Hello,
I have been searching for some 3 mm 2-pin (leads) bi-color (red/green) LEDs (mainly for Tortoise switch motor indicators, but also for search light signals). I was wondering if any of you fellas had any experience with these things. I have played with them, but it was back in the '80's. Specifically, I was wondering:
1) are they available in different wavelengths (affects displayed color)? If so, what is the preferred wavelength for best color rendition of a railroad signal?
2) I have had good luck buying other LEDs, toggle switches, etc. from Chinese firms through their eBay stores. However, the prices on these things are too good to be true - so... e.g. 50 pieces for under 8 bucks (free shipping, albeit slow). Can anyone vouch for these companies?
3) Has anyone got experience buying bi-color two lead 3 mm LEDs from other sources (e.g. DigitKey, Jameco, Mouser, etc.)?
Thanx for the info.
MikeyChris,
I forgot to mention: pay attention to water clear vs. diffused. The water clear LED's emit a very bright, almost intense light. I found them distracting for use on my panels. I switched all of them out for these described as difused. The surface of the dome looks slightly frosted and it significantly reduces the intensity of the light. If still too bright more resistance can be added to dim them down a bit.
MikeyChris1) are they available in different wavelengths (affects displayed color)? If so, what is the preferred wavelength for best color rendition of a railroad signal?
the color of LEDs depends on the material. You can't expect any shade of red. If you can figure out the wavelength or wavelengths of the railroad signal, you can see if LEDS are available at that wavelength.
MikeyChris2) I have had good luck buying other LEDs, toggle switches, etc. from Chinese firms through their eBay stores. However, the prices on these things are too good to be true - so... e.g. 50 pieces for under 8 bucks (free shipping, albeit slow). Can anyone vouch for these companies?
it's amazing how less expensive things are from China (where they are manufactured). I've never been dissatisfied, although it may take a while to ship. One package didn't arrive on time and after a couple extra weeks i contacted them and they refunded my money ($4). I placed another order with someone else and later received the original package. They were happy i agreed to repay.
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading
I've ordered power supplies from China and I'm amazed at how fast they get here, even with free shipping. I watch the tracking numbers and they seem to get to California in a couple of days, but most of the shipping time is due to the USPS.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I used 5mm 2-leg bi-color (red/green) LEDs on my control panel for turnout indication. These were LED-6 from All Electronics. With them, I used the front piece of HLED-4, a 2-piece mount, for the front finish in the control panel hole. The LED fits in nicely with friction alone. My panel is aluminum sheet. The LEDs were 50 cents, the mounts 12 cents.
http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/led-6/bi-color-led-2-legs/1.html
http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/hled-4/two-piece-led-clip-for-5mm-t-1-3/4/1.html
I see they also have a 3mm (T1) LED, but it's 3 leg type. I liked the simplicity of wiring the 2-leg to the DPDT toggles.
http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/led-67/t1-red/green-led-3-legs/1.html
I've purchased resistors and some LEDs from Hong Kong or China via EBay as well (for stucture and loco lighting). I've never had a failed shipment, but never know how long a wait, usually 2-3 weeks. I always check the seller's rating; i.e., if lots of shipments and 99% favorable I go with it. I'm amazed one can get 50-100 resistors at less than $2 considering the item, packing, shipping. Easy if not in a hurry and you're sure you understand what type you will get; e.g., "warm white" LEDs.
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
My thanx to all for the info and comments. I am always happy to learn stuff. In this case, a couple of things. I wondered what the "water clear" color was. Thank you skagitrailbird for that. Of course, I read that AFTER I had ordered the LEDs (and of course they were water clear). Also thanx to RR_Mel for your comments and info. I too have bought a few things from eBay sellers in China, and never (yet) had any issues. One side note on these fella though. There are some sellers that offer some neat optical sensor (printed circuit) boards that I thought I might be able to use on my layout. I forget the price, but they were very inexpensive, already assembled and might be great for model railroad use. However, when I asked them if they came with schematics, they politely told me they were proprietary and therefore did NOT come with schematics. Well that reduces their value to me because I may need to modify them and it would nullify their advantage of being timesavers. Bummer.
