Yes, connect them in series. <decoder>---<resistor 1>-----<resistor 2>-----<led>
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
OK I stopped by the hobby shop and picked up resistors, but the only ones they had were 680 ohm. IF I understand how it works, if I use two of them together it creates 1360 ohms of resistance, which should be about right for the LED??
BTW I went to the hobby shop by rail. I work in downtown St.Paul, and the new "Green Line" light rail Robert Street station is in front of the building I work in. My "local" hobby shop is a couple of miles west on University, next to the Lexington Ave. station. Since I live in the other direction from downtown (southeast), I just took the light rail there and back, then drove home. Worked pretty well I thought.
That's exactly what the mean. Incandescent bulbs have persistence, when the power goes off, they gradually fade off. LEDs just go dark. Instantly. So to get effects like blinkign and flickers to work right, the way the output is driven needs to change depending on the use of incandescent or LEDs. TCS and NCE have these adjustments as well. Digitrax has them but they didn't work very well, supposedly the new Series 6 decoders have better LED support.
Well, when the Tsumani steam manual on page 32 says "Tsunami's lighting effects can be used with either incandescent bulbs or LEDs" it does make sound like you can use LEDs. Reading it again now, I think what they're talking about is adjusting the CVs so lighting effects like Mars light, Rule 17, etc. work well with either type.
So...I'll be adding a resistor.
wjstix p.s. According to the instruction manual online, Tsunamis can be set to use either incandescent or LED lighting. It's a bit byzantine to try to figure what to enter in the appropriate CV to make it work, but at least in theory the LED headlight should work without a resistor (but I might add one anyway!)
p.s. According to the instruction manual online, Tsunamis can be set to use either incandescent or LED lighting. It's a bit byzantine to try to figure what to enter in the appropriate CV to make it work, but at least in theory the LED headlight should work without a resistor (but I might add one anyway!)
Depends on what you mean by, "might work".
Look at the below link. Scroll down a ways for lighting. I have seen a couple people before who “thought” the instructions meant the Tsunami would work without resistors and smoked LED's.
http://www.soundtraxx.com/manuals/tsuinstallation.pdf
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.
I have a light mountain in which I installed a MRC sound decoder several years ago, in fact it was my first decoder install. In any event, the MRC decoder just plugged in and was small enough to fit fine but I drilled out the coal load and placed the speaker underneath. Surprisingly the MRC decoder still works just fine.
In any event a year ago I wanted to upgrade the sound and I solved the space issue by purchasing a long tender and then just transfered the board from the medium tender as they are not wired the same. Space problem solved and I think the longer tender looks good.
CN Charlie
wjstix Several companies make the UK type harnesses, right now no retailer I could find has them in stock however...similar to the Detail Associates 2301 All-weather cab windows I've been trying to find.... Good tip about the resistors. I'm pretty sure the light is an LED. I think Tsunamis are supposed to have a CV you can adjust for the type of lights, but I'm not positive??
Several companies make the UK type harnesses, right now no retailer I could find has them in stock however...similar to the Detail Associates 2301 All-weather cab windows I've been trying to find....
Good tip about the resistors. I'm pretty sure the light is an LED. I think Tsunamis are supposed to have a CV you can adjust for the type of lights, but I'm not positive??
The Tsunami do not have a CV to use instead of a resistor. I use the Tsunami. Go to the SoundTraxx site and look up the specs. Better than assumptions.
SoundTraxx sells one decoder with resistors on board but that decoder is for a diesel.
Trash the original board and just hard wire it. You will have better luck (IMO). Don't forget to use resistors on the lights.
I think the lights are LED's, so they will need resistors.
Train Control Systems (TCS) has harnesses with the 8-pin plug turned either way; long, medium, or short wires.
An ESU LokSound Select decoder is quite a bit smaller than a Tsunami and should be a lot easier to fit into the tender.
Thanks guys. A problem with using a harness is the Spectrum engines need a "UK" harness, the receptacle is 90 degrees from the normal US placement. Right now, every dealer I've tried is out of UK harnesses. I currently am using a conventional harness, but I had to use one with long enough wire to fold the wires around to fit in. I've already created an area for the speaker in the floor. We'll see, if I can't find a UK harness I'll probably just try to 'hardwire' it (and my 2-6-6-2 with similar issues).
The easiest is to install the Tsunami with an 8 pin to 9 pin adapter. Plug into the PC board. Cut out the caps.
Scroll down a little on how to do this.
http://www.mrdccu.com/curriculum/soundtraxx/tsunami.htm
Drill holes in the tender frame for the speaker.
There is plenty of room.
Below is the 2-8-0 which should be similar. He cuts the wires shorter and solders them to a plug. Different way.
http://www.soundtraxx.com/documents/appnotes/bachmann280.pdf
The hard way is to hard wire. I have done both. Get your multimeter out and do continuity checks.
My tracing of Bachmann tender wiring for their original run of Spectrum 2-8-0 and 4-8-2 locomotives came up with the following results:
2-pin plug: RED, Left rail pickup; BLACK, Right rail pickup from locomotive.
4-pin plug: YELLOW, LED Headlight positive; ORANGE, Headlight negative; BROWN, Motor positive; RED, motor negative.
Some Bachmann tenders were wired differently, and the year of production may have an effect on the color coding, too.
You can use a battery to test the headlight and motor colors listed above. I keep a 12 Volt Gel-cell battery handy for testing motors, and a pair of clip leads with a 1K Ohm resistor in the positive lead for testing LEDs.
I've been having a hard time installing a Tsunami into an early Bachmann Spectrum HO light 4-8-2. I'm suspecting the best way to do it - and to get everything to fit in the tender - will be to remove the lightboard and do a 'hardwire' installation. I know a few people here have mentioned doing that, but I haven't been able to find out exactly how to do it - i.e. how to know which wire coming from the engine controls lights, motor, and which are electrical pickup. The wiring appears to be color-coded, but not sure it's done to the normal NMRA standard colors?? The exploded view diagram on the Bachmann website didn't really help....