Lighting

[fwright]

Good point Bob - I've seen that in the 10 light 12 volt strings that were intact. One bulb blew, shorted as advertised, and the others got visibly brighter now running on 13.3 volts. When the second one went, a couple of others went in very short order before the fuse blew.

That is why when I cut the strings for MR use, I under-volt the bulbs by about 10% or more. With a 14 volt supply and 2.5 volt bulbs, I'll use at least 6 bulbs and sometimes 7 in the string (I measure my supply voltage under load). The string should be fused at 1 amp or less to prevent fire/melt down in event of total short circuit since the strings typically use 18 gauge wire.

Fred W

[lionelsoni]

Lee, I think the guys using Christmas lights are just cutting out short strings, not wiring the entire thing to 120 volts (at least, I hope so). The individual lamps are usually 2.5 or 3.5 volts; so several of them in series add up to typical train-transformer voltages.

One drawback to using Christmas lights is that they usually are designed to fail shorted, which increases the voltage on the remaining lamps. This is no big deal when you have 50 of them in the original 120-volt string. But, when you have only half a dozen or fewer, you need to notice a burnout quickly before they all go, and perhaps take the wiring or transformer with them if they are not protected.

[phillyreading]

I use Radio Shack miniture light bases with GE Mazda bulbs and use a small transformer to power the lights. Can use AC or DC to power the lights in the 12 to 24 volt range, just make sure the power supply matches the light bulb voltage, if too bright try putting more lights on one string of lights, an extra light or two will knock down the voltage or watts just enuff to make it look good. An older transformer will work, like the one not powerful enuff for a passenger train or older steam loco, if using a train transformer you can adjust the power output.
I don't like using old Christmas lights as they burn out quickly for me and I prefer to use low voltage for lighting, I like to keep 120 volts for transformer power not directly to lighting.
Lee F.

[lyle_styles]

Hello,

I too have purchased the lights mentioned above off of E-Bay and they work superbly.

Easy to wire and work very well with my Lionel transformers. I am able to use the variable voltage to adjust the brightness of the bulbs.

Plus they have other kinds such as flood lights, gooseneck lamps and smaller gooseneck lights to put on the outside of buildings like over doors and such.

Hope this helps,
Lyle R Ehlers

[csxt30]

QUOTE: Originally posted by gwg50

what is this Korber? and where do I find it. Gary

Hi Gary, here is a link to their site. I think they are known most fof their roundhouses, among othere models they produce.
http://www.korbermodels.com/

[gwg50]

what is this Korber? and where do I find it. Gary

[gwg50]

I’ve made all of my building out of wood I have a woodworking shop at my house that’s my other hobby. I'm going to turn some water tanks down on my lathe to make some water towers for my layout too. But just don't have an exact measurement for one yet.
Gary

[Anonymous]

I got some of these on Ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/10-LIGHTS-PEEL-STICK-G-S-HO-N-SCALE-TRAIN-FOR-MODEL_W0QQitemZ6039541238QQcategoryZ19157QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Anonymous]

The Radio Shack screw-base sockets are great for putting
lights inside of O gauge buildings. Easy to wire and easy
to change out bulbs. Use the #1449 bulbs that I mentioned
in your other post and run them at about 12V for longer life
and not so awfully brite in side of buildings. If you want,
get colored bulbs like the yellow ones and green ones to
mute the light from inside buildings. After all, when you see
light coming from inside of a real building it isn't bright white,
but usually a muted yellowish or even greenish (like the TV
is on) tint.

Again Korber has these bulbs available in colors whereas
Radio Shack has only clear. Korber also stocks the sockets
and usually has a better price than Radio Shack.

[dwiemer]

gwg50,
If you look in either O Guage Railroading, or my favorite, Classic Toy Trains magazines, they have some advertisers for lights. One thing to keep in mind, is that if you made plastic buildings, or thin walled buildings, you may want to either paint the inside walls of your structures with black paint, or cover them with foil or another material to prevent the outside of the building glowing. You want the light coming through the windows, not the walls.
Dennis

[andregg1]

HI
another good thing with xmas light, is that you can create a lot of efects, into the building.
Andre.

[gwg50]

I have a large box full of those little mini-lite that I don’t use anymore. But I’m no electrician. I’m not sure what you are saying and how to do it. I’ll have about 8 maybe 10 building on my layout.

[fwright]

A little bit more of a handy man approach and now is probably the wrong time of year, but I like to use cut up Christmas mini-lite strings. You have to figure out the voltage of the bulbs, then string enough of them in series to add up to 10-20% more than your lighting power voltage. For instance if I have 2.5V bulbs - common on 50 lights/per channel strings - and I'm using 13 volts to supply the bulbs, I'll cut the string at 6-7 bulbs and wire them in. The bulbs are about the right brightness, don't produce much heat, and are cheap.

yours in lighting
Fred W

[csxt30]

Yes, and in addition to Radio Shack, some of the guys have ordered from this site.
http://www.towncountryhobbies.com/Sockets-Lampholders.htm

[Anonymous]

Radio shack has small 12V lights and bases. Kinda bright so cover the windows inside with warm colored film paper.

[gwg50]

Hi Guys
I have built some building, House, cabin, farmhouse, exc. for my layout and looking for some little lights to put in them. I have looked online but have not found any. Anyone know where I can?