Technology keeps raising the bar and making for some really neat modeling opportunities. Lots of discussion has been carried out here for building lighting and I think these LED strips are about perfect for the needs of modelers.
I had heard of LED strips that can be cut to length but I never explored the idea until recently. Individual LEDs and resistors were just fine for me but then I picked up a spool of these little guys and was really impressed with how versatile these would be for model applications.
So looking closer I saw the spot between every third LED where they can be cut...
There's little solder pads there where you can attach your leads for 12 VDC. You can cut any multiple of three LEDs. You can jumper one strip to another if you need to go into another area or through a wall. There's double stick tape on the back so you can use them right against a ceiling and there's hardly any depth to them so you won't see them tyhrough a window.
Here's what a pair of leads look like after cutting.
I had an unfinished Walthers HO power plant just to show how the strips can be threaded through the trusses, quick & easy!
I've got several large buildings on my layout such as the Walthers rolling mill and these LED strips are going to save me lots of time AND provide plenty of light. The ones shown here are listed as Warm White but you can use Sharpies or colored gels or, one of my go-to LED tinting solutions, Kapton tape whick gives a more incandescent light look. These can be dimmed using 750Ω or 1KΩ resistors on either 12v lead.
I'm looking forward to trying these out for passenger car lighting as well. They should be perfect for that as well. The ones I bought ran about $16 including shipping for a 5 meter length with 30 LEDs on it, there are cheaper LEDs out there but these things are really handy.
If this has already been discussed, I apologize but I saw a few recent threads about structure lighting so I thought some of the newcomers might use the info.
Happy Modeling... Ed
ED,
I have seen those and they are great,for doing what you described. Maybe you could, let other's know,where you got them. Thanks!
Cheers,
Frank
Hi Frank
I was looking for that elusive "edit" button since I see a typo in my original post, seems to be lost in translation to the newest format here! Anyway, I sometimes hesitate to bring up ebay in these forums but that's where I found these from a California seller. There may be cheaper deals and I do see other sellers with different color temp. LEDs too.
Anyway, here's where I got mine...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/16-ft-5M-Flexible-LED-Lighting-Strip-300-SMD-Ribbon-with-3M-Tape-Warm-White-/271226434847?pt=US_String_Lights_Fairy_Lights&hash=item3f265af51f#ht_1865wt_1219
Looks like I can't substitute text for a link either. This format will have its growing pains for sure!
Thanks for your interest! [edit: I see the edit button in my reply but NOT in my original post!]
Ed
Ed:
Thanks for the lead on the LED strips. I just bought two. I'm feeling a bit guilty because I have a few hundred white LEDs of various sizes and hues, but not having to bother with resistors is just too tempting. Don't worry, the other LEDs won't go to waste.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Thanks,for the reply, somewhere in my files, I do have,one site,that carry's them, now I don't have to look. Plus I'm sure other's would also,like to know, that is a great product, in my opinion.
Yeah! The new format, will take some time!
hey good post , BUT how many LEDs per foot ? and are these the "5050" led strips Ive read about ?
again NICE post ...JW
Hi JW
I had to Google 5050 LEDs to find out what that's all about and I found this nice explanation...
http://www.flexfireleds.com/pages/Comparison-between-3528-LEDs-and-5050-LEDs.html
Looks like the 5050s are more sophisticated with three color LEDs. I guess contemporary modelers could use them to represent a modern disco (Geez, I'm trying to put a smily face here but the new format will only put it at the start of the conversation!!!(add frustrated emoticon here!)
Whoah, I got it to work
As far as LEDs per foot I get 18 LEDs per 11-3/4" section. In my photos of the power plant above you see a 9-3/4" strip (x2) containing 15 LEDs. The shortest segment of 3 LEDs is 1-7/8" long. The entire 16 foot strip of 300 LEDs draws 1.04 amps @ 12 volts.
Here is a shot of the 11-3/4" strip with 15 LEDs.
What you see here is 11-3/4" long. Thanks for asking, Big Jerr!
Take care, ED
Doggone it! There is NO edit button in my above post and I messed up on the information!
The strip you see with 15 LEDs is actually 9-3/4" not 11-3/4! its almost 6 AM and I am seriously lacking zzZZ's
So again, you get 18 LEDs in a 11-3/4 strip. Those 5050 strips have a control module to signal color changes to the tri-color LEDs. They might be useful for room lighting to simulate sunrise/daylight/sunset scenarios...
