On these billboards it comes with a battery pack that you use three triple AAA batteries. I was wondering if you can cut off the battery pack and then wire the two leads going from the circuit board to some type of a power source?
Not sure if anyone has tried doing that.
I have all of my Miller signs running from a 4.5V DC "wall-wart" power supply. It is a good way to go.
Miller sells a power supply and a distribution strip, also a #4804 5-17V AC or DC to 4.5VDC "converter" but since I already had the wall wart available I simply used that.
Good Luck, Ed
Yes, Miller offers two different power supplies that replace the battery pack, one that can drive up to 3 signs, and one for up to 10 signs.
They also have an adapter board that will work with anything from 5-17 volts, AC or DC, and outputs the correct 4.5 volts for the signs. Each one runs up to 6 signs. You can run this one from the AC terminals of an old power pack, for example.
Both items are at the bottom of their signs page on their web site.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I first run mine when I get a new one, using the batteries. That lets me know it's working. I measure the current with a multi-meter, and then add a resistor so that I can connect the sign and power it with my standard 12 VDC illumination bus.
I got tired of all the little special purpose wall warts powering things.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
That's where you would use the adpater board they sell, or the cheap little buck converters I use - same thing, except mine are adjustable so I can use them for everything. That way I can run an ~12V bus but use it to power many different things by adjusting each converter to output the required voltage.
Thanks for the info. When on the website and saw that. I had bought these a few years ago at a local train show and just getting around to using them.