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How Replace Mantua Locomotive Headlight?? Locos and rolling stock
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Regular poster 100 posts MtRR75 Regular poster 100 posts
MtRR75

This is my first attempt at upgrading a steam loco – specifically a Mantua 2-8-2.

Before I took the loco apart, it did run successfully on my layout.  However the headlight did not work.  When I opened up the loco, there was one wire from the motor to the front of the “shell” (see pics).  The wire was only holding by 1-2 threads, and it broke shortly thereafter.  The “shell” is one solid piece of metal, weighing in at 14.4 oz.

It appears that access to the lamp casing went through the large, round hole on the bottom of the shell.  In the center of the hole, here is a shiny spot is where the wire was attached.  The shiny spot looks like solder.  The ring around the “solder” might be some kind very hard rubber.  A wooden toothpick bare dented the hard rubber.  (The small hole next to the lamp casing is a screw hole where the shell is attached to the frame.)

I would like to replace the apparently-dead lamp with an LED.  How do I go about doing this?

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dennis461 Regular poster 165 posts
dennis461

fold the LED lead at 90 °

I pulled out all remnants of the bulb and wire and spacer.

Cut the LED leads short, soldered on tiny wire.

Heat shrink (1MM) tubing over the solder

Bend leads at 90°

push it up into hole, use a stick, timber to hold it in place

test it with resistor

now glue it in
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MtRR75 Regular poster 100 posts
MtRR75

Thanks

Thanks for the ideas.

I will report back when I get the time to work on this.

Doug

 

 
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CandOfan Prolific poster 1,527 posts
CandOfan

If yours is like the one I

If yours is like the one I had 45 years ago (quite likely, actually), the "headlight" itself is a plastic light tube, and the bulb itself lives in a hole in the boiler casting. You are probably seeing the bottom of that bulb, with the wires broken off. If so, I'd carefully drill all that stuff (glass and wire stubs) out. Then you'll have a pretty big hole in the boiler casting to place the LED. Obviously since the boiler is metal and conductive, you'll need to insulate the LED's wires, probably with heat shrink tubing. You will need some diodes or other minor circuitry to get from 12VDC down to the 1.5v that most LEDs require.

Modeling the C&O in Virginia in 1943, 1927 and 1918
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