I was going through my model railroad stuff today and I found all kinds of stuff. After 5 years, I don't remember why I bought them all. Feel free not to answer every question, You can pick and choose.
1) What voltage should I use to power grain of rice bulbs.
2) I have 6 DPDT switches that have the following on the side:
10A 240V
20A 120 V
Is there any reason I can't use one to control my turntable which has a 7V motor?
3) I have an 1156 auto light bulb I want to wire into my DCC socket. Any idea where I can get a socket for it? I'm figuring an auto parts store, but I fear anything I get from them will be over-priced.
4) I found a bunch of Kaydee couplers. I know what the #5 and #28 are for, but I can't remember using anything except #5s. Why would I have bought a bunch of #26, #27, #29 and #33?
5) I have two wiring blocks. What can I use them for in my wiring of the bus, feeders and town ighting?
6) I have a stack of magnetic uncouplers. Most are undelayed, but one is delayed. I also have a pack of magnets the same thickness evidently for the same reason. Have any of you used magnetic uncouplers? Do you like the way they work? What's the delayed one for?
7) I have a circuit board that seems to be an serial interface between my Loconet and my computer. I guessing I had thought of running JMRI software. Can you think of any other reason I would have such a thing? (I'm pretty sure Randy sent it to me.)
8) I seem to have bought a "Decoder and Loconet Cable Tester." What do I do with that?
9) Any chance these things would be found in the late 1800's?
Thanks in advance.
Chip
Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.
1. Depends on the bulbs. Hopefully you have a package with a label. GoR bulbs come in lots of voltages. The lowest will be 1.5V, the highest can be 18V. You can test by starting with a single C or D battery, see how bright the light is, or if it even lights. If it's barely on or not at all, try TWO batteries. That's 3V. After that, hook a light bulb and a meter to the DC out on a power pack and gradually increase the throttle and watch the voltage and the bulb brightnmess. You may sacrifice one to find the real max, but also you'll probably want to always run them at lower than the rating for a more pleasing glow - plus a much greater life span.
2. No problem, the rating is the MAXIMUM they can safely switch. Switching a fraction of that will definitely work.
3. Auto parts store or eBay - you might find cheapies on eBay from China, it just will take a while to get here.
4. Different shank lenghs as well as overset or underset, for cars that have coupler boxes not at the convenient perfect height for #5s. I haven't bought $5's in forever - the #148 is the equivalent but the whisker style, one less piece (the spring pan) to try and hold in place while attaching the coupler.
5. You use those for distribution points. Say, one line in fromt he power supply to under a town, and then each structure gets wires to individual terminals, instead of a big mass all soldered together.
6. I did on my old layout, mostly as a test. I got some really tiny magnets from Radio Shack or somewhere and put them in my yard lead. Since the magnet area was so small compared to the Kadee magnets, it was picky about where you had to stop to uncouple, but it also made accidental uncouplings nearly impossible. The non-delayed ones are for sidings and spots where you exactly want to drop a car. If you want to uncouple, then shove the car into various tracks wihtout it uncoupling, you use the delayed ones. I doubt I will use magnets - skewers, a whole pack is like $1 at the grocery store, work well and allow my 'brakeman' to drop a car anywhere. I still haven't convinced myself to cut off the kadee 'hoses' though - I painted them all similar to a video by Cody Grivno, oily black with a dab of a silver paint marker at the tip.
7. That's the Locobuffer I built for you. Connects the computer to Loconet so you can run JMRI or whatever. The first one that I made for myself I still have and it still works. On a newer computer you might nedd a USB to serial cable, which is still cheaper than buying a new USB version of the Locobuffer.
8. If it's just a little board with a jack and some LEDs, and a plug with a wire pigtail, that's the tester that comes in all Digitrax systems. Forget using it as a decoder tester, that's too complicated and you also need the 100 ohm 1 watt or so resistor it came with. About all it can really do is check that your Loconet cables are wired properly and have continuity. Plus one end of the cable into one of the jacks on the Zephyr, plug the tester into the other end of the cable. If track power is on, all 4 LEDs should light up. That means you have the ends crimped on the cable the right way.
9. The shape of those COULD be gas lights, however I think they look a bit too fancy for an Old West town. 1890's in a more well to do area, I think you could get away with them.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
1) It depends on the bulb. It could be 3 volt or it could be 16 volt. Start with a 1.5 volt battery and work your way up. I buy 16 volt bulbs and run them at 12 volts. I like the softer glow and longer life at running them at below their rated voltage.
2) The toggles are way more than you need. They will work fine.