As far as wvaelength of the emitted light, that can be had from the manufacturer's data sheet (many available online for free). Of course, with these LEDs from China, that data is probably not available. I was just wondering if anyone had any particular recommendations.
peahrens - I like your use of the LED's on your control panel. As for the toggles that control turnout position, what convention do you follow for the direction of the handle? I was considering using the "up" position for "normal" and the down position for "reversed", but didn't know if that would be confusing (even to the guy that built the panel). For example, if the normal route happens to be shown on the control panel as going in a direction (relatively) down compared to the reverse route, wouldn't that be confusing. I'm still pondering this one.
Lastly, MisterBeasley I agree, the stuff from China (at least some of it) gets here very quick. I am still bewildered at how they can sell 4 bucks worth of LEDs and ship them for free, and make any money at that. I'm not a "conspirist" but their government has to be subsidizing that somehow.
Again, thank you all for your help!
I have sanded the clear 3mm/5mm warm white LED's with 180 grit sandpaper and it gives them a disfused look and light dispersion. Never had to try the colors.
Also got many Led's from China with resistor's....little longer wait...but well worth it in the long run...havn't had a bad one yet.
Last month...I purchased 10 double arm warm white SMD street lites with 1/4w risistors included...for the price that they are asking for one similar fixture here. They are plastic and brass made, great detail also....from a place I found on E-bay.
Take Care!
Frank
MikeyChrispeahrens - I like your use of the LED's on your control panel. As for the toggles that control turnout position, what convention do you follow for the direction of the handle? I was considering using the "up" position for "normal" and the down position for "reversed", but didn't know if that would be confusing (even to the guy that built the panel). For example, if the normal route happens to be shown on the control panel as going in a direction (relatively) down compared to the reverse route, wouldn't that be confusing. I'm still pondering this one.
There's probably a convention for that but I just did what I felt would make sense to me. I have the bi-color LEDs indicate green for straight through and red for divergent position. Similarly, on curved turnouts the straighter or more divergent positions. For crossovers, green indicates straight for the pair and red the crossing position.
On the toggles, I generally have them set for up/down (one may be slanted) such that the handle is pointed in the direction of the switch position as shown on the schematic. That's a distinction versus the actual turnouts in some cases, such as in the yards where a turnout on the schematic may appear to be right hand but actually be left hand. Of course the turnout types were laid out for the best use of space, but if the schematic showed them accurately (right versus left) the schematic would be screwy (and certainly take more room). I'm quite used to the system.
As an aside, I added on-layout switch indicator lights (in one direction) on my mainline turnouts. These are redundant to the related light on the panel for those turnouts. I did it partly for fun, and partly for ease in glancing at a particular turnout when running trains to readily note whether the turnout was in the straight or divergent mode. It's helped prevent some derailments. I had used Tortoises with undertable 5-position barrier strips for the switch motor power (2 wires) and the frog powering (3 wires) using one pair of Tortoise aux contacts. The on layout indicators use the other Tortoise aux contacts. Since I wanted disconnect points (barrier strips) I would have been better off using 8-position strips in the first place as I had to add 3 positions later for this add-on.
With regard to toggle position vs turnout points position, I too, generally have the toggle point the way the main line or primary route goes rather than normal (straight) vs diverging. That is, if the main route goes through the norpal points position then normal will be green. But if it goes through the diverging route normal would be red.
Note I said "generally." I have some Tortoise powered turnouts the points of which may be thrown from two or more places around the layout. Just like the household light switches at either end of a hallway, for these turnouts the toggle position says nothing about the position of the points. Operators must pay attention to the LED's on the panels to determine the points position.
I might also note that I decided to use two bi-color LED's for each turnout location on my panels-one in each of the routes in/out of the turnout. One will be green and the other red and they switch color when the points are thrown.