I just bought two Athearn Genesis F3As, with DCC and Sound. The headlight on both units will not come on. In fact, pushing (twice) the “Headlight” button on my NCE Power Cab turns off the sound (same with the 0 function button). For one of the units, I reset it to the factory defaults but the problem was not corrected. Anyone know how to turn on the light?
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I presume these come with the Tsunami2 decoders?
Also, are you positive that the decoder reset properly? Sometimes you have to “power cycle” your locomotive for the reset to take - i.e. tilt it to one side so that the wheels only contact one rail and disrupt power. You can also remove the locomotive completely or turn off power to the layout to accomplish the same thing.
Tom
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Are these F3s new from Athearn or are they from previous runs (new-old stock) ? Athearn was one of the last manufacturers to acknowledge that LEDs were the ‘wave of the future’ and resisted installing them in their locomotives.
Beside that, the supplier they bought their ‘grain of molecule’ 1.5v lamps from had a very high failure rate. Nearly all of my Genesis engines from the first runs up to about 2017 or so have had lamp failures.
You should be able to look closely at the headlight housing and see if there’s actually a bulb in there or an LED.
Good Luck, Ed
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Welcome to the forum, dmwarner56! Let us know how your issue is resolved.
Thanks, Tom. I’ll try that before trying to replace bulbs.
Ed, I bought the F3s from a dealer in like-new condition. It’s kinda odd that the headlight in both engines don’t work, but given your commentary on Athearn’s bulbs, I guess it’s possible. But the fact that the “Headlight” function key shuts off the sound (and turns it back on) rather than turn the headlight on (or do nothing) leads me to believe that the CV is set incorrectly. Thanks for the reply, though.
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I have a number of Athearn Genesis F3 locomotives.
It’s not difficult to remove the shell, so I would suggest you do that to see what type of bulbs you have and how they are wired. Take a photo or two so we can get s look at what you have under the shell.
Some of my Genesis locos have the dreaded 1.5 volt incandescent bulbs. The newest version though has LEDs.
Here are the instructions to remove the shell.
If all appears good, it may be CV settings.
Buying from a dealer in Like New condition tells me that the loco has been used or, as eBay terms it, pre-owned. In that case, who knows what the previous owner did to the loco or the decoder. When you say “dealer”, where did you buy the loco?
Rich
It would be helpful to find out exactly what decoder you have in your F3s. I bought some very early-run Genesis F7s that had early MRC sound decoders in them and they included some kind of ‘transmitter’ in the box which I seem to recall allowed sound functions to operate while on DC power. I’ll have to dig out the paperwork later. I gave the decoders to the late “RR Mel” and he was glad to have them.
IF you have one of these MRC decoders the reset procedure is to write 1 to CV 125.
It is probably not the case but I have purchased DCC locomotives from EU and their function defaults are not the same as in the US/North American market. I believe they like to use Fn 1 for sound on/off - startup. It is possible someone assigned F0 to mute/sound on-off.
Good Luck, Ed
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Yeah, we really need to know this.
Rich
Rich, yeah, the locos were listed as Used; the description indicated “like-new” condition, which they appear to be. They work great except for the headlights. The dealer is Tri-State Hobbies out of Hoboken, NJ. They have a 99.6% positive rating on eBay on more than 2,400 transactions. I’ve tried changing the CV for the “Headlight” button (F0). Nothing seems to work. Thanks for the reply.
Would you be willing to remove the shell and take some photos?
That way, we can view the lights, the wiring, and identify the decoder.
Rich
The paperwork indicates the “Dual-Function” decoder is MRC. It also includes a table with the functions – not one of them is for the light. (I found the same table online and it shows this: Idle/Moving F3 = Turns on/off accessory lighting/Air release sound; F4 =
Turns on/off accessory lighting/Air release sound.) I don’t seem to have those lighting functions. Also, a table of CVs also has nothing about lighting.
Check gmpullman’s earlier reply. He may be able to help you with the MRC decoder. Among other pieces of advice, Ed points out that the reset on the MRC decoder is CV125=1.
Rich
Here is a data sheet:
Hope that helps.
Ed
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Ed, I do have an MRC decoder, and I have done a reset, assigning 1 to CV125. And the F0/Headlight buttons do turn the sound on/off when double clicked; they do nothing if single clicked, although the cab display shows “L.” F1 is the bell.
Very cool, Ed. I am looking at CV117 in particular.
As you said earlier, Ed, CV125=1 will reset to default.
Rich
If it were me, at some point, I would remove the shell and check out the wiring, the lights and the function tabs.
Rich
I hate to be a broken record, but JMRI/DecoderPro is great for figuring out these sort of issues. I can’t imagine running DCC locos without JMRI/DecoderPro.
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Well, thanks for trying, but that photo isn’t very helpful.Taken from an angle and somewhat blurry, it is hard to trace the wires or identify the specific type of decoder. Can you take shots from above?
Rich