Kato caboose lighting help sought.

[kmcsjr]

Hi.
 I just bought Kato caboose 29500. It has tail lights that only light in reverse. I would like them to be always on. Is this possible? If so, can someone tell me how? Thank you.
Marty

[CaptOblivious]

All things are possible. :) one of our members has an excellent tutorial on jjust this topic on his blog:
http://modelrail.otenko.com/dcc/dcc-directional-lighting-without-a-decoder

[David]

The difficulty with Kato's Wafu 29500 car is that it's not an easy to get at the lightboard as far as I can see - since it's red and doesn't need to be bright, it seems like the entire lighting assembly apart from pickup is small and thin enough to be hidden inside two layers of plastic that are glued together to make up the rear balcony of the car. My guess is that there isn't even a proper lense - the diode may be flush with the secondary plastic lens used to direct light to the two small holes.

I'd need to take apart one of mine to be 100% sure if there isn't a board hidden inside the floor or inside the boxcar portion on the opposite side with a hidden connector line. Oh, and just to be sure, this is the N gauge version, not the HO (not sure if Kato has an HO 29500, they do have a Yo 8000 in both scales).

[David]

Ok, it is possible to take part the car, I'm just not sure of the exact process (didn't want to break the one I was using).

First, make sure you haven't applied the detail parts (the little brake), as that whole back end has to slide off. On the underside near the rear you'll see two very tiny pegs holding the rear balcony to the bottom. This back piece need to be carefully lifted off. From there it is possible to pull on the shell from roughly the middle on both side (same method as removing the shell from a passenger car) and then gently push down on the coupler on the front to ease the bottom off a bit - once this is done you'll need to figure out how to slide it off without snapping anything - the rear lights appear to actually be attached to the floor of the rear balcony, and inside there is some huge brass colored thing inside (I didn't get past it being partially opened, as my actions where threatening to break off the two little step ladders).

I'm guessing that once you get it apart it should be possible to then modify the board that is now clearly inside the boxcar portion and connected through wires/strips embedded in the floor to the rear.

[kmcsjr]

David
Thank you for taking the time to risk your caboose there. Wow, I don't remember the last time someone put there caboose on the line for me....  . Sorry couldn't resist.
It is N Scale.  I originally posted in N Scale.
I did try disassembling before posting. I got about as far as you did. I thought I could just reverse something. I am running DC mode.

Here's the thing. It only lights in reverse.... Is that correct? It seems such a waste of a lighting board. I thought i could just swap the orientation on something, but it looks kinda overly complex in there.
Since it lights in reverse no matter which way it is oriented, I don't know if swapping will help..... With my luck, the front lights would then light, and only in reverse lol.

So 2 things
1) Is it only suposed to light in reverse? If not I will contact Plaza Japan, but it's a tough return on a $15ish item.
2) Has anyone figured a way to reverse this without major surgery?

[kmcsjr]

Well....  Turns out, I was going about this backwards! Turns out The old Arnold Steamer I was pullng this with runs backwards!!! Anyway, i took it apart. I took some pictures. The caboose comes apart OK. If you've had yours open, the big gold thing slides out ant then you can remove the board. I'm gonna post the pics on a forum where I know how to post pics. If I get an answer on how to jumper it so it is always on, I will post it here. Also, if anyone wants to see the guts, point me to a reference on posting pics. Thanks

[stevenh]

You can simply attach pictures to your posts? In the "Additional Options..." area.

Meanwhile, there must be a diode (apart from the LED) that stops the reverse current... or if it's an LED, then you'll need to put a bridge-rectifier on there like in the link provided above.

If it is the former and just a diode, then remove it and join the link.

[CaptOblivious]

Well....  Turns out, I was going about this backwards! Turns out The old Arnold Steamer I was pullng this with runs backwards!!! Anyway, i took it apart. I took some pictures. The caboose comes apart OK. If you've had yours open, the big gold thing slides out ant then you can remove the board. I'm gonna post the pics on a forum where I know how to post pics. If I get an answer on how to jumper it so it is always on, I will post it here. Also, if anyone wants to see the guts, point me to a reference on posting pics. Thanks

Excellent, I'm glad we have a reason for the problem!

Do you still want it to light in both directions, though? Stevenh is the man to talk to about that.

[David]

David
Thank you for taking the time to risk your caboose there. Wow, I don't remember the last time someone put there caboose on the line for me....  . Sorry couldn't resist.
It is N Scale.  I originally posted in N Scale.
I did try disassembling before posting. I got about as far as you did. I thought I could just reverse something. I am running DC mode.

Here's the thing. It only lights in reverse.... Is that correct? It seems such a waste of a lighting board. I thought i could just swap the orientation on something, but it looks kinda overly complex in there.
Since it lights in reverse no matter which way it is oriented, I don't know if swapping will help..... With my luck, the front lights would then light, and only in reverse lol.

So 2 things
1) Is it only suposed to light in reverse? If not I will contact Plaza Japan, but it's a tough return on a $15ish item.
2) Has anyone figured a way to reverse this without major surgery?

This whole time I thought you where trying to make it light up regardless of direction (so you could back up with the light still on).

Yeah, as your later post discovered, it's your loco. The 29500 tail lights up when the train is moving forward. If you get the two sided Yo models (Yo 5000 coming in June, so I don't have to buy a 5 car set just to get it!) have lights on both sides, and only the side facing the rear of the train will light up (as long as the train is moving forwards - it gets weird when you reverse).