Really annoying RR stuff

[Ray Dunakin]

1. This evening I noticed that one of the handrails is missing from my newly-kitbashed RS-3. I'm fairly certain it was still on when I parked it last night. I just went over the entire layout and can't find it, and there really aren't any places it could be easily hidden (i.e., no shrubs, grass etc.) I opened all the tunnels and thoroughly inspected them with a flashlight. Nothing! How does stuff just disappear like that?!?!

 

 

2. After I purchased a regulated power supply last May, I had the lights turned on in my structures every night, all summer long, without a problem. When we started getting rain in the fall, I covered the buildings with plastic to protect them from mud, etc. In November I uncovered them, turned on the power, and discovered several bulbs not working. A cursory inspection showed no evidence of shorts or corrosion in the structure's wiring, and the bulbs have dark smudges inside, typical of having burned out. Covered everything back up again, since I had no time to fix it. A couple weeks ago, I uncover it again, and now more bulbs are out! What the heck is the deal??? There has been no power to these structures the entire time they were covered. Rain water has not gotten into any of the buildings, although there is enough humidity inside to fog some of the windows. 

 

 

[IRB Souther Engineer]

That stinks. Once I lost a dark green coupler lift bar on my RR. I was crawling around looking for it for awhile. I finally found it, though.

[two tone]

Hi    1 Take a look under your rolling stock I lost a bit from a loco, then one day I was oiling some of my wheel sets and bingo  there was the missing bit.       2  Cold will make bulbs fail I use 24vdc the sort that  cars useect,   I wire all my bulbs pos to end and neg to side of bulb I solder the wires to the bulbs and have a wire connector in the roof of the building      I hope this helps

[Ray Dunakin]

 All of the bulbs are 16v, 30mA grain of rice style, from Miniatronics. They are all wired parallel. The regulated power supply is adjustable, I have it set to output 12v. I use very heavy Malibu wiring to get power from the source to the various sites of mines, towns, etc. I don't recall the gauge off-hand but it's thick stuff. 

 

At the town site, the Malibu cables terminate at a junction. Heavy-duty speaker wire runs from the junction to each building. The buildings are connected to the speaker wire with a somewhat thinner wire. This is attached to a junction inside the building, and connects to the leads from the bulbs. In some cases there are two or more junctions inside the building -- for instance, one for the downstairs and one for upstairs.

 

What I suspect is happening is that the material used to the seal the bottom of the bulbs (where the leads go into the glass) is failing, either due to moisture or cold. Not enough to be visible but just enough to let air into the bulb. Then the filament burns out instantly the moment power is switched on.

 

So on each of the new bulbs, I'm covering that area with a thin coat of clear silicone sealant. This is flexible and weatherproof, and should prevent any leaks. Only time will tell.

 

 

[two tone]

Hi Ray thats a good idea, should solve the problem

[spikejones52002]

Light bulbs are sealed in glass.

Are the wires under ground?

Have you had thunder storms with lighting?

Lighting flashes can be induced into the wiring.

At the end of the day. Place a short across the power terminals and/or at the end of the feed just before the branches to the lighting system.

Check your Voltmeter with a very know power source to verify the meter readings. check to see if you have A.C. on with D.C. placed your meter on A.C. and see if you get a reading. if your lighting is A.C. do the opposite.

What is powering your lighting system? Is it a regulated supply?

last try lowering the voltage a bit more.

Last check to see if your wife is enjoying it while you are away.  Maybe she does not want you to know how much fun she is having with it. See if any of the cookie jar money is missing. See if you find a PINK engine hidden away.

[Quitchakiddin]

Maybe they got run over by the 24 ton boulder over in the ballast thread?

[piercedan]

What comes to my mind for light bulbs to fail are:

 

Heat, if a bulb is covered up it will shorten the life as will too high a voltage.

 

To quickly lower a bulbs voltage on AC, just place a diode on one transformer lead.

 

You state 12 volts on 16 volt bulbs and that should be ok.

Perhaps you got a batch of mislabeled bulbs!!

[Independent Operator]

Ray,

Last year one of my sunbathers on my railroad had her head completely missing.  She was still glued to the layout.  Another person on the layout had his upper torso completely gone the same way.  Strange stufff goes on when we aren't watching.  Our backyard is completely fenced in and I doubt that our chihuahua's, the neighbors cats or the racoons eat plastic.

 

 

 

Ray Dunakin

1. This evening I noticed that one of the handrails is missing from my newly-kitbashed RS-3. I'm fairly certain it was still on when I parked it last night. I just went over the entire layout and can't find it, and there really aren't any places it could be easily hidden (i.e., no shrubs, grass etc.) I opened all the tunnels and thoroughly inspected them with a flashlight. Nothing! How does stuff just disappear like that?!?!

 

 

2. After I purchased a regulated power supply last May, I had the lights turned on in my structures every night, all summer long, without a problem. When we started getting rain in the fall, I covered the buildings with plastic to protect them from mud, etc. In November I uncovered them, turned on the power, and discovered several bulbs not working. A cursory inspection showed no evidence of shorts or corrosion in the structure's wiring, and the bulbs have dark smudges inside, typical of having burned out. Covered everything back up again, since I had no time to fix it. A couple weeks ago, I uncover it again, and now more bulbs are out! What the heck is the deal??? There has been no power to these structures the entire time they were covered. Rain water has not gotten into any of the buildings, although there is enough humidity inside to fog some of the windows.