Hi all,
Not long ago, the bulb burned out on a Paragon1 K4, so I'll now replace with an LED. However, the space inside looks tight, do I figure a 2mm or smaller bulb is best. Any recommendations, brands, etc, I should look for? I know I want a good white LED that'll recreate what steam Era light bulbs would've looked like.
Thank You in Advance,
Alvie
Alvie,
There are lots of 1.8mm LED's that should work fine - look for a 'golden glow' or 'warm white' color. You might want to check our Evan Designs - They have pre-wired LED's...
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
cats think well of meNot long ago, the bulb burned out on a Paragon1 K4, so I'll now replace with an LED.
I'm pretty sure my K4 is from an early run and it already has an LED in it. Could there possibly be another problem causing your headlight to malfunction?
Sorry for the blurry photo. It should be fairly easy to pull the smokebox cover off and thread the LED out the hole in the shell for testing.
Good Luck, Ed
I believe all five of my BLI steamers - even my early Paragon 2-8-2 Mike - came with LEDs. And Ed is correct. The smokebox cover is press-fit and usually comes off with minimal amount of pulling.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Thank you for the recommendation for Evan's Designs Jim, I just ordered several of their 1.8mm warm white 3v LEDs. It'll be good to have spares I think.
Hello Ed and Tom,
For some reason mine did have a bulb. It looks to be an original piece, though possibly the previous owner of the model had swapped an LED out for a bulb. I wish it had an LED, that would have been much nicer.
I really like and prefer LEDs over incandescent bulbs for locomotive headlights. They stay cool (no risk of melting the shell) and the beam is directional rather than diffuse. I recently swapped out the lighting board and incandescent headlights in my Proto 2000 0-8-0 switcher and installed a TCS decoder, KA1 module, and front & rear 3mm "warm-white" LEDs. It really makes a difference in both performance and lighting.
Yeah even the first BLI model, the GG1 had LEDs for headlights. That's odd that thee's be an incandescent bulb in there - especially with hour it is located, perfectly placed to melt details.
You may want to check the wiring, since they were fitted with LEDs by the factory, the resistor is most likely on the board, and if the previous owner repalced the LED with a bulb, he would have had to bypass or change the value of the resistor and what works with a bulb will be way too low for an LED. Or maybe they didn't know what they were doing and wondered why the headlight never lit up even with a new bulb installed.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
rrinker Yeah even the first BLI model, the GG1 had LEDs for headlights. That's odd that thee's be an incandescent bulb in there - especially with hour it is located, perfectly placed to melt details. You may want to check the wiring, since they were fitted with LEDs by the factory, the resistor is most likely on the board, and if the previous owner repalced the LED with a bulb, he would have had to bypass or change the value of the resistor and what works with a bulb will be way too low for an LED. Or maybe they didn't know what they were doing and wondered why the headlight never lit up even with a new bulb installed. --Randy
The model had the original QSI Quantum sound decoder, though I didn't look to see if it had been altered as I swapped it for a TCS-Wow. The bulb when I removed it from the model had a big spot of carbon right inside it, looking like any common light-bulb after they burn out.
Oh I believe it was an incandescent bulb, it just seems odd. If you swapped out the decoders then it should be fine - you'll just need to add the resistor to change to an LED, or use the appropriate pads on the WOW motherboard if you went that way that already have the current limiting.
What Randy said.
I would test it with a 1.2kOhm or 1kOhm which will cover your tail if it's 14 Volts
If it's dim or doesn't light, try a 500 Ohm next.edit: Don't forget the LEDs are polarity sensitive. So make sure you have the red lead or long leg attached to the + terminal.
Don - Specializing in layout DC->DCC conversions
Modeling C&O transition era and steel industries There's Nothing Like Big Steam!