BLI GE ES44AC light issues

crclass Apr 5, 2018

  1. crclass

    crclass TrainBoard Member

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    I have just ordered a BLI GE ES44AC, I was reading on Facebook about the cab light being blue and ditch lights barely visible. I know someone here must have a way to correct it. Anybody ever changed the LEDs?
     
  2. crclass

    crclass TrainBoard Member

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    A bit of a follow up. I have received my loco. After carefully unpacking and placing it on my track I powered up the rails using Digitrax DCS50. The blue cab interior light came on. I can deal with the color of the light. I have been told to program on the main with this unit. I rang the bell and blew the horn. put the loco in forwardand advanced the throttle. light went out and didn't move. tried reading a couple of CVs and it just said busy. Thought maybe I missed something or track was dirty. Cleaned track and same thing. Put my Kato on the track and ran just as smooth as butter both forward and reverse. Looking at the wheelsets on the new loco they look pretty dirty. I will try to clean them and come back with an update.
     
  3. gatrhumpy

    gatrhumpy TrainBoard Member

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    I wired up new micro LEDs to my Athearn SD-70, and they look great!
     
  4. John Moore

    John Moore TrainBoard Supporter

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    With the wheels looking dirty is this a used or brand new in the box loco bought from a dealer? Could be excessive wheel blackening which could be handled by placing the loco in a cradle upside down and powering it up and using some fine Emory paper on the wheels to get some of the excess off.
    Another thing is that most decoders are dual mode capable of running on DC as well as DCC. Have you tried running it in DC mode?
     
    crclass likes this.
  5. MK

    MK TrainBoard Member

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    People have reported deep wheel blackening with this model.
     
    crclass likes this.
  6. crclass

    crclass TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks guys, I suspect that it was just the wheel blackening as this is brand new. I have the wire brush wheel cleaner that hooks up to the track. I was able to get enough contact to clean the one set then just took alcohol to the other set as the they were powered by the other set. Runs real smooth now and programing and sound are all working. I had lights on in the room and couldn't tell the ditch lights were working. I actually like the cab light with a bit of a blue hue to it. I will work at replacement LEDs for the ditch lights if I can figure out the dis assembly!
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 11, 2018
  7. John Moore

    John Moore TrainBoard Supporter

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    Prior to my getting my wheel cleaner I used to place a loco up against a track bumper and just let it spin it's wheels for awhile. Lo tech way of getting rid of excessive blackening.
     
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