I'm interested in starting to add lighting to my HO structures. From what I've read, my strong bias is to use warm white (more incandescent color), inverterted cone (for wide angle of dispersion) LEDs. I've looked on EBay, etc and not found alot promising or inexpensive. I did find some Walmart listed (thru secondary provider) that I would consider at 31 cents apiece for 100 but do not know looking at the ad whether they would come apart readily (r.g., don't want to fight glue, etc).
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Set-of-100-Warm-White-Commercial-Grade-LED-Wide-Angle-Christmas-Lights-White-Wire/30686703
Do others suggest just wait until the local stores display the seasonal lights. Am I likely to find the warm white, inverted cone? From what I've read, many are either bright white or not inverted cone, thus cheap.
I haven't seen an internet supplier that is less than about 3x what the Walmart item is per LED Again, I don't know if those are readily separated.
P.S. - I'm curious why the warm white, inverted cone LEDs are not more commonly available for a bulk price, at least what I can find.
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
Paul,
I've had good luck at Target with their store brand holiday lighting. You have a chocie between warm white and cool white. All the string I've bought from the the last couple of years were easy to salvage LEDs from.
I suspect the reason the cone-reflectors are hard to find in bulk batches is because most of the production goes to holiday lighting and you see them only infrequently in other applications AFAIK. The lighting manufacturers and LED makers probably cover their seasonal needs and then move on to other production.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
peahrens Do others suggest just wait until the local stores display the seasonal lights.
Do others suggest just wait until the local stores display the seasonal lights.
Wait? No need. Go to Lowes tomorrow if there's one near you. Their Christmas stuff is already out.
Mark P.
Website: http://www.thecbandqinwyoming.comVideos: https://www.youtube.com/user/mabrunton
Hi Paul:
I wouldn't give up on eBay just yet. I have purchased both individual LEDs and LED strips for good prices and the prices seem to get cheaper all the time.
Strip lighting is perhaps the easiest way to light larger buildings, and most of them can be cut into sets of three LEDs if you need something smaller. The strips will give you similar light dispersal to the inverted cones. Keep in mind that these can be wired to 12 volts because the resistors are already built in. Check this page out. If you search for a bit you will find some low prices, often with free shipping:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_nkw=warm+white+led+strip&_frs=1
Edit: Make sure the seller is offering "warm white" LEDs or you may not get a colour that suits you, but if you want to model florescent lighting then "bright white' works better.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
I agree with dave on the strip lighting. There have been a few threads here on the subject and by using the minimum of the three LEDs on the strip you get nice, even lighting. As mentioned, larger buildings simply use longer strips.
Sorry, can't make the link clickable...
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/11/t/225078.aspx
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/744/p/230343/2574886.aspx#2574886
Good luck, ED
I like to get LEDs from this guy:
http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/bl-212.html
He has a wide variety of sizes, from tiny "nano" and surface mount, up to 3mm and 5mm. The best part is, they come wired with a tiny circuit that limits the voltage and automatically corrects the polarity. This is a big plus if you're "electronically challenged" like me.
I've used them for the headlights and tail lights on my rail bus, as well as headlights and cab lights on locomotives. Currently I'm in the process of converting all the lights in my buildings from grain-of-rice bulbs, to LEDs. Many of them are being installed in scale light fixtures.
I have no connection with this company, I'm just a very satisfied customer.
I'll second Ray's recommendation. I have made several purchases from Evan Designs and was quite pleased with their product and services.
No question - Evans Designs does provide a very convenient product if you are willing to spend the money.
However, with a little practise you can have lots of lighting for way less money. I am a lighting nutcase. I want more than a few lit windows in some structures. In addition to detailed interior and exterior structure lighting I want headlights and tail lights and even some flashing turn signal lights in vehicles that are on the road. I want working street lights and yard lights. I want illuminated number boards on my locomotives (doing that is the biggest challenge so far) as well as decent looking headlights and marker lights. I want all passenger cars illuminated and I want working marker lights on my cabooses.
If I was spending $2.00 or $3.00 per light I would have gone broke long ago. However I have been able to do what I want for a few cents per LED. For example, I am installing individual 3mm warm white LEDs including resistors in things like street lights for about $0.03 cents each with wiring extra but that isn't much either. LED strip lighting works out to about 3.3 cents each. SMD 0603 LEDs with resistors are somewhere around $0.06 cents each.
Granted I have found some bargains on eBay which may not always be available, but even if you were to pay four or five times as much you would still not have put much of a dent in the beer money account.
Learning to solder LEDs is not difficult, unless of course you tell yourself that it is. Henry Ford said something to the effect that "if you think you can do something or if you think you can't do something, you are right". You WILL fry a few LEDs at first. So what. By the time you have spent enough for a Starbucks coffee you will have become quite proficient.
Sorry, I am droning on!
hon30critter Learning to solder LEDs is not difficult, unless of course you tell yourself that it is. Henry Ford said something to the effect that "if you think you can do something or if you think you can't do something, you are right". You WILL fry a few LEDs at first. So what. By the time you have spent enough for a Starbucks coffee you will have become quite proficient.
