Hi all! I have LEDs for headlights on my decoder equiped loco. They work fine for normal, but when they are dimmed they flicker. Very annoying! I tried to hook up a capacitor to fix it, but I think I accedentally blew out my LEDs... not a big problem. If anybody has any help to offer I will appreciate it.
Thanks Matt
What decoder? Some decoders have adjustments for LEDs vs lamps and dimming. They appear to flicker because they are being 'dimmed' by being turned on and off rapidly, which you cna see depending on the frequency. This is what can be adjusted in some decoders. Or you can adjust the dim level so the dim isn;t quite as dim, which reduces the 'off' time and reduces the appearance of flicker.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
It is an old Digitrax DN93FX
The flickering on dim is caused by the frequency the pulsing modulates at. Older decoders pulsed at a slower frequency (old TCS decoders did this as well) which made the duty cycle visible. Newer decoders modulate at a higher frequency, and thus the naked eye doesn't pick up on it.
What can you do about it ? - aside from from replacing the decoder with a newer version, not much.
Mark.
¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ
Thanks
Matt