I installed LED lighting and then used a pair of 4700uf caps to buffer the power to the lights. The lighting for the car ran on 20MA and I don't see any flicker unless I park on a dead track.
Bob Thanks again for all your help.
Harold, since you are not using one of the pickups, I think that you will be able to mount the socket the same way I did, using the hole for the wire from the now-unused pickup, and making no permanent change to the car. The original socket is mounted horizontally with the bulb directly over that hole. So a vertical socket screwed to the hole puts the new bulb right where the old bulb went, without your having to remove the old socket. The sockets typically come with a mounting tab, which you will have to bend around under the socket to get the hole for the mounting screw centered under the socket.
The switch from number 51 to 53 depends on your track voltage and how bright you want the lights. They will be brighter if you stick with the 51s (and won't last as long). But, if you like to run slow, they may be just right for you. For slow running, you also have the option of rewiring the sockets in parallel and switching to 53s. This won't change the brightness; but it will make it easier to find replacement lamps, at Radio Shack, for example. (That's what these are, although they don't say so: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103782)
Yes, .01 farad is the same as 10 millifarads (or 10000 microfarads). Usually, the case is the negative terminal. Often there is a row of arrowheads along one side of the capacitor, pointing toward the negative terminal, with hard-to-recognize minus signs inside the arrowhead symbols. You would be just fine with a lower voltage rating, like 35 volts, which implies a smaller physical size.
Bob Nelson
Hi gunrunnerjohn, I have this train running on an incline so I had to cut the wire between the 2 light to keep the track voltage from jumping across each car down the incline. What honkin big capacitor did you use?
So lets see if I have this right. I am using a zw and passenger cars are 2421, 22, 23. They have 2 pickups each with a wire coming through the hole in the floor at both ends. One light is grounded, 1 is insulated so I have to figure where and how to mount new light socket. I need 1 capacitor such as 598-SLPX103M050H5P3 which is a .01 farad (I think is the same as 10 millifarad) and 50 volts and one rectifier such as 583-W04L for each of the cars and switch to the 53 lamps since they do currently have the 51’s. Is this correct. Thanks again. Harold
IMO, the only way to stop passenger lights from flickering is to convert to LED lighting and use a honkin' big capacitor. I've achieved 100% success with that approach.
I added a second pickup to my 2400 series cars which helps a bunch, but the conversion to LED lighting really did the trick.
Another bonus of LED lighting is it's much more even throughout the car and it consumes a small fraction of the power that the incandescent bulbs do. If you use the self-adhesive LED strips, the conversion is pretty easy. I also use a constant current regulator to have constant intensity lighting over a wide range of voltages.
I just got home and took a look inside one of my 2432-2436 cars. They have always had only a single pickup, whose wire came through the floor at the end opposite the grounded socket. So I used the matching hole at the other end to mount the new socket. I also see that I used two 5-millifarad capacitors. This value is not critical and just determines how long a dropout you can have before you see a flicker. A single modern 10 millifarad capacitor is about the same size as one of the old 5's that I used, so you might as well go with 10.
Another thought: The rectifier will boost the track voltage by about 40 percent. So, unless you run your train on the slow side, you might consider preserving the series lamp wiring, but changing to 14-volt number-53 lamps anyway. The capacitor voltage rating should be at least 1.4 times the highest RMS track voltage that you normally use. The same is true for the rectifier's voltage rating; but you can't get those rated lower than 50 volts anyway; and, as you can see, the Mouser prices are quite low even for much higher voltage ratings.
How about these? http://www.rectron.com/data_sheets/rb151-157.pdf http://jp.mouser.com/Semiconductors/Discrete-Semiconductors/Bridge-Rectifiers/_/N-6hpda?P=1yzvfutZ1yzvfqoZ1yzvd29Z1yzucogZ1yztiuxZ1z0x2iwZ1yztfpwZ1yztiuwZ1yztiv2Z1yztii0Z1yzuwrmZ1z0waqpZ1z0z63x
Bob,
Would mouser or a company that carries the TVS's have these. I looked but did not see anything at mouser saying 1.4A, 100V under their bridge rectifiers? Again I just figured since I have to go there for the TVS I could combine my order. If I call them would they know what I need if I tell them what you said here. Thanks again. Harold
The hardest part is replacing a lamp socket. I'm assuming that you have the postwar design with two sockets in series, using number-51 lamps if I remember correctly. One of these sockets is grounded to the car frame, which disqualifies it for your purpose. My preference is to leave it there empty and install a new socket on the floor, with the lamp bulb in the approximate original location. Connect the two non-grounded sockets in series to use the original lamps, or in parallel if you would like to switch to easier-to-find higher-voltage lamps (like the number 53).
Connect an electrolytic capacitor of about 5 millifarads (5000 microfarads) across the now isolated lamp circuit.
Connect a small bridge rectifier (something like this 1.4-ampere device: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062581) to the capacitor, with the + and - terminals of the rectifier and capacitor matching. Connect the rectifier's two ~ terminals, one to the car frame, the other to one of the pickups.
If you like, you can add a second bridge rectifier, with its + and - terminals also connected to the same capacitor, but with the ~ terminals connected to the car frame and the other pickup. (Actually, the connection of the ~ terminal to the car frame is optional for the second rectifier. You can also leave it unconnected or connect it to either pickup.) This will not have any effect on flickering while running, which should be completely absent; but it makes it more likely that the lights remain on when the train is stopped.
I know Bob said there is a way to do it so I am sure he will chime in but I am sure there are others who know how to do this and what I would need. Since I need to special order a couple Transient voltage suppressors anyway I thought I could add what I need for a single order. At least I hope one place will have what I need.
I run these cars with my 2343 Santa Fe on an incline and use bridge rectifiers to drop the voltage. Because they have 2 lights and 2 power wheels I have cut the wire feeding between the 2 light so the voltage does not keep jumping across, keeping the engine on high speed going down the incline. So now I would like to know what I can do to stop the lights from blinking as the power wheel lose contact with the track. If it works I am sure I will do it for other lighted cars especially the ones that run over my 022 switches. Thanks again for any information and parts list.
Harold
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