Flickering Car Interrior Lights

[sir james I]

That black crud insulates the wheel from the rail. Get it off and I think you'll notice a big difference in your car lighting.

[j.mel]

Sir James,

 We both think alike apparently. I used a Scotch Brite Pad, a copper cleaner called "Twinkle", and some Q Tips.

 I figured that the current not only had to be picked up from the track center rail and feed through the pickup and light bulb and socket but it also would have to find its way back to the source,(outside rail) to ground or the transformer,(source).

 I have not tried the train set yet, but the wheels has an incredible amount of black crudd on them.

Thanks Again,

John

[j.mel]

Thanks for the info. . I use a Scotch Brite Pad to clean my track. I used the pad to clean my wheels along with a copper cleaner called,"Twinkle", and a couple of Q Tips. The combination worked great they are nice and shinny. Its amazing how much crud was on them.

Thanks again,

John

[lionelsoni]

You're welcome!

By the way, beside stopping the flickering, this rectifier-capacitor trick has some other things it can do for you if your car has two pickups:

o  While two pickups reduce flickering, they don't eliminate it entirely.  But, with the capacitor scheme, a single pickup may be all you need.  I have removed second pickups on some of my passenger cars to reduce drag significantly and allow me to pull a longer train.

o  If you keep the second pickup, you can eliminate any possibility of burning out the car wiring when crossing block boundaries by installing a separate bridge rectifier for each pickup, then connecting the rectifiers' outputs together.  Even when blocks are wired properly, there are occasions when I cross a block boundary that I shouldn't.  That extra rectifier module protects the rather light wiring inside the car.  I have noticed that Williams uses two pickups, but doesn't connect them together, I suppose for this reason.

[balidas]

I was going to post a question to ask if a capacitor could be used for this. Not only for my passenger cars but also for my lighted cabeese. I've done the cleaning & checking but still have flickering.

Thanx Bob!

lionelsoni

Get a bridge rectifier (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062581) ,  a 4700 microfarad electrolytic capacitor (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102508&filterName=Type&filterValue=Electrolytic+capacitors), and a miniature lamp socket (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062372 or http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062369) to fit your lamp.

Disconnect the pickup from the original lamp socket.  Connect one of the rectifier's ~ leads to the car frame and the other one to the pickup.  Connect the rectifier's - lead to the capacitor's - lead and to one terminal of the lamp socket.  Connect the rectifier's + lead to the capacitor's other lead and to the lamp socket's other terminal.

Improvise a way to mount the new socket so that the bulb of the lamp is approximately in the same place as before; but make sure that the socket makes no electrical connection with the car's frame.  For example, if the old socket is mounted hanging down from car ceiling, put the new socket on the floor.  If it is possible to disconnect the shell of the lamp socket in your car electrically from the frame, you can use it instead of a new one; but I doubt that that is the case. 

[sir james I]

Cleaning the roller is the right way to start. However the return path through the wheels has to be clean also. Use a small bladed screwdriver and scrape the wheels clean then finish with rubbing alcohol or track cleaner.

[Anonymous]

scotchbrite pad...

[j.mel]

What is good for cleaning the pickup roller, light sand paper?

Thanks

John

[lionelsoni]

Get a bridge rectifier (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062581) ,  a 4700 microfarad electrolytic capacitor (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102508&filterName=Type&filterValue=Electrolytic+capacitors), and a miniature lamp socket (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062372 or http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062369) to fit your lamp.

Disconnect the pickup from the original lamp socket.  Connect one of the rectifier's ~ leads to the car frame and the other one to the pickup.  Connect the rectifier's - lead to the capacitor's - lead and to one terminal of the lamp socket.  Connect the rectifier's + lead to the capacitor's other lead and to the lamp socket's other terminal.

Improvise a way to mount the new socket so that the bulb of the lamp is approximately in the same place as before; but make sure that the socket makes no electrical connection with the car's frame.  For example, if the old socket is mounted hanging down from car ceiling, put the new socket on the floor.  If it is possible to disconnect the shell of the lamp socket in your car electrically from the frame, you can use it instead of a new one; but I doubt that that is the case. 

[steve24944]

I have had the same problem with my 2531-2534 passenger cars.  I have been working on a project to add constant intensity lighting to my cars.  The wiring project is from the book  Easy Electronics Projects for Toy Trains .    I  removed the original lamps and ran a new wire from the pick up rollers into the car body  to the bridge rectifier used in the circuit.  I also made a connection between 2 cars using a small pin connector that I got at a hobby shop (  GRS Micro Liting  ).  I ran the wire through the doors an the end of the cars.  That way 2 cars are sharing pick up rollers and that seams to have eliminated  most of the flicker.  The pin connector can be disconnected to allow the cars to be easily removed from the layout.

Steve

[srguy]

Check all the solder connections and the wires for breaks and make sure the roller is clean ... I had the same issue on a 2400 passenger car.

[j.mel]

Can anyone tell me of a way to stop the interrior car lights stop blinking or flickering on Lionel 610 and 612 pullman and a observation car or due you just have to live with it?

Thanks

John