Thanks, Ed
LED technology has come a long way the past couple of years and I decided to light up my layout using the movie-reel strips (topic of another running thread a month or so ago). Never thought of using the strips to light structures but thats a great idea.
The strip that I bought is dual-temperature with both warm white (2500K) and daylight (6800K) LEDs, and the kit comes with a little remote to adjust the lighting temperature and intensity. I cut strips to length and mounted them in channels made for the purpose. Not cheap, but they put out a ton of light due to the high-density of the LEDs and being able to adjust the lighting is very cool. Changing the lighting from sunrise to daylight to dusk works great.
Here are some more links to online suppliers. The first one shows the kit that I bought. There are a whole lot of options so worth doing some research. For buildings I think a reel of the low cost (low LED density) warm white LEDs would be ideal.
http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/top-emitting/variable-color-temperature-flexible-light-strip-kit-with-rf-touch-remote/1475/3515/
http://www.elementalled.com/shop-by-item/strip-lights.html
http://www.environmentallights.com/
Huntington Junction - Freelance based on the B&O and C&O in coal country before the merger... doing it my way. Now working on phase 3. - Walt
For photos and more: http://www.wkhobbies.com/model-railroad/
HObbyguy LED technology has come a long way the past couple of years and I decided to light up my layout using the movie-reel strips (topic of another running thread a month or so ago). Never thought of using the strips to light structures but thats a great idea. The strip that I bought is dual-temperature with both warm white (2500K) and daylight (6800K) LEDs, and the kit comes with a little remote to adjust the lighting temperature and intensity. I cut strips to length and mounted them in channels made for the purpose. Not cheap, but they put out a ton of light due to the high-density of the LEDs and being able to adjust the lighting is very cool. Changing the lighting from sunrise to daylight to dusk works great. Here are some more links to online suppliers. The first one shows the kit that I bought. There are a whole lot of options so worth doing some research. For buildings I think a reel of the low cost (low LED density) warm white LEDs would be ideal. http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/top-emitting/variable-color-temperature-flexible-light-strip-kit-with-rf-touch-remote/1475/3515/ http://www.elementalled.com/shop-by-item/strip-lights.html http://www.environmentallights.com/
Hobbyguy, I have a question about your LED lighting. I am interested in LED lighting due to my layout is located in the basement and the lighting that is in place is dim. In your picture is that the LED lights strips that are providing that much lighting? Before I fork out the $$ for any lighting I want to make sure it gives me adequate lighting in my dim basement.
John
JohnB.Before I fork out the $$ for any lighting I want to make sure it gives me adequate lighting in my dim basement.
I have exactly the same situation with a dark basement. Was not a problem when we used it as a band practice room because dim was appropriate. But not for a model RR. One of the reasons that I went with the LED strips is because they were a lot easier to mount on my popcorn ceiling than a bunch of flourescent tubes and/or extensive track lighting. Just no easy way out when you need a lot of light.
Yes the pic I posted is lit only with the LEDs, and no flash on the camera. The ones I bought do a good job of lighting up the current layout area which is about 6 x 8 ft. Being LEDs they are quite directional so they do not light up the rest of the room much. Here are some more pics, this time with 3 LED floods adding a bit more light to the front edges. The LED strips put out a whole bunch more light than those 3 floods but the direction of the floods is easy to adjust so good for supplementing. These pics are raw- absolutely no photoshop adjustments. And you can see as I pull back that the rest of the room is pretty dark in comparison. I figure it will take two or three more sets to light up my whole planned 13x14 layout and I will just add lighting as I expand.
If you go with LEDs be careful of the color. The non-adjustable ones are a lot cheaper but make sure to get something around 5000K.
(Yes the difference in the color tone in the original pic and these is just the color setting of the LEDs.)
ED: I believe that the small dark component between the LEDs is a resistor? If so, is a short strip of such LEDs ready-to-go for wiring without adding additional a 470 or 1K ohm resistor to it? Or is additional resistance needed? Also, are these representative of the "micro" LEDs I have been reading about?
