New LED passenger car lighting kits

I would like to use John's CL2 circuit to drive a 5 segment light strip in a 2 rail DCC environment (16v AC on the rails).  I've bread boarded the circuit and it works nicely but I'm concerned about flicker.  A friend recommended using a 1F Power Store super cap.  I have one but it is rated only at 5.5v.  Comments please.

You probably don't need anything like a 1f capacitor.  Just get a 4700uf 25V capacitor and put it on the output of the CL2.  It should deal with most track flicker.

I use one of those 1f SuperCaps in my Wienermobile conversion for the audio player, when I turn off track power, the song plays for about a minute and a half, and I'm sure the drain for audio is more than these lights!  That's overkill to handle flicker.

Here's a typical example of the 4700uf cap: ECA-1EM472

John, I'd think he'd have better flicker suppression if the cap is on the INPUT side of the CL2. 

You're right, that's actually what I wanted to say, that's what happens when you hurry.  It should also probably be a 35V cap, depending on the track voltage and the method of developing the DC.

John  - the DCC track voltage is a steady 15.6 (I think it is a square wave form) AC. If I rectify the input to the CL2 with a bridge rectifier I think the cap would see only about 14vDC so the 25v electrolytic cap should work fine.  Should I put any resistance in he circuit to minimize any charging surge that a fast acting DCC circuit breaker might interpret as a short. 

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Ed  

I'd probably consider a 35V one just to be safe, but I don't know what the waveform looks like.  This is probably one I'd measure in the lab.

Since this is DCC, you may need a choke to keep the capacitor from degrading the track signal.  Your idea of a resistor is probably sufficient, I'd put it in front of the bridge rectifier to isolate the whole shooting match.  Since we're talking LED's here, I'd make it about 100 ohms, that should be sufficient.

Just curious. Working on re-painting and decaling up 8 passenger cars. Taking out the stock MTH light boards and have a roll of the LED peel and stick lights for 12 volt DC as in other pages of this discussion.

I am running these on an old train set that is DC powered and I never get over 12 volts on the rails about 10 volts is fast for the trainset. So powered by a DC power pack.

Was just going to hook the leeds up from the light sets to the power pickups on the cars direct as under 12 Volt DC current.

So what if the power switch for the track supply were reversed say backing up the engine will this damage the LED light sets having reverse voltage flowing to it??

Actually, the strip lighting is almost totally extinguished at 10 volts, you may have a problem with it.  Also, reversing the voltage on the LED's is a bad thing, though with three in series, you probably won't get to the reverse voltage limits with 12 volts.

I think you'll have to do something other than the light strips for this project.

If it were AC, I'd suggest a voltage doubler.

JOE HAVE YOU SEEN THIS ONE?

 Thanks Bill, this is the one I was looking for. I did a search using Dave's name and pass car lighting but couldn't find it.

Joe I had bumped this thread several times in the old OGR system so we would not loose it. I did the same thing you did but Dave droped his old profile and started a bran mew one so you can't link up to his old threads. I did sn advanced search then with his name and just passenger led

Why not roll your own with the LED strips?  It's very easy to do, and dirt cheap as well.  The results are as good or better than any lighting kit is going to do.

I'll second that.  Those of us with zero electronics background will particularly welcome this trend.

John, you're absolutely correct on this one; and, if you buy the components from some of the sources on EBay and places like Mouser (for those only available from them), the cost is well under $5 per car!

jackson

It's more like $3 for an 18" car.  $6.99 for the 16 foot LED strip, that will do ten cars for 70 cents for the LED's.  The four components I typically use, choke, diode, capacitor, and CL2 regulator are under $2 for all of them.  Wiring, as you can imagine, is not all that difficult, and the job is done.

In most cases,it is harder to get the cars apart than make up LED strips and circuits. If you make your own you can make and customize the LED lighting to suit your individual tastes. Most anything you make will be as good or better than pre-made strips and much cheaper.

You can make them prototypical dim or super bright if you like the toy train look.  You can custom configure a circuit for each car,such as a combine or baggage one add red markers for the observation etc. Once you understand basic principals of LED lighting you can also configure strips for cabooses,the circuits are the same. Shown here using different circuits for command and conventional. Short circuit protection can also be added as shown

www.jcstudiosinc.com/BlogShowThread?id=487

Jacks strips are fine but they are made for command only operators. They are not constant voltage.

The ones offered by 3rd Rail are not constant voltage.

The Dallee strips are constant voltage.

Dale H

Dale H missed one of the currently available LED boards for passenger cars.

Look at www.royztrains.com.  Those are constant brightness/voltage with the ability for the end user to adjust the brightness.  The online demo shows some passenger cars that hit the set brightness level at 8.6 V track voltage.

At those prices, I should start making passenger car lighting kits!

You're in luck, since you're local I'd be glad to make you an example one night at the club meeting, then you'll be able to knock them out.

Sounds like, Car Lighting Made Simple 101!

Great Idea John, when is the first class going to be? LOL

John helped me understand the order of connections and now I'm producing lighting for all my cars easily!  For those "electrically challenged" its not that hard at all once you see the order in which to link the components and learn a few "tricks" to doing it!  

Thanks Gunrunnerjohn!

Been talking with electronic folks for miniatures and the day is coming where electrically challenged like me can just un-screw the bulbs on our locomotives and passenger cars and screw in LED bulbs!!!!!!!!!!!!

If it already exists let me know.

there is a company like that they work great for for the older passenger cars here is the link.  

http://www.trainaidsa.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=56 

Originally Posted by roberttrains925:

What grade level of reading is needed?

If you have to ask, it may be beyond your grade level!

 

The problem with the replacements is they don't have the same angle of dispersion so the light goes to one place.  Most incandescent lamps were not optimally placed for LED replacements.

Tanks gunrunner.  I'll let you know when I will make the next meeting and we'll see if we can get together.

For those who would like a kit to assemble, RoyzTrains will be offering a kit including board and all components for $10.  Drop him a line at royztrains@aol.com for more info.  Not offered on his site, but mention you saw this on the OGR Forum.

Enjoy!

Details of what the kit consists of would be useful for anyone considering this.

Hey John,

We could go into business making these inasmuch as our cost is under $3 each !!

Only thing that i'd worry about considering some of the posts here would be our "defective" return rate!!    Mmmmm ....... maybe not such a good idea; plus i still have over 20 of my own to finish up.

jackson

Defective return rate?  NEVER!

John,

Yeh, right !

just spilled my coffee.

Thanks to everyone who contributed  and helped with this LED question. It is appreciated!!

Brian(PTC) Please go to page 1 and start to read  Dave Hikel's first post about the lighting!!

This is a very good read for those who may have a long consist of passenger cars. Can help your power system on the layout.

Of course, you can do these for about $3/car for parts, and the procedure is not all that difficult.  Buying pre-made kits is fine if you have the money, but not everyone wants to spend that kind of money for this project.  You still have to install the lighting kits, so much of the work is still required.

I met Jack Pearce yesterday in the Orange Hall and saw his work first hand.WOW!  Jack asked me to tell everyone that he will be in France for the next several months so getting in touch with him will be difficult if not impossible.

I did buy a PA State Trooper car and can't wait tohook it up and show the grandsons the flashing lights.

I liked the dining cars with the table settings, kinda' expensive though.