes they flicker just like the one pictured by Chris, also put some in my drover caboose stove in the cowboy section and it lights up the interior with a flickering fire looks cool as all at night

Hi Colin, those of us who do installs use Evans LEDS. https://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/collections/hobby-leds/products/flickering-led?variant=23143382253616

They come prewire for your voltage range and have 3 sizes and several colors $3.85 ea. Just connect them to your battery source.

Don

Nice simple solution. Thanks.

Greg

Yes thanks Don. I have ordered the LED’s. I know I can get to the Ashpan without any problem. The Firebox may be much harder to get to. Anyway, I will take some pictures when I get everything that is needed and post them here.