DCS Lightbulb trick: Will a lighted toggle switch provide same benefit?

You probably won't need any bulb with a newer version L TIU. If you use the older model without the USB jack, then you may need the bulb or filter.

I have found that the bulb should draw a decent amount of power ( >.1x amps ?) to clean the signal. If the bulb doesn't draw enough, it won't do much for the signal. If it draws too much, it's a waste of power. That's why some of us were excited to use Susan's filters before the release of the version L TIU. They don't draw much of anything. They do a great job on the signal.

If you put 18 volts (Lionel brick) to 22 volts (some MTH products) to the track, I'm not sure how long those 12v switch lights will last!

Hi Joe, thanks for the quick reply.

My two TIU's are older models (no USB port, not rev L).

That's a great point about burning out the lighted switch. This is an area where I'm a novice, but in the case of the switch that I linked above, it says it's rated for 125 VAC, and that the bulb pulls 12VDC. Would the bulb or the bulb's wiring in the switch burn out in that scenario? I'd be pushing 18V from the transformer in this scenario. 

If lighted switches won't pull enough power, or if they'll just burn out, I think I may have to hunker down and build a bunch of filters per Susan's schematics. Hopefully it's not too complicated!

Thanks again!

Rafi

I missed that point!

You can supply the bulb with it's own lower voltage power source. 

Susan's filters are pretty easy to build. I made a half dozen before I went to newer TIUs. Otherwise, I would have made more.

Here's the details on the filters from the source.  These are a much better alternative to light bulbs, and they never burn out.

Filter for MTH-Controlled (DCS) Model Train Layouts

BTW, there's nothing "magic" about the "magic light bulbs", it's simply providing a signal termination to what is essentially an RF transmission line.  Think back to the old days of coax providing video signals, every run was terminated with a terminating resistor to minimize reflected energy that results in standing waves on the wire and corrupts the signal.  The filters described in the link above do the same job.  FWIW, they actually do use some energy, just not nearly as much as a light bulb.  If they truly used no energy, they also wouldn't do the intended job.

I have a newer TIU so no need for filters on my DCS/Legacy layout.

I used LED lighted switches for all my sidings and wired a diode in to prevent the 18 volt track current from burning out the LED's.