Cedarwoodron
If you look at the third picture in the original post, you can see how they are wired, and why the cut marks are every 3 LEDs. They are wired 3 in series with one resistor for the group of 3, It's going to be a fairly low value resistor, typical white LEDs are 3.5 volts, so 3 in series is 10.5 volts, only need to drop about 1.5 volts from a 12V power supply, a I'm sure they run these near the current limit of the LED to get the most brightness out of them. Looks like they might say 151 on the resistor, that would be 150 ohms. That would be about 10ma with a 12V supply, which is well under the max the LEDs can stand. The LEDs might be slightly lower voltage, maybe 3.2, which with 12V in plus the 150 ohm resistor, would be 16ma.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Hi Cedarwoodron,
You are correct and as Randy explains above, any segment of the strip has its own resistor so you can apply 12 volts DC to it directly. Note the polarity markings on the solder pads. No additional resistor is needed. I only mentioned an additional resistor to "tone down" the intensity if your desired application called for lower luminosity. You could even cover some of the LEDs with vinyl tape if you wanted to only light selected areas or I suppose you could use, say, a 9 volt supply to reduce the brightness.
[ I'm trying to use the "add quote" feature here but it is dead! I can't even copy & paste from your post
You ask about micro LEDs?
By current standards these SMD LEDs are on the large size! Take a look at these pico and nano LEDs!
http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/smd-chip-leds.html I bought some of these at a train show recently for a project I have on my workbench which is adding a headlight to a brass engine with a cast on headlight housing. I'll also be using these nano LEDs to replace the 1.5 volt microlamps that keep blowing out on my Athearn Genesis F units!
I did not buy directly from Evan Designs but I have heard that they are good people to deal with.
Thanks for your interest, Ed
Now those pico-size ones make me want to build a house as a foreground showpiece where the lights are actually lights - a table lamp here, a ceiling light there, porch light, etc. And then hook it all up to a sequence circuit so as evening comes on, certain lights come on in the house and then ad the night progresses, the go on and off in a realistic fashion, say like at 8 the upstairs hall light comes on, thent he bathroom, and one of the bedrooms, as the kids go to bed. Hook one up to a flicker circuit to be the TV... oh the possibilities. Of course then I'd want ALL of the structures to have this, which means the layout would never get built as I'd spend 6 months per building getting it all wired up and the sequence configured. Of course each one would have its own sequencer, because even when people have timer controlled lights they don;t all come on at the exact same time....
Hey, Randy that would be neat! I'd love to see a town come alive one lamp at a time.
For the "Big City" guys how about this...
Heck, those windows even LOOK like smd LEDs! You could rig this up with any random sequencer, like the Miller Sign folks use. Like you said, these micro LEDs are making for all kinds of possibilities.
Here's an idea that just hit me... I have a few Broadway Limited F-7s with a rediculous 3mm LED in the cab that lights up every time the locomotive slows down! Dumb! What I'd rather see is an illuminated control stand OR in modern engines you could simulate the LCD display backlit with a micro LED! I have a couple of nice Alco S-2s from L-L that you can see the control stand through the cab window, how neat it would be to see the gauges lit up!
I am going to get into making up my own "nano" chips. I just bought 100 on ebay-with shipping-for 8 bucks and a couple of rolls of 36ga. twisted magnet wire. There's a guy named Al Mayo "Monster Al" on youtube and he has some good pointers on using smd's and hints on how to solder them... I'm game!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huH4jN-Wk1E Put on your dancing shoes! Ed
NO edit; reply; or quick reply
buttons here?
After dealing with the SMD resistors to put on all my wheelsets - I think if I use the pico and nano LEDs I'll be buying the ones with wires already attached - and I'm pretty good at soldering. Even with my big magnifier light though, those itty bitty things are tough for me to deal with.
Randy,
You will need some sound modules for the TV shows in the living room/dens. Just thought you might want to carry it a little farther since you have so much time to dedicate to them.
-Bob
Life is what happens while you are making other plans!
Got just the thing, too - Fred Miller made a 'sound player' project for Digitrax sound decoders that will run whatever sounds you load in with various timed loops and/or external triggers. Take a cheap Soundbug plus his project file, and you have the equivalent of one of those expensive MP3 playing sound units for cheap. Just record some sounds from old Lucy or Honeymooners spisodes and I'm good to go for my mid-50's era.