Bryant Dunivan 111417 posted:TedW posted:I currently have two Menards buildings(Watkins city block on the way) on a temporary floor layout. I also have three Woodland Scenic buildings(these lights work off ac voltage and are adjustable). Wanting to use xfrmr acc power for these buildings, the Menards are hooked up to a buss powered by an adjustable ac to dc buck converter(as advised by the expert help on this forum) set by multimeter at 4.5vdc. For my taste however, the lighting is too bright on these two buildings(see pic 1), so as an experiment, I decreased the voltage until the brightness suited me. That voltage turns out to be 2.75vdc. They now match the intensity of the WS buildings, both with house lights on and off(pics 2&3). The Menards leds actually went out at around 2.45vdc. You may be perfectly happy with the buildings as is, this just demonstrates an alternative should you want to try it. TW
I have looked at dimming my Menards buildings to get them balanced out with the other incandescently lighted buildings. I took the plunge by installing boards that convert transformer AC to DC and adjusting DC voltage downward from the standard 5 VDC power by the Menards Wall Worts.
I have attached photos of the after. The photos also show the top 6 positions currently being used. When adjusting, 1/10th OF 1 VOLT MAKES A HUGE DIFFERENCE. You can also see that most are now powered in the 2.7 - 3.0 range.
The color of the lighting is still white, but much more bearable.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Bryant,
RE: " I took the plunge by installing boards that convert transformer AC to DC and adjusting DC voltage downward from the standard 5 VDC power by the Menards Wall Worts "
In your 3rd photo, it looks like you go from 1) transformer to 2) power strip terminals to 3) AC-DC Buck Converter to 4) DC-DC Buck Converter. Puzzled on benefit of going to the DC-DC Buck Converter right after the AC-DC Buck Converter. I thought the LM2596 AC-DC Buck converter not only converted auxiliary transformer AC power to DC but also enabled setting DC output in the range of 3.3 to 30 volts DC.
I can understand using the DC-DC Buck Converter to adjust a Menards DC 4.5 volt wall power supply down to something less than 4.5 volts DC. But the photo appears to show you taking the AC-DC Buck Converter output and then going directly into the DC-DC Buck Converter. So, what's the benefit/use of the DC-DC Buck Converter?
Thx.
Tom
