RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

Alpha,
Thank you for the tips. I did unplug the searchlight from it's port and the issue remained. I had power going all the way up to the LEDs so no shorts or breaks in the wires. I had tested the LEDS before I installed them and they were working, That leaves the small board where the wires originate or the big plug from the RX-18 or the RX itself. One odd thing if it helps to make sense of this. Yesterday when I was testing the wires for continuity, I also checked the ground and hot on the rear LEDS. Instead of the light on the tester coming on, the machine gun lit up. No sound, no flash, just steady light from the MG LED. Weird, eh? MG works fine otherwise, sound and flash when used normally. *chuckles* I may unhook the rear LEDS' wiring from the small board up front and solder them in somewhere else. That is a solid idea. ;o)
regards,
Painless

Pale,
Thank you, my Friend. ;o) I will see what I have in my spares for resistors. These bulbs are all 3mm but you never know, the Board only puts out so much power from the 7.2 volt system. Just as a test, I tried some 12 volt grain of wheats I had gotten for my 1/6 Stuart. Nada, not even a flicker tho' they are supposed to be good from 3 volt up to 12. There is only a certain amount of draw available on these tanks. Phil doesn't even use his lights on his Sherman and just runs his searchlight from that circuit. I will look at it some more tomorrow and research. Alpha gave me a couple of good ideas to try as well.
regards,
Painless

I had the rear lights not working problem on my shermans when I switched them to taigen 2.4ghz MFUs. Added a resistor to the front light circuit and problem solved. I was even able to adjust the brightness from front to rear by playing with the resistor value. Can't remember off the top of my head what size resistor I used now.
I'm now running IBU2 control boards which are great, and even have working break lights when using momentum. Great boards

soon be in the paint shop old chap ?

scalawag wrote:I had the rear lights not working problem on my shermans when I switched them to taigen 2.4ghz MFUs. Added a resistor to the front light circuit and problem solved. I was even able to adjust the brightness from front to rear by playing with the resistor value. Can't remember off the top of my head what size resistor I used now.
I'm now running IBU2 control boards which are great, and even have working break lights when using momentum. Great boards

I tend to agree with what you are saying scalawag... something I remember from old school days.... that electricity is not finicky and will just seek the easiest route ...that would be the larger LEDs first.... the tiny ones last ...so even on a parallel circuit.. since they all center from the same source there just may not be enough juice for the two rice LEDs ...probably the reason a resistor works... as it gives the circuit balance

on my current build when I had the rear hooked with the front... the lights would occasionally flutter with the inclusion of the sound .. and firing of the machine gun... now that I have them wired to the firing mech there is no flutter at all not even when the machine gun is fired

ALPHA

cannedheat wrote:soon be in the paint shop old chap ?

ALPHA

Good Morning,
Scalawag, It goes without saying (but I will anyway) that I am not the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to electrics. A note on general resistor type and where (hot, ground?) I should wire it in would be most helpful. Also, Alpha, when you say you had your rear lights wired up to the "firing mech", where did you have them cut from and soldered to where? Apologies for all the questions but I would like to avoid making my issue any larger and giving it teeth to boot. CH, paint? hopefully by this weekend. Once I get this new electric issue resolved (or binned) I am about out of detail fidgeting to do. I started the serious paint yesterday with the detailing of the .50 cal. ;o)
regards,
Painless

Hi Painless,

When I get home from work I will have a look to refresh my memory, and post some pics of what I did.

PainlessWolf wrote:Good Morning,
Scalawag, It goes without saying (but I will anyway) that I am not the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to electrics. A note on general resistor type and where (hot, ground?) I should wire it in would be most helpful. Also, Alpha, when you say you had your rear lights wired up to the "firing mech", where did you have them cut from and soldered to where? Apologies for all the questions but I would like to avoid making my issue any larger and giving it teeth to boot. CH, paint? hopefully by this weekend. Once I get this new electric issue resolved (or binned) I am about out of detail fidgeting to do. I started the serious paint yesterday with the detailing of the .50 cal. ;o)
regards,
Painless

Greetings Sir Painless.... the hook up I'm referring to is.... the wires from the LED that normally shines when you fire the gun.... cut that LED free and just solder the long wires from the tail lights to that if they work when you fire.... then the LEDs are good and so is the hook up as well as your board...it just means it wasn't meant to handle that much draw on the circuit

which means you can either just leave them hooked up to look like brake lights... or make your searchlight operate when the gun fires

Good luck my friend

ALPHA

Good Morning,
Thank you both Gentlemen for the swift response. I will await Scalawag's pics and look at that LED, Alpha. Hopefully, a fire extinguisher will not be needed when I am done. *chuckles*
regards,
Painless