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Reply to "Hello O Gauge Operators! Pics attached/Need some lighting guidance"

Markf - consider buying a 12 volt DC LED reel from Menards (or other bigbox store). It has the wall wart included. Cut the LEDS into sections of 3 or more depending on your lighting needs.  Solder  +/- wires to the LED contact pads and then attach those leads to whatever terminal block you want.  I ran mine through dimmers and switches to control upper and lower floors. I cannot imagine a single reel will not provide enough LEDs and you do not have to mess with other power conditioning or pulling off your transformer. (I did buy the water proof ones which are a pain to cut that stuff off.)  I also bought a reel of 24 gauge, 4 wire copper stranded sensor wire - relatively dirt cheap and flexible.  The wire colors are red/black  yellow/blue or whatever combination you prefer making it easy to identify where the leads belong.  NOTE: I have soldered the wires to the wrong terminals several times and wonder why the lights won't come on. Reverse the leads and they work - yet another installer blunder. The strips already have resistors attached so no need to consider OHMs on LED circuits. I have also used 2.5mm and larger 2 wire connectors for buildings which will move from time to time.

If you want individual "bulbs" or the flat micro LEDs that is a different story. 

Why the dimmers - I find the 3 led clusters too bright for many lighting needs. I can easily tone down the light output with the dimmer. Each dimmer can handle the entire amp draw of the entire reel so no electrical issues.

OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

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