I am back to working on the railroad in 2 weeks so here it goes. I might have hashed this before so bear with me first of all. I am using led christmas tree lights as railroad signals. How do you wire them in series? I am building a scratch built l train system for chicago 1970,s period and now have found old crude signal pictures of this era so details are really not inportant. I did leave harness room for future upgrades like this when like now i have pictures and proof of the lights. I am also addressing my power question of before it is 3 power packs and proper amperage fusing for operations. 1 trains 2. lights etc. 3 switches.
If you are trying to use incandescent lamps, throw them out. They have an internal device that will short the circuit incase of filiment failure.
If you are trying to use LEDs then you are looking at the right thing, and this is the time that they are available in the stores.
There are two sizes that you will find: 3mm and 5mm. The larger ones are usually seen without a plastic do-dad on top. They may be colored or white. If white check to see if they are WARM WHITE, or COOL WHITE.
Warm White nicely emulate incandescent bulbs on your layout, Cool White nicely emulates the look of flourscent lighting, Mercurey or metal halide lighting, or of course LED lighting. : )
These have two shapes: a rounded top or a flat inverted cone top. I call the round ones "Spot Lights" and I call the flat ones "Flood Lights".
Now of the 3mm size lamps, the ones that I use for building signals, come with plastic do-dads on the top. You can pull off (or break off) the plastic do-dad. The color of the do-dad = the color of the LED. The new ones are very bright, and are usually the flat top type.
Since I build SUBWAY TRAINS, naturally I use subway type signals. Much easier to build too. Remove the individual LEDs from the power sets, so that I am left with a pile of LEDs on the table. There are three conductors or the average LED light set, so not only will you get the lamps, but you also get the wire that you can use elsewhere on the layout. A 25' set of lamps yeilds 50' or wire, and that is valueable.
Leach LED operatwes on 12 v dc WITH A RESISTOR (I use 640 to 1000 ohm resistors) wired in series. The negative or common side of the LED has the shorter lead (Unless you cut the leads) the one that connects to the larger 'anvil' inside of the device.
Since only one lamp is lit at a time, I tie the common leads together, and put the resistor on that line. I connect wires to the other terminals and to the device that selects the signal.
Here is what I did:
This last one was made with the very bright LEDS from christmas sets, id toes have the flat top, and to attenuate the light and to focus it down the track I mad these visors. They are made of plastic coffee stirrers from Walmart. I cut them at an angle and used a 1/8" drill bit fo ream them out, and I made the opening in the mast just a little larger, and installed the lamp in the visor before setting the assembly in the mast.
LION uses reed switches in the track, and a magnet under the locomotive to activate relays. I am sure you want to make something more simply than this...
Or you can just wire them to your turnouts like everybody else.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
I have used the below set up for some years for voltage and current measuments even before Harbor Freight meters were available.
http://www.trainelectronics.com/Meter_HF/index.htm
I put a 5k pot in series with one lead of an LED and find out current and brightness requirements if LED specs are unknown. Put the pot at max resistance first.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
with out burning 1 light out how can you tell the positive lead on one? The lights seriuosly are wired about the same. this is also going to a 205 selector from atlas as the switch. by the way as another note how do you wire one to a atlas switch that sounds like a excellent idea. I also appreciated your ideas from last winter my wiring project turned out excellent and was looong in time. I too also love the subway and elevated tracks in chicago like yours but in a different location. I scratch built the entire l line there was no real kits but ocassionally info online like this year.
If you are using Atlas switches with the twin coil relay there is really no good way to wire the signal. Throw out the twin coil machines and use Tortoise machines instead. (Ouch -- that *is* expensive) [Well LION bought his when they were still $10.00 each!] Still 50 turnouts on the route of the LION is a pricy proposition. But, you have to put your money where it will do the most good.
Failing this you can make your own controls for your atlas machines...
With a little more enginuity, you can add another set of contacts that will hold your signals when the lever is thrown.
Wires are EXPENSIVE, sso LION enervates the switch machines of him with a single conductor. (The other side of the moto connects to a commn ground.) Here is how to do it with twin coil machines.
Back in the 1950s Dad got us some leaf switches that had both momentary and continious contacts that were perfect for twin coil applications, but today a Tortoise would be less expensive that these switches.
Of course another way to do it which also happens to be prototypical is to use a SPDT switch as shown above, and use a push button to actually move the switch. You move the lever, and then push the button.
jfbwith out burning 1 light out how can you tell the positive lead on one? The lights seriuosly are wired about the same.
This it does not matter. It will only light up the correct way.
But to answer your question, the SHORT lead is negative the long lead is positive, and looking inside of the device, the ANVIL is negitive, and the Hammer is positive.
this is a response to your advice. I really like the idea of wiring to a switch and am correctly hooked up already for this operation. How do you control the different colored lights on the signal s with this hook up to the switches unless you have a controller wired in. thanks again the finish line is really within grasp on my project and years of fun ahead.
same question as last time. How do you control the different light sequences on the lights when hooked up to a switch.
Prototypically... you would use a separate control to do this. Interlocking plants have levers for turnouts and for signals. You control the signals separately...
Yeah, ok... LION tried that once...
Kinda useless, isnt it.
You can get locking relays do do this for you, but those are pricy. Cheaper wouyld be Atlas Snap Relays. You put them in parallel with your atlas switch machine and these will (or can) control the signals.
Short of that, there is no majyck for ewe. You will just have to rip out the twin coils and install turtles. THAT is the correct way (according to the LION)
I am properly set up for hooking them up to the switches and i will use old life like signal structures drilled for 3 mm and painted and i like you before last year had the spagheti incident like above. i save all left over parts like noted above.