I have been having pretty good luck till today up grading my Proto 1000's and 2000's DC engines to DCC. I have added DH 123's to my 30 year old PK 2 BL 2's that have 14 volt bulbs. They run quite, pull well and will craw when I want them to.
Today I started to installing decoders in my Proto 1000 Mono F-3's. I have 4 of them, 2 A units and 2 B units. In the B's I used DH 123 and they are fine. I love my LHS, but they are weak when it comes to DCC help. From what I think I have been told from this site the DH 163 drops the voltage for the lights. Today I bought and installed a DH 163 in one of my Mono's A's. I asked Dough if the 163 will work with LED's that are in the PK 1000 F 3's.
Well, you should be able to guess he said yes and was wrong! Boy, that LED blew up real good!
All is not lost, other A unit LED is still good. What do I need to buy from Radio Shack to keep it from Blowing Up Real Good like the last one? Do I add what ever I need to the Blue wire or the White wire to the LED?
Also what can I use to replaces the LED that blew up? I have some 1.5 volt light bulbs. But they will not be as bright as the LED's. Any Radio Shack LED's that will be as bright as the orginal LED's?
Sorry I am such a pain, but have not melted anything for some time now.
Cuda Ken
I hate Rust
Ken,
The board-replacement type DH163's have on-board regulation for LED's. The shrink-wrap (hard-wire or plug-in) versions do not. You didn't mention which type you're using.
If it's one of the blue shrink-wrapped ones, put a 1000-ohm, 1/4 or 1/8 watt resistor in series with the LED. It doesn't matter which lead you use, just be sure to use one resistor per LED.
Also, RS probably won't have any suitable LED's. If they have "white" ones, you may be able to color it with some glass paint, available at a craft store. But you're probably better off getting some warm or sunny white ones from a hobby (train) retailer. The color will be much better.
HTH, Steve
Unless they changed them, only the DH163L0 has any kind of on-board resistors, and those are for the low voltage bulbs used in many P2K locos. The newer DH165 decoders have regulators for LEDs and low voltage bulbs.
If you are going to save money and buy a 123 series decoder (no BEMF), then do yourself a favor and get the NCE D13SRJ, even cheaper and I think it's a better decoder. Replace everything, and put a 1K resistor in series with each LED. For a first generation diesel use golden-white LEDs - K10 should have Miniatronics products, they call them Yelo-Glo.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Which DH163 model did you use ? As others have said, the DH163L0 has built in current limiting. Other DH163's do not. All of the DH165's do and will support sound decoders.
Engineer Jeff NS Nut Visit my layout at: http://www.thebinks.com/trains/
rrinker Unless they changed them, only the DH163L0 has any kind of on-board resistors, and those are for the low voltage bulbs used in many P2K locos. The newer DH165 decoders have regulators for LEDs and low voltage bulbs.
jbinkley60Ken, Which DH163 model did you use ? As others have said, the DH163L0 has built in current limiting. Other DH163's do not. All of the DH165's do and will support sound decoders.
Oops, my apologies! You guys are of course correct.
I was thinking of the 165's while I was typing about the 163's.
Sorry for the incorrect info...
Steve