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J&C Studios O Gauge Archive


O Gauge / O Scale Forums and Individual Blogs for Model Railroading

What is the J&C Studios O Gauge Archive?
(Guest)   JCS Archive   Dale H   Caboose LED lighting
 
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Caboose LED lighting
Dale H
Joined: Sep 25, 2010
Topics: 32 Replies: 39 Topics: 32
My Archive Category |
posted Jan 13, 2011: 
Caboose circuitry is the same as passenger car wiring,however the cupola and smaller size make for more tedious component placement and construction. Also fewer LEDs are needed.






here is a lighting strip 5 inches long for a caboose without interior detail. A 1X5 inch piece of electrical fish paper is cut,the LEDs are pushed through






Some of the other components are placed in,holes made with an awl,the bridge rectifier and 1000 uf capacitor






Other components are added as needed, 2, 510 ohm resistors in series,a pot a 22uh choke and connections soldered from the reverse side. The blue wire connects LEDs in series. The green wire is - from the bridge,the red wire + from the bridge. The black wires are AC feeds from the track






here is the top view finished and then bench tested












Silicone is used to glue assembly either to the roof of the caboose or the floor. Another piece of fish paper insulates it if floor mounted on a metal frame. This stuff works good,better than clear silicone.





The Lionel I 12 caboose is more of a challenge. The existing board is hooked to a constant voltage circuit for red LED markers. 3 light bulbs get track voltage. So we will try to keep the old board and tap off the light bulb circuit. Construction is the same as the first board,a bit crowded so I omitted the pot. Had to shape the paper to fit in. Two solid wires are soldered to the ends of the black wires which are plugged into the light socket for AC track power


















After bench testing,the black wires are plugged into the light socket, the strip is glued in place over the old board.









Both these circuits will use 1/2 watts or less. The old light bulbs probably 5-10 watts. If run conventional the LEDs will still work but dim with the throttle as did the old light bulbs. Constant voltage circuits can be constructed in a similar manner. See LED passenger car posts for these circuits. CV circuits would use more wattage,1 1/2 watts in this case but still much less than bulbs. The choke is only needed for DCS users. I do not run command so I have no way of testing for signal shunting. The choke was recommended on the OGR DCS Forum.

The conventional constant voltage circuit is made and installed in a similar fashion. Cl2 N3 chips are used instead of resistors.









The center pin is removed from the current limiting chip. Holes are punched in the fish paper with an awl













Pins are installed on the black wires and plugged into the light socket









then it is glued to the rooof as before.

here is the I 12 lighted in the daylight and dark
 

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