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This message has been edited. Last edited by: Gizzmo,

Gizzmo, I've talked with Dave at www.modeltrainsoftware.com re LED's. He sells warm white versions and if I recall you can change the intensity by filing or sanding part off the top dome. I've used his LED's and also bought from Pete Hetherigton from Canada. Pete sells warm white with 18 and 24 volt resistors. His ebay is speedypete99. He will sell them to you in bulk, reasonably.
Good Luck
Dave G.

Gizmo I use LED's from ModelTrainSoftware for automobiles, passenger cars, buildings you name it. With the cool white, warm white, yellow and other colors you can create whatever effect you want with your lights. They draw next to nothing on amperage, theuniversal lights run off of AC power and come all ready to install. They even ship to Forum members free using the code "OGRLED" at check out.

This is from their website.

quote:

These 100,000 hour Super Bright LEDs come Fully Assembled with a super compact full wave Bridge Rectifier for "always on" forward and reverse operation, a dropping resistor and 6" of insulated wire.

Connect these LEDs to any track power source:
AC DC or DCC
they will look great with 5-19 Volts of power input. These LED Lights can be used for Locomotive Headlights, Passenger Car Lights, Ditch Lights, Yard Lights, Building Lights, and more. Low heat super bright LEDs only draw 20 milliamps of power!

Brightness: White >12,000 mcd
Colors >5,000 mcd

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.......Paul [guys] Check out, " Scotts Odds & Ends" [.com, I think]

.....He actually has the "warm" white LEDs with whats called an "inverted lens" that is made for building interiors. i.e. they have a wide light dispersement, as apposed to the ones used for headlights & such.

......Now the best news is, he has them in screw in type sockets as well as the bayonet type sockets,[same size as MTH houses, reg. type bulbs

.....They are about $5 ea.

.....Ive been told an LED "bulb" if left on 24/7, would last 10 years!

......Anyway, hope this helps....................Remy

Yes Jeff they are good LED's also the only problem if you want to use them in passenger cars or engines is that they are only rated at 12-14VAC so you would have to add some resistors, or wire them in series maybe to not overpower them if you are running command control at 18 volts. For those of us that are too lazy to do all the math or just aren't familar enough with the electric side the ones rated to 19 volts are easier to install for trains. These from Scott's would be great for direct replacement in MTH buildings though and he is exceptionally good with his customer service and fast shipping.

I am still using grain of wheat bulbs in my buildings. I like the color and I like that I can dim them.

You have to be aware that each bulb can use up to 800mA at 12V which comes to nearly 10 watts. Using a dimmer will reduce the load.



Rand

Gizzie,
That is the guy I used to get the LED's I used in the appliance store. I don't see the one's I got. IIRC they were 140 degree viewing, they are a small block with a blob on top of it. They use 3 volts each. I hook my buildings up to the 12 v. wire out of a computer power supply. I wired four of them in series, 3x4=12. Contrary to popular myth they will work fine on 12 volt AC with no resistor or diode. You could put another one in series and use 14 volts, 3x5=15. But it would make them last longer if you put a regular diode in series with them as the reverse voltage on them is 5 volts.

I see his prices have gone up. I don't know how you got on the Australian ebay, but when I went to my bookmark he had 100 3mm warm white for 15.00 plus shipping. I only paid $9 for mine and with the shipping it worked out to be less then 50 cents a piece.

Gene Anstine

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.....Rand, nice shot! The way you have your outside rails "rusted" & the dark/black background [ballast?] I thought I was looking at 2 rail. Really nice!

Gizzmo, I think speedypete99 is in Canada. I've ordered from him. Reasonable and fast shipping (which, in Canada may not always be the case). He's always answered my e-mails quickly. Dave G.

Jeff, That track you are looking at in Rands photo is Scaletrax. Great Stuff! Nice job Rand. Gizzmo, I have been using grain of rice bulbs in my buildings. I haven't found any LED lights that I like to color of plus I like to be able to dim the lights.

Thanks for the compliments. The track in the image is RealTrax. I used a wash of black acrylic paint on the plastic ballast. I guess I got lucky and had the correct angle to hide the center rail

I am using ScaleTrax starting at the bridge, upper right in the picture.

