Walthers makes lighting kits in both DCC and DC models. There are some that would fit a set of cars I'm thinking of buying, but they've only got the DC model, and I run DCC. The descriptions I've seen of these aren't too strong on technical details.
What I'd like to do is simply put the DC units in, put them on the track and have them work great. But, I'd guess this isn't the best approach. Suppose I just toss in a bridge rectifier to take my DCC signal and make it a pulsed DC. Would that be enough?
Does anyone have a better idea of what these are like electrically? They do mention a constant-lighting circuit, but I'd assum this would be less of an issue in DCC. Thanks.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I have installed a bunch of DCC lighting boards in Walthers cars. They just use 12 or 16 volt bulbs, directly off track power. Which explains why they are a couple bucks cheaper.
I'm no expert, but I think the DC light kits most likely use 1 1/2 volt bulbs, hooked up to a constant voltage circuit, just like the headlight boards. Since they are hooked up to a constant voltage circuit, they ought to work on DCC too. I don't think DC or DCC makes that much difference for lights. But it makes a big difference for motors.
The DC lighting kits include a constant lighting circuit with a rather large capacitor on the board, which the DCC kit does't need. The DC kits will work just fine on DCC, but the DCC kits will not work very well on DC.
Both suffer the same problem as any other lighting kit that uses track power -- the slightest amount of dirty track or dirty wheels causes flickering lights.
Are you guys serious? This would be great if I can just drop in DC lighting on the DCC layout. I was ready to return my DC kit as when I called to Walther's they told me I can't use it on DCC and couldn't answer what I need to do to convert it to DCC. Cool, I'll try it this weekend.
Btw, does anyone know why Walther's glues the top level on the Vista Dome cars. Per car diagram and instructions that come with lighting kit top floor should be held just by 4 tabs. But on my car there are also glue spots which I need to desolve somehow in order to install light.
I picked up my new passenger cars today, and I've ordered the lighting kits, along with some unpainted, seated passengers for the cars.
I'll let you know how it works. Thanks.
Guys,
Here are the differences between the DC and DCC versions of the Walthers lighting kits (for non Superliner Cars) based on the following part numbers:
The DC version has three 5 volt lamps wired in PARALLEL; they are powered by a Bridge Recitifier with a small Filter Cap into a 5 Volt Regulator; this provides constant lighting with low flicker.
The DCC version uses the same three 5 Volt lamps, this time wired in SERIES without the Bridge Rectifier, Filter Cap or Regulator; the SERIES array is wired to the power pickups. This configuration limits the total current draw per car while preserving lamp life as most DCC systems HO scale have voltage potentials of 14 volts or less. They work quite well without flicker if you have clean wheels and track.
I have not seen the circuit of the newest lighting kit for the Superliner cars, so I can only comment on the heavyweight and streamline car kits.
Carl in Florida - - - - - - - - - - We need an HO Amtrak SDP40F and GE U36B oh wait- We GOT THEM!
My physics/electric knowledge is a bit rusty. So basically, 3 5V lamps in parallel make up a 15 Volt, vs 14 Volt supplied by DCC. I think amperage is also known, so I can calculate resistance of each lamp. Now what happens when DC version is put on DCC rails, voltage is 5 Volt, and total resistance of the lamps is dropped by factor of 3, so how are the bulbs not burn out? Will 5V regulator on the board take care of it? What about amperage and heat?.
Also, unlike DCC, the DC board has metal "L" bracket attached to the board via screw. What is it for and is it really needed?
Thanks.
The extra part ont he DC board is a voltage regualtor, it won't put out more than whatever rating it is, up until you exceed the maximum input voltage. DCC 14-15 volts ont he track is not goign to exceed the regualtor's ability. Excess voltage in the regulator comes out mostly as heat - that's what the metal bit is for, a heat sink.
You're got it a bit backwards, four 3.5 volt lamps in SERIES makes up 14 volts. Volts add in series. Total current draw of four lamps in series is the same as one lamp. Lamps in PARALLEL, the voltage is the same across each one, but the total current adds. 3x 30ma, 5V lamps in SERIES = 30ma load @15V; 3x 30ma, 5V lamps in PARALLEL = 90ma load @ 5V.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Sorry, that's what I meant - 3 x 5V lamps = 15V. So in DC board, since they are connected in parallel they will draw 3x the current of the DCC version. Thanks for the explanation. And the lamps are not LED correct? - they are regular incandescent lamps. Walthers game me 0 info. They couldn't tell me what the braket is for (makes sense now, since it's connected to the chip - is that the regulator?) and they insisted that their DCC was using LED lamps as opposed to their DC boards. Doesn't Walthers design these things and have instructions manuals at least for their support people?
Thanks Randy, you've been very helpfull - I will safely connect DC board now, since they don't have in the Dome DCC version. Just as soon as I remove the top floor.
Might want to look into these. No wiring issues, power drain, etc. For dome cars you might be stuck with the Walthers kits.
Mike WSOR engineer | HO scale since 1988 | Visit our club www.WCGandyDancers.com
Well, I think I know why these are such a great deal right now.
I picked up 4 of them, 3 coaches and one baggage car. The baggage car has 6-wheel trucks, and the coaches have 4. The original trucks are all-plastic, so the kit comes with new metal-sided truck frames. But, it looks like there's been a design change. The truck mounting pivots are smaller on the cars than the holes in the Walthers trucks. It's not too bad on the coaches, but the baggage car is way out. Fortunately, the pivots are off-center on the trucks, so I was able to drill a new, smaller hole on the opposite side and mount them. Then, I ran into clearance problems between the trucks and the coupler mechanism, which I'm still working on.
The good news, though, is that the lights work just fine without modification once I get power to them.
Here's another option:
http://www.esu.eu/en/products/innenbeleuchtungen/
I plan on purchasing one and install it on either a Walthers 10-6 sleeper or an observation car. I'm hoping for a realistic "milk white" effect to simulate flourescent lighting that was equipped on the majority of prototype streamlined cars. The Walthers kits, imho, simulate incandesent lighting.
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
Well, all 4 lighting kits are now installed. They came out pretty well.
The light unit itself works just fine with DCC. Electrically, it seems fully compatable.
I had trouble with the pickups and the connections up to the light unit. The lighting kit depends on the metal weight in the floor of the car to transfer power to the lighting module. There is a metal strip in the kit that makes the connection, and I had trouble with both the floor and ceiling ends of this. Also, there are connectors that go through the floor. Because of (I assume) design changes in the car, these connectors no longer meet the tops of the screws in the trucks reliably.
For the truck connections, I filed down the bolsters a bit so that the connection is more solid. I bent up the floor connector a bit to add some spring tension to that joint. I did some bending, twisting and even some soldering to make the rooftop connection more solid. Still, I get some flickering, so I guess there's still some tinkering to do.
The cars come with seats and the rest-room vestibule interiors. They were all a single piece of pale yellow plastic. I painted them up with cheap acrylics, and then added some passengers.