Menard's Building lighting

SJC, I am in the same boat as you. I will be running power off the transformer. I am changing the AC to DC and have bought a number of step down DC modules, goes in as 12 volt DC and you can adjust the voltage to what you want on the module. There is a topic about doing this but I could not find it. That is where I got my information......Paul

You need 4.5 volts DC for them, so you'll have to use an adapter or some sort of power converter from the transformer to generate the proper voltage DC output.

This thread might help.

My Red Owl store looks best with 3 volts.

Art

Chugman posted:

My Red Owl store looks best with 3 volts.

Art

I agree the building looks better and less harsh when lit with 3vdc but what do you use to power it at 3vdc? (Thanks in advance, Art, for answering and please be as specific as possible.)

I use these.

How about just using an old HO train transformer that puts out variable DC? With a meter inline, you can crank out whatever power level you need. I think? At least, this is what my plan currently is.

Jeff

mowingman posted:

How about just using an old HO train transformer that puts out variable DC? With a meter inline, you can crank out whatever power level you need. I think? At least, this is what my plan currently is. Jeff

Then glue or otherwise fasten the controller handel handle securely once you find the proper setting.

I (just) made up a  wooden power board which has four different sections for accessory power, all to be run using a ZW using one of the smaller controls inside the main handles set at 8 V AC- since the "Bucks" referenced below put out a set DC voltage regardless of input:

1- 4.5 volt DC for Menard's buildings

1- 1.5 volt DC for Lemax streetlights

1-  8 volt DC for LED lighting in other-than-Menard's buildings

The above all run through three AC/DC- in / variable DC out conversion "Bucks", purchased online.

1-  8 volt AC terminal block for any remaining conventional bulb needs.

Apparently from what I have heard, the "Bucks" can be used to run MANY DC accessories- I previously was putting one in each Menard's building for example.

mowingman posted:

How about just using an old HO train transformer that puts out variable DC? With a meter inline, you can crank out whatever power level you need. I think? At least, this is what my plan currently is.

Jeff

This was my thinking also. Here is what happened when put into practice. You will find out the HO power supplies are not regulated and upon power up the DC voltage will spike. Your LED lighting will, for an instant, go very bright never to light again. I was lucky this was a bench test and only required the replacement of 22 LED's. Make sure any DC supply you use is regulated or to feed the HO power supply into some sort of regulator.

I abandoned the idea and have now installed only regulated power supplies.

Another electrical "Know-Nothing" here. I just bought a buck converter. Can I feed the buck converter 14v from my ZW-L and then output the buck converter to a terminal block and power multiple buildings or do I need one buck converter for each building? These are Menards buildings, I think . . . 

How do you power the Menards buildings when they require the plug from the wire of the wall wort? Don't have a clue.

I would need one of these below and plug into the female input on the building? I would just do the DC output into the building, yes? Ayyyyy

Scrapiron Scher posted:

Another electrical "Know-Nothing" here. I just bought a buck converter. Can I feed the buck converter 14v from my ZW-L and then output the buck converter to a terminal block and power multiple buildings or do I need one buck converter for each building? These are Menards buildings, I think . . . 

How do you power the Menards buildings when they require the plug from the wire of the wall wort? Don't have a clue.

I would need one of these below and plug into the female input on the building? I would just do the DC output into the building, yes? Ayyyyy

The short answer is NO.

The 14V from the ZW is AC voltage the Buck converter requires DC input. You would need to first convert the AC to DC for it to work.

I use a salvaged PC power supply. You can feed the converter with 5 or 12 vdc. You can also use the 5 vdc tap with a diode and have 4.5 vdc. Most are 300 watts, so it will power a lot of buildings, especially if they use leds.

Scrapiron Scher posted:

Another electrical "Know-Nothing" here. I just bought a buck converter. Can I feed the buck converter 14v from my ZW-L and then output the buck converter to a terminal block and power multiple buildings or do I need one buck converter for each building? These are Menards buildings, I think . . . 

How do you power the Menards buildings when they require the plug from the wire of the wall wort? Don't have a clue.

I would need one of these below and plug into the female input on the building? I would just do the DC output into the building, yes? 

