Hey folks! I bought a bunch of Walthers' single-piece passenger car lighting kits on sale a while back. They're the kind you slip inside Walthers cars with the pre-installed contacts for power, and I bought a bunch that are built for use with DC systems. This was before I got turned on to DCC.
I'm wondering if anyone might have any info on how to convert these DC lighting sets for DCC use. I've pretty much decided to go completely with DCC, but would love to save money and stuff where I can.
In fact, I'll bet I'm not the only person who is wondering how to change over all those older lighting kits from Walthers and other manufacturers. Sounds like an idea for a good hobby-mag article if anyone has the time and know-how.
Thanks for any ideas or info you may have to offer.
The DC versions should work okay on DCC with no modification. The only difference between the two versions was the addition of a constant lighting circuit on the DC version that the DCC version does not have.
I agree. I've got 4 of these units in my Rivarossi passenger cars. They are designed for DC, but work just fine on DCC.
These were a great deal when I bought them. But, they were slightly incompatable with the current Rivarossi cars. I had to do some minor surgery beneath the cars to get the trucks and pickups to work reliably, but I'm pretty happy with them now.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
The DC version really sucks up the amps on a DCC system, and some of mine actually buzz just like an analog loco on DCC.
An 11 car consist with DC kits was pulling 2.15 amps without a loco on the tracks, switched over to the DCC versions for these cars, and now the ampmeter hardly registers that they are there
You may be able to put resistors in place to reduce the current draw. If you're familiar with Ohm's law, V/R=I, where V=voltage, R=resistance and I=current. Bear in mind this may affect the brightness of the lights, but if they're LEDs then that shouldn't be too much of a worry.
The Location: Forests of the Pacific Northwest, OregonThe Year: 1948The Scale: On30The Blog: http://bvlcorr.tumblr.com
Thank you all for your fast and useful responses!
tbdanny... but if they're LEDs then that shouldn't be too much of a worry.
... but if they're LEDs then that shouldn't be too much of a worry.
Not quite so -- I changed the stock incandescent bulbs to LEDs in one of the Walthers DC passenger car light sets and it still drew almost as much amperage as the bulbs. The excessive current draw seems to be caused more by the leaky capacitor Walthers uses.
Cacole,
You hit on something that I've been pondering about trying! One of my "rivet counter" complaints has been that the Walthers lighting kits give off light that is too yellow. Most post 1940 prototype Budd, Pullman Standard, and ACF coaches, diners, lounges, and sleepers employed florescent lights, with incandesents to a smaller degree.
Check out this Budd consist's interior lighting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAXVjnIV87o
Can you please post what steps you took to change the bulbs out? Which LEDs you used? their amp and current ratings? Did you solder them in? Did you have to trim the cathode or anode side?
Otherwise, the only other option I see is purchasing the LokSound ESU lighting kits. They're beautiful, but considerably more expensive.
Would greatly appreciate this,
Thank you!
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
I used 3mm Inverted Cone Super Bright LEDs that I had purchased from More LEDs for locomotive headlight and other uses. I just cut out the incandescent bulbs and soldered the LEDs in place after cutting the leads short. It's been a couple of years since I did this conversion and I don't remember all of the gory details, but I think I added separate 1K Ohm resistors to each LED.
This time of year you can find LED Christmas light sets at all the major retailers that use inverted cone LEDs in either Cool White (Fluorescent) or Warm White (Incandescent) colors. All of the ones I have seen at our local stores are 5mm LEDs, but they should also be suitable for passenger car lighting.
My main sources for 3mm sunny white LEDs is http://www.moreleds.com or http://www.superbrightleds.com
Thanks so much for responding, Cacole
I plan on trying this during my upcoming Christmas break (I'm not going anywhere since the economy is a putz).
Were you satsified with the lighting effect? Did it look whiter and was it dimmer or brighter than the stock Walthers bulbs?
Hi Navyman
I was in the same quandry a few years back. Bought a bunch of the DC lighting kits then eventually installed DCC on the layout. I made the same inquiry on these forums a few years back and I finally came up with a solution that works for me.
First I remove ALL of the components from the PC board; 2 caps, 4 diodes and a voltage regulator. You can just clip them flush with the board or I prefer to remove them with a soldering iron. Then I arrange the lamp wiring so that the three lamps (OK bulbs) are in SERIES. There's enough of the white wire to do this. If you study the wiring you can make out with just a few new solder joints. Remove the clear tape, strip and solder the wire and use heat shrink tubing (or just tape the wire joint back to the plastic strip so it won't short. Solder the wire leads back to a pad on the PC board that will make contact with each one of the rivets and you're done.
I'm not sure but I think the DC light bars used 5 volt lamps so now you're good for 15 volts of DCC track power. Yes, they're in series so if one lamp burns out they all go out but in about 50 conversions like this I've never had one fail.
My DC boards running on DCC did make a high pitch whine, much like the sound of a camera strobe recharging...after making the modification they work just fine on DCC!
Good luck!