Rand

my bad. I thought it was the Scaletrax, but now you point it out at the bridge I can see it. Rand, you did a good job of hiding the built in roadbed of Realtrax.

Gizzmo - If you want to go really cheap and you have some old icicle lights (like the Christmas lights) around, I posted this on my thread about the engine house. These are working fine and give a nice soft white light. If you need some help on the electrical side, drop me an email and I'll make a diagram for you.

"A note about the wiring in case you want to make your own lights. Since each bulb was rated for 2.5V,the 7 bulbs in series would be rated for 17.5V. The track voltage is 18V and they were a little brighter than I wanted. Each bulb draws 200ma (.2 amps) so since they are all wired in series, the string also draws 200ma. To drop the voltage to the bulbs just a little, I added a 3 ohm resistor in series with the string.
For the non "electrical" folks: The voltage drop across the resistor is the current times the value of the resistor so E=I*R or .2A*3ohms=.6 volts. Since the current flows through the resistor then the string of lights, the 18 volt supply is dropped by .6V due to the resistor and the resulting voltage to the lights is 18V-.6V = 17.4V. That resulted in a "warmer, yellow tint on the lamps which I really like. It will also extend the life of the lamps.
The only other thing you would need to know is what power the resistor would need to be. The power is calculated by the equation P=I*E where I is the current through the resistor and E is the voltage across it. In this case, P=.2*.6 or .12 watts. Any resistor rated for a quarter watt or more would work.
Example: If I only wanted to use 5 icicle lamps then the required voltage for the lamps would be 5*2.5=12.5V. If I was using aux voltage of 14V then I would need to drop the 14V to 12.5V or 1.5 volts. From the equation E=I*R, R=E/I or 1.5/.2 = 7.5 ohms. The required power rating would be a minimum of P=I*E or .3 watts. A half watt resistor would work fine."

Rand
Your buildings are great. Have you posed other pictures of your work, I would like to detail the buildings I have and then get more. Are those window dressings real? You say that you use grain of wheat bulbs, how do you place them in the building? Are your windows open? How do you put the buildings on your layout? Are those buildings the original in size or have you changed the “foot print”? If I do not stop asking questions you will not be able to reply. Again thanks for giving me fuel, fire and that which I desire!

Michael

All the steam that blows the whistle can not power the wheels

quote:

Originally posted by Jeff Remy:
The way you have your outside rails "rusted" & the dark/black background [ballast?] I thought I was looking at 2 rail. Really nice!

i agree! the rails look great (just dont start another 'should we weather the third rail' argument!) and your window scenes are wonderful as well ... the lighting really sets up a great atmosphere.

great stuff rand!

Hello Michael, thank you for the compliments.

The building are Ameritowne fronts from the OGR store. The window scenes are included with the fronts. To add the lights I made simple backs and sides. I added room dividers wherever I installed a light. Painted them and taped them to the fronts.

Rand

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Rand Fredricksen,

Gizzmo,

Here's the link http://stores.ebay.com/HKJE-Led-Lamp-Center

Grain of wheat bulbs are good too. I didn't mean to come across as saying LED's were the only way to do something, just another option. They also have grain of rice and sand. I've used these in street lamps etc. If you order bulbs watch most of the small ones are 1.5 volts but there are some 12 volt ones out there, look at the small print. Mintronics has a lamp shade with bulb that is 12 volts but on the package it says 120 volt. That would make a nice pop if you tried that.

Gene Anstine

Fish, thank you. I think the lighting is the best effect I have in that scene (other than hiding the center rail

Gene, I am not against LEDs either. Different lights for different places.


Most of the grain of wheats are 12V or 6V, so you do have to watch. The smaller bulbs (rice, sand) are usually lower voltages.

I have four electrical circuits with individual controls (with dimmers) for the building lights on this part of the layout. I think it's important that I can illuminate stores, apartments, offices, and streetlights separately.

I also have three circuits on dimmers for the room lights; two sets of track lights and the basic room lighting.

Rand