Super Chuffer Headlight Circuit

Not a good idea, you will need a buffer for extra lights.  I drive the single LED with PWM directly from the PIC processor output, you don't want to overload those.  You could probably do something similar to what I do for buffering the TMCC serial data and drive the extra lights off that.  For a couple of marker LED's, you can use something like this.  The Headlight from S-C comes from the positive side of the S-C headlight.  The 5V from S-C comes from the S-C 5V supply.  The Marker LED's are connected in series and the positive side goes to the 100 ohm resistor, negative to frame ground.

Thanks, John.

Would a better method be to split the headlight input before it goes into the Super Chuffer and power the marker light LEDs from there (I’d need to put in a diode and resistor appropriate for the LEDs)?

What do you consider best practice for powering marker lights?

Thanks!

That's probably a better way, a 470 or larger resistor, and put the positive side of the string to frame ground as the TMCC headlight output is negative.

John, this circuit you use looks perfect for my application, however I am using pin #9 for smoke motor power, and pin #10 for the chuff generator. Can one of these be shared for the headlight circuit described? Thanks Don

Don, the S-C-II changed the function of pin-9, so it would no longer be used for 5V.  Just paralleling from pin-10 will give you the 5V for that circuit.  Be careful not to use too much power from the S-C, market lights are fine, but more than about 40-50ma should be avoided, the power module has limited capacity.

Thank You. that clears up the diagram

John  included with the chuff-generator package is a small electronic piece which I assume is the 12dc relay. I am not using the idle smoke intensity, but the installation diagram does show the chuff-generator and the relay. I am a little lost on the proper location of this relay and its identification. Help

Are you talking about the IR encoder that reads the flywheel stripes?  That's the only thing that's included, other than the tape and the spacers for mounting the C-G.  You will need to read the instructions, as the encoder mounting is fairly critical to proper operation.

John, While installing the Super Chuffer and chuff-generator has been slow (hospital visit) I do have one more question. My decision to mount the SC in the Tender seemed like a good one however the wiring presented some interesting decisions. Using the Chuff Generator I run its signal to pin 5 of the S-C and pin 2 of the ERR Board. I am using a Railsounds Sound Kit which provides a trigger connection. Will I need this connection with the chuff generator, If so what would the wiring look like. Thanks again for your help. Don

Sorry to hear about the hospital visit, that's never a good thing!

You can't use the ERR RS Commander chuff input with the Chuff-Generator.  The ERR RS Commander REQUIRES a totally isolated chuff switch, it cannot have a common ground!  The Chuff-Generator and Super-Chuffer both use a ground referenced input, as does the R4LC used in the ERR Cruise Commander.

Truthfully, I find that it's almost always much easier to put the Super-Chuffer in the locomotive, you just need to pipe the chuff signal back to the tender.

My "standard installation" for a tender resident Cruise Commander install has the following seven leads in the tether.

• Center Roller
• Wheels
• Motor (1)
• Motor (2)
• Smoke Power
• Headlight
• Chuff

If you have the Super-Chuffer in the tender, you have all sorts of extra wiring to deal with to the locomotive.  With all the other stuff in the tender, there's almost no scenario I can imagine that you couldn't fit the Super-Chuffer in the locomotive, and that's where it really should be.