I saw that this Rapido's latest newsletter and you beat me to posting it. Just filled out the warranty repair request this morning. After opening it up just to install the batteries, I'm pretty sure I don't want to tackle changing out the circuit boards myself so I'll probably do the send in for repair. I'm not so sure how the shipping it to/from works when shipping to/from Canada or maybe I'm over thinking it. Anyway, have until Rapido says they have the replacement boards to decide.
I contacted Rapido customer service, and they were very helpful. They took my mailing address, and will send the new boards to me upon arrival. Would like to see them partner with Prairie Shadows again and do another run of the track powered vans. Prairie Shadows has some nice vans. I plan on putting the mini prints custom crew 04 in the vans. Here are two pics of the Prairie Shadows and Rapido track powered interior lights. The wand turned on the running lights.
Got my caboose back from Rapido yesterday, which is decent service. I decided the hassle of tearing it apart, to fix something that was a factory issue was stupid. The battery drain seems to be gone, but I need a couple of days to be sure.......it would drain the batteries overnight before the repair. The repair did not make the lights any brighter though.
Can you defuse the inside lights? The light from inside is so bright it washes out the marker lights.
I think you meant "diffuse." However, diffusing light does not generally reduce the total light output, it just spreads the light out more, so any one point (or eyeball) gets less light. This may reduce the apparent brightness to the viewer. "defuse" : verb, transitive: disarm (a device or situation) "diffuse" : verb, transitive: distribute, spread out; adj: unconcentrated. This concludes today's grammar/vocabulary lesson.
Has anyone pulled one of these apart? I wonder if the marker lights are even LEDs. Or are they just fiberoptics being lit by the interior lights? That would help explain the dimness .
I've had mine apart and yes it's fiber running from the LEDs on each end out to the lights. None of mine light up the interior though.
Odd.......mine light up the interior, but not brightly.......it looks about like what I would expect it to look like prototypically. The interior lights don't wash out the marker lights.......at least they don't now that I have it back from Rapido.
The way mine are setup when the body is in place the lights are closed in a box with just an opening towards the cupola to allow room for the electronics on the printed circuit board. When I've had the lights on there is no discernable interior lighting. Lights themselves aren't very bright though with everything in place and upon closer investigation it appears they are using a 1K voltage drop resistor to the LED. With a 3V power source we shouldn't need that much but likely done for battery longevity. I did just contact Rapido to get their updated lighting since I have the original battery killer versions.
Prairie Shadows will be doing a new run but without lights! Expected in Dec 2024. See their site. https://www.prairieshadows.com/catalog/product/prairie-shadows-n-scale-pointe-st-charles-van/516
Thanks for the pictures of the disassembled caboose. On my caboose, the lights are very noticeable ( in low light) thru the side and end windows, but no light in the cupola...... maybe it depends on how tightly the boxes around the fiberoptics fit to the circuit boards?
Well, according to the wife. mine has returned home from it's trip to the Rapido repair shop. Will be a couple of weeks before i get to check it out though
Yesterday, I unboxed my Rapido caboose and welcomed it home. It's back from repair and I immediately had to do repairs. This part was loose when I got it new and I have glued it back on. Maybe I went light on the glue because it didn't survive the trip. My guess would be the return to me part as I can't imagine Rapido boxed it back up like that. After fixing that, I went ahead and installed brand new batteries. The repair was to replace the faulty circuit that caused the batteries to drain when not in use. The thing is, the lights worked but were dim when I sent it off but now, after the "repair" the lights no longer work. Guess that means I'm not meant to have working lights on mine. Yeah, I know I could contact Rapido, send it back again and get it fixed but at this point, it's not worth the extra $ on postage. Still a great caboose and glad I have it. Just a bit of a let down as I could have saved the postage from the first time.
Ugh!!!! I would call them up and see if you they can a) pay for the postage back or b) just send you a brand new working one. I would still put the onus on them! Rapido is not really known for their QC!
