I have been looking for an easier way to light my HO scale Santa Fe Hi-Level passenger cars. I initially planned to use tiny surface mount LEDs (1206 size), but soldering to these tiny LEDs is very hard to do, and for so many cars, I'm running out of patience. Also it is not as neat and clean as it could be.
Here's what the LEDs I have been working with look like in a Hi-Level car:
All in all, not bad. But it took forever just to do this one car. And this is only the upstairs portion.
Then I thought there must be an easier way. Looking online I found two basic types of cut-able LED strips (using surface mount LEDs (3528 size) that should be small enough for use in HO scale.
First, flexible strips
Second, rigid strips
Both are roughly 8mm wide. That is almost perfect for the roofs of my HO passenger cars. The rigid strip is almost 6mm thick. Too thick. However most of this size is in those big plastic connectors which I would cut or solder off anyway. Without the plastic clips the height is 3.5 mm (which includes the 1.8mm high LEDs). Much better. I can't find any info on how high the flexible strips are. Probably less because a 3528 LED is 1.8mm high and the flexible strip is thinner then the rigid board.
The flexible board has a sticky back so you could mount them directly to the roof of rolling stock.
The nice thing about these is you can cut them at every three LEDs, so they should fit in just about any sized rolling stock, and for me (Hi-Levels) both on the upper level and lower level.
They work on 12 volts DC. Almost direct track voltage for some DCC systems.
If I used these, I would wire them to flicker free components (capacitor, bridge rectifier and a diode) I had planned to use. However the resistor (1K) could be lowered since these boards are set for 12 volts and not the typical 3 for white LEDs.
So has anyone used these for passenger car lighting?
Any thoughts or concerns about their use for model trains?
Which would you choose? The flexible or rigid?
Matt from Anaheim, CA and Bayfield, COClick Here for my model train photo website
Nice find. Where did you get them? Also how much did they cost? You will have to do a test run to make sure the LED's arent' too directional but the strips look similar to those sold for passenger car lighting.
Springfield PA
I haven't purchased any of these particular light strips yet. Still debating on whether they will work for model train purposes or not.
They very greatly in price (based on a Google search I did) but the overall design seems to be the same.
Not exactly sure what you mean by LEDs being directional. There appears to be a + and - on the boards so I'm assuming the + is for the anode side.
there used to be a guy selling them on evil bxx or some like em.I will try to find ...it would be a great setup with a small cap to deal with flicker. it seems I read about some setup not to long ago . well Ill follow this thread of great interest....Jerry
I have used the flexible LED strips in my passenger cars with very good results.
The directional was referring to the Light dissipation. Many are very direcional and aren't good for lighting an interior. Others are made to throw the light out in a wide pattern.
Easy and simply way to do this:
Get a piece of copper-clad board. Get one so that the long dimesnion is the length you need for your cars, or close to it. Cut off pieces wide enough to fit under the roof. With a dremel or a small needle file, cut through the cladding down the middle the long way. Solder the LEDs across the gap. Attach pickup wires to the ends. You could even cut a perpendicular gap at one end and solder your resistor across that so the resistor isn't hanging from the wires.
This basically duplicates those fancy light strips they sell for cars, for less cost and not a whole lot of extra effort. Beats wiring the LEDs one by one with wires to each one.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Randy ; nice Idea ,had to read a couple times before the other light went on ,but nice and simple . thought about some plexiglas strips but your idea mucho better
You could do it with the plexiglas, then instead of wiring each LED one by oen, use a pair of heavy bare copper wires - #12 or heavier - which take the palce of the strips of copper on the pc board.
Ifyou do use the PC board method, after cutting the gap be sure to test it with a meter to make sure there are no stray bits connecting the two sides, or of course it won't work and you'll have a dead short on the track when you put the car on the rails.
Guys, I've been thinking of doing some passenger car lighting myself. I found this stuff in Australia where I live. I thought you might find it interesting.
http://www.dccconcepts.com/index_files/DCCflickerfree.htm
Note the prices are in Australian Dollars. So cheaper if buying from the States.
Cheers
Jim
Very interesting product Jim. Thanks for the link.
Here is a clickable version:
FlickerFree