@johnstrains posted:I run mostly Lionel PW passenger trains and my problem was that many would barely register the interior lighting without cranking up the transformer. Then you end up with a speeding train ready to fly off the tracks. Converting some of them to LEDs improves this issue. And LEDs also help to reduce classic PW lighting flickering.
For me it depends...on whether the existing incandescent lights do the job - some of the older PW engines draw a lot current, demanding a higher setting on the ZW, which in turn keeps the headlight brighter. If the lighting is non-existent or not up to snuff, LEDs get installed, albeit they must be the warmer versions. Never had much luck colorizing the cool white LEDs, so I just buy warm versions.
I love the flicker free aspect of an LED which, of course, requires a diode and a decent size capacitor to make that work. I love the evenness of interior lighting using an LED strip in a passenger car - but that very evenness has brought me to see the need for variations at each window - real trains just aren't evenly lighted. I love the low power consumption, I love the longevity - which only occurs when you use a diode and adjust the resistor to draw 20ma or less (rule of thumb applied.)
I would like to see an incandescent flickering firebox in order to compare it to the LED's flickering light box - does anyone make them?
And finally, by using the cheap, cheap regulators available today, along with the correct current limiting resistors, I can get my engines and cars to illuminate almost fully when the ZW handle is only slightly advanced, and then remain constant throughout the middle and upper ranges of the throttle. I have even powered a couple of them directly off the regulator with no current limiting resistor by carefully measuring current at initial setup and limiting to 20ma or less - a bit of a touchy procedure as most multiturn pots get pretty touchy down in that range! The advantage to that method is that you have full brilliance lighting even at the lowest voltage coming out of a ZW
In short, I like 'em!