As NelsonW points out, the 14V from your ZW is AC voltage.  The converter in your picture is meant to accept DC.  So if that's the "buck converter" you have (?) then you need to first convert the AC voltage to DC voltage.  This is easy to do with a bridge rectifier.  For example, here's a recycled photo from a previous thread:

The "buck converter" is of the DC-to-DC ilk, so you put a "bridge rectifier" (2 terminals in, 2 terminals out) between the AC voltage and the module input on the left side of the photo.  Suitable bridge rectifiers are about 10 cents though you probably have to buy 10 for 99 cents if you use eBay:

Your question about needing one module per building is a tricky one.  It depends on what kind of buildings you're powering.  There are Menards buildings with only a few LEDs (Quonset Hut) and others with hundreds of LEDs (Headquarters).  That's a huge range and unfortunately, to my knowledge, Menards does not have a list itemizing the power requirements for each product.  It is further complicated in that some Menards buildings have additional electrical features like spinning fans/motors and animated signs.

If you want to "do the math" there have been stabs at estimating how many buildings a particular "buck converter" module can power...but I suspect this is not your interest!  So perhaps let us know what specific buildings you have and we can go from there.

To your next question, you can buy pre-wired "pigtail" plugs with the correct connector to plug into the power connector on a Menards building.  Example shown above.  Or, as shown in the photo below there are screw-terminal adapters to take a pair of wires and "make" a male plug (no soldering required).  

And if it turns out that you can in fact power multiple buildings with a single converter, another wiring option are "splitter cables" such as on the right side of above photo.  This "makes" multiple plugs from a single plug and come in 2-way, 3-way, 4-way, etc.  Though in practice the lengths may not be suitable for a typical building layout.  So, needless to say, you can then buy male-female extension cable in various lengths with the correct male and female connectors on the end.  And so on.

Above photo also shows a different kind of "buck converter" that directly accepts AC Accessory voltage.  In this case you don't need the external bridge-rectifier component.

Many options depending on your application.  The more you tell us, the more specific an answer.  You should be able to do all this without a soldering iron.  If you are comfortable using a DC voltmeter, that can be useful for adjusting brightness.

I know others have answered already but I just did this last month for my Morton Salt Factory. 

As you can see my rectifier is over kill but it was pulled from spare parts laying around (Old computer PSU's have a plethora of useful components), other than that, in the red heat shrink I put a choke as to not interfere with DCS signal (GRJ's suggestion) and a 50v cap to clean the dc coming from the rectifier. It was small enough to fit in the office of the salt factory along with all of the other buildings electronics.

These have an adjustable output so before you plug it into the building you turn a potentiometer to achieve the output voltage you require.

I also painted the blue led black as to not show when inside the building.

One note, it is not pictured but my buck converter gets quite hot, its not enough to burn you but it is uncomfortable after a while. I purchased small adhesive heat sinks for the buck as well as a larger one I had laying around for the rectifier. Not sure if it will help, bit it will let me sleep a little better at night lol.

I never liked the idea of having a million power supplies so my small layout and all of its accessories are track powered. It also helps on the wiring mess under the layout.

Hope this helps!

Daniel J. Gonzalez posted:

I know others have answered already but I just did this last month for my Morton Salt Factory. 

As you can see my rectifier is over kill but it was pulled from spare parts laying around (Old computer PSU's have a plethora of useful components), other than that, in the red heat shrink I put a choke as to not interfere with DCS signal (GRJ's suggestion) and a 50v cap to clean the dc coming from the rectifier. It was small enough to fit in the office of the salt factory along with all of the other buildings electronics.

These have an adjustable output so before you plug it into the building you turn a potentiometer to achieve the output voltage you require.

I also painted the blue led black as to not show when inside the building.

One note, it is not pictured but my buck converter gets quite hot, its not enough to burn you but it is uncomfortable after a while. I purchased small adhesive heat sinks for the buck as well as a larger one I had laying around for the rectifier. Not sure if it will help, bit it will let me sleep a little better at night lol.

I never liked the idea of having a million power supplies so my small layout and all of its accessories are track powered. It also helps on the wiring mess under the layout.

Hope this helps!

Interesting,  I have five converters in service and none of them get even warm to the touch.  Course, I am sure they are under the amp limit for each one.  Might wanna check that to be sure you aren’t pushing the envelope.  

John H posted:

I use a salvaged PC power supply. ... You can also use the 5 vdc tap with a diode and have 4.5 vdc.

John,

I have two PC power supplies and bought the adapters that break out the difference voltages.  What specific diode do you use? Thanks.

For up to 1 amp, a 1N4003. Mouser P/N 512-1N4003