I would like to replace the light bulbs in the headlights with LED's. I am guessing they would have to be "grain of wheat" size. Has anyone dine this before and if so what LED's did you use.
Fat clumsy fingers broke a couple of the bulbs while installing DCC, and I am not real happy with the "Mars" light effect using bulbs. The LED's in my Proto E's and PA's is much more realistic.
Thanks for any help. Art
Art,
I replace several of my F7's with LEDs. I cut a short pc of 1.5mm fiber optic and ACC glued it to a SMD LED and then wrapped them with some black shrink tube to block the light from the sides and also to keep it all together. I then pushed the fiber optic end into the light housing and it fits nice and snug. The results are really amazing and you can play around with the resistor values to get the brightness you want. I don't have a photo of the unsheathed assembly (?) but the other photos show it lit and unlit, plus inside the F-7 shell. I did go back and paint the light housing with some black paint. Hope this helps.
-Bob
Life is what happens while you are making other plans!
Hi Art:
There are a couple of ways you can do this.
You can buy 3mm round tip warm white LEDs and they should fit very nicely where the bulb sits. I will note that I haven't worked on a Genesis F series so I'm guessing that the lights are mounted similarly to the BB locomotives.
The Athearn bulbs operate at 12 volts so you will need a resistor if the LED does not already have one installed. 1000 ohm 1/4 watt will work fine but some modelers go higher (4.7K) to reduce the intensity of the LEDs. As has been mentioned, you will need to shield the LED inside the cab to prevent the light from glowing out of the windows and the bottom of the shell. Heat shrink tubing works great but plain old black paint is fine too. It might take two or three coats of paint to fully block the light.
3mm LEDs, resistors required:
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/100-pcs-2pins-3mm-Round-top-Bright-Warm-white-lamp-light-LED-/111088336396?hash=item19dd617e0c:g:MeAAAOxyCGNTK9vE
3mm LEDs, resistors included and pre-wired for 12 volts:
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Wholesale-Warm-White-3mm-Bright-LEDs-20cm-Prewired-12V-LED-Lamp-Light-10-1000pcs-/400862111686?var=670412361413&hash=item5d553e67c6:m:mIfNjCr_2UrgyUDDFjcjoUg
If you want to get more prototypical, you can install a flat lens in front of the LED. They are available as part of a kit from American Model Builders (Laser Kit):
http://www.laserkit.com/laserkit.htm
You can also use SMD LEDs (Surface Mount Device) which you can buy pre-wired if you are not into soldering tiny components. Again, resistors will be required if they are not already built in. Mounting the tiny LEDs requires some work because you have to form some sort of lens around them to hold them in place. I use epoxy with a tube as a form.
Resistor required:
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/10-pcs-Pre-Wired-Warm-White-0603-SMD-LEDs-Lighting-Kits-Pre-soldered-Micro-LEDs-/252194343572?hash=item3ab7f44a94:g:BFIAAOSwYaFWcrqy
Personally for the F series locomotives I would use the 3mm round LEDs. They are easy to mount, give a nice directional light, and they are cheap. The SMD LEDs are better where space is limited.
By the way, don't worry about buying a bunch of them. Once the LED lighting bug bites you will find uses for them everywhere.
One last point. LEDs are polarity sensitive so test them before you solder the connections.
Regards
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Thank you so much for those links. I am now the proud owner of 100, 3 mm warm white LEDs with resistors, for a whopping $14.00 and free shipping. That's 14 cents a piece. I don't know how they do it. They came from China in 8 days! Thanks again!
Hey hobo!
You are welcome! Be warned though, once you have done a few LEDs you will want to put them into everything!
If you are going to use those LEDs for structure lighting, sand the lenses a bit to diffuse the light.
Glad to help,