Indeed he did. Check out my signature box.
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
If you check around on e-Bay you can find LEDs in lots of 100 for $2 or so, with free shipping (from China).
cacoleIf you check around on e-Bay you can find LEDs in lots of 100 for $2 or so, with free shipping (from China).
One thing to keep in mind is that some of the cheaper lots of LEDs can vary considerably within the same lot. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as the variances help make your lighting not look all the same -- often a specific goal when I do lighting.
On the other hand, sometimes you need all the LEDs to look the same. When was the last time you saw a string of LED lights on a tree and they all looked different? That's where harvesting the holiday lighting really "shines" as a source, as the mfg has already sorted and matched the LEDs.
The model following is lighted whith cristmas tree led.
I bought them after the christmas time in january or february because you obtain them at bargain price.
Most are pure whith leds but I painted them to obtain the old yellow light used in the 20's-30's the period I model
See some interesting stuff in the topics in this community "Leds in Nscale structures" about the use of leds.
Thanks everyone for the great info. Including the hint that the Christmas lights are in at Lowes. Indeed , I went today and found the type I was interested in; i.e, warm white, inverted cone, 5mm. The photos below show the specifics including the item number on the box. A 100 string was $11.47, so a happy enough price. And they could not come apart more easily. Remove the bulb with its base, bend the bulb wires (LED leads) towards straight, and it slides right out, no fiddling. I'm examining whether the base can be modified with a piece of plastic so I can wire it up in the base and then glue the base assembly to the roof of a typical structure as a ceiling light. Not sure whether even smaller structures will need more than one, but a bit of trial and error will solve it. Need to get some more resistors!
I think I'll get another set rather than chance being gone later. And I'll pursue the LED strips referenced also and try both types.
Thanks again!
CTValleyRR:
I knew I had seen Henry Ford's quote on the forum but I couldn't remember where.
Thanks
Just experimenting a bit today with the Christmas light LEDs. I took Lion's advice and put a 1k resistor on a 9v battery + side to make checking the LEDs for polarity easy, and will then add resistors to each marked + side. Then I played with using an LED/base unit (removed from the string receiver, and slightly modified) as a method of making an assembly for a building and to see how much light output 1 LED provides. I will probably make a 2-LED assembly next and keep these for trying 1, 2, 3 LEDs on particular buildings. The assembly as shown (or a bare LED) would not be good for this tower upstairs as it would show in direct-on photos, so I will place 1-2 in the roof peak above. Can folks suggest a glue to use to attach an assembly that would allow later removal if needed; e.g., teeny dabs of CA, double stick tape, elect tape, etc. Also, what twin wire do folks prefer to run from the assembly down the structure to undertable connections? I have some twin 24awg car speaker wire but it seems more stout than needed to feed one structure.
I usually just use a dab of CA as needed to hold the light assemblies in place.
I've found the plain old black construction paper, the coarse stuff we used in elementary school for art projects, works great to help screen light from going the wrong way. It can also be cut easily to help retrofit older structures you can't easily paint the inside walls of to limit "glow". Black liquid electrical tape also works for small light leaks.
For wire, I use about anything, even if a little overkill in most cases. lately I've been using Model Power Rainbow Line hook-up wire in red and black. Doesn't say size on the roll, but somewhere around 28 or 30 gauge.
I started out with LEDs by buying after-Christmas discounted light strings- exactly like the ones pictured above in an earlier post- I clipped them all off the wiring, unbent the leads and removed the plastic housing. I thought I was getting a bargain-until I saw 100 of the same warm white LEDs for less than $4.00. Since then (4 yrs ago), I have bought from (mostly Chinese) suppliers on line at ridiculously-low prices and with free shipping to boot. Inverted cone flat ends, rounded ends for engine lights, strip LEDs for structure interior lighting, etc.
I would look at E-Bay on line (search warm white LEDs or other colors) and get them in bulk- you will be LED-rich for quite a while, even as a kitbasher/scratch-builder. The other thing would be smart to do- also buy bulk resistors (either 470K or 1000K) at the same time as you buy your lights (often from the same supplier) so you can wire them properly in a circuit.
I made the same original mistake (of retail purchasing locally) by purchasing a card of 5 resistors at Radio Shack for $5.00 or so- then found that the online sources beat that price as well.
You can soften LEDs by gently sanding the lens ends and sides with 400 or greater grit wet/dry paper- this provides a translucent exterior that disperses the light and reduces glare. To shut off the side light, just wrap a bit of black electrical tape around the sides and secure with CA glue.
My preference for LED wires is to use scavenged old ribbon cabling from old computers- use a red permanent marker to color one wire, so as to distinguish it from the other lead wire.
Cedarwoodron
Thanks again guys. I have plenty of LEDs, terminal strips and a 12v regulated power supply now, and then resistors, strip lights and DPST panel switches (for groups of lights) on order. I just have to choose which structure wiring to use but have several choices available. I'm tied up the rest of the week but I think getting some of this set up, the wiring buss and at least one building with bare LEDs and one with strip LEDs will be high on the list.