3) You might find it at WalMart. Does J.C. Whitney still exist? You're best off at an auto supply store. The shipping will negate any savings you might find online.
4) If you were having problems with coupler length or vertical alignment, you may have tried some with long, medium and short shafts and overset or underset couplers. It looks like those are what you've got.
5) Don't use your DCC wiring to connect to structure or streetlamp wiring. Track and stationary decoders (for throttle turnout control, typically) only.
6) I got tired of "dancing" to uncouple, so I mostly use bamboo skewers. "Delayed" uncouplers hold the knuckles open so you can back up and push cars without engaging the knuckles, allowing you to "spot" cars further down the track.
9) Late 1900s? Sure. Street lamps have been around since the 1700s. Many cities have retained the nostalgic look of old-time street lamps.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
SpaceMouse1) What voltage should I use to power grain of rice bulbs.
'Grain of Rice' bulbs come in several different voltages. If you don't have the original packaging you will have to experiment. You will need a variable power supply like an old train set power pack and a volt meter. Start with a very low voltage (i.e. 1.2 Volts) and work up from there until the bulbs are fairly bright. That will give you a rough idea of the rated voltage. However, you do not want to run the bulbs at full voltage. First, they don't look realistic, and second, they will burn out fairly quickly. If you have a 12 volt bulb, run it at 8 or 9 volts. If you only have a 12 volt power suplly, use a resistor to dim the bulb until you are happy with the light output. You will have to experiment with resistor values too. This time, you start high and go down in value.
SpaceMouse2) I have 6 DPDT switches that have the following on the side: 10A 240V 20A 120 V Is there any reason I can't use one to control my turntable which has a 7V motor?
They will both work fine. They have way more capacity than you will ever come close to using.
SpaceMouse3) I have an 1156 auto light bulb I want to wire into my DCC socket. Any idea where I can get a socket for it? I'm figuring an auto parts store, but I fear anything I get from them will be over-priced.
Do you have a NAPA store close by. They will not be expensive. You can also get them on eBay and Amazon. Some of the older bulbs can be soldered to easily.
SpaceMouse4) I found a bunch of Kaydee couplers. I know what the #5 and #28 are for, but I can't remember using anything except #5s. Why would I have bought a bunch of #26, #27, #29 and #33?
I'm not going to rewrite the manual for you. Here is Kadee's website:
https://kadee.com/htmbord/coupler.htm
SpaceMouse5) I have two wiring blocks. What can I use them for in my wiring of the bus, feeders and town ighting?
Are you referring to terminal strips? If so, what style?
SpaceMouse6) I have a stack of magnetic uncouplers. Most are undelayed, but one is delayed. I also have a pack of magnets the same thickness evidently for the same reason. Have any of you used magnetic uncouplers? Do you like the way they work? What's the delayed one for? 7) I have a circuit board that seems to be an serial interface between my Loconet and my computer. I guessing I had thought of running JMRI software. Can you think of any other reason I would have such a thing? (I'm pretty sure Randy sent it to me.) 8) I seem to have bought a "Decoder and Loconet Cable Tester." What do I do with that?
Sorry, not enough knowledge to answer those questions. I'm sure somebody else will.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Hi, Chip,
SpaceMouse3) I have an 1156 auto light bulb I want to wire into my DCC socket.
1156 draws about 3 amps. At 35 watts they get pretty HOT, too. What DCC socket are you wiring it in to?
I use an 1156 as a ballast load when I'm checking track voltage with a RR Amp Meter. Did I say it gets HOT!
SpaceMouse8) I seem to have bought a "Decoder and Loconet Cable Tester." What do I do with that?
Are you making your own Loconet cables? By plugging this in it will tell you that you have continuity on the cable:
http://www.digitrax.com/media/apps/products/accessories/lt1/documents/LT1.pdf
I soldered a brass pin onto each of the pairs of black/green and red/yellow wires of the pigtail and use it as a track dead spot tester, like you would use an automotive continuity tester. Especially handy for testing lengths of rail at turnouts to check for dead spots.
Regards, Ed
Sensible answer to the 1156 socket: wait until you go to a Pull-a-Part facility and cut one from a harness. All sorts of relays and other wiring components very cheap.
There was an ingenious lateral rotating magnetic uncoupler design mentioned here quite recently. It could be combined with a magnetic-chuck idea to allow tuning of permanent-magnet strength.
gmpullmanAre you making your own Loconet cables? By plugging this in it will tell you that you have continuity on the cable:
Yes. I may already have them made. Still digging through stuff.
gmpullmanWhat DCC socket are you wiring it in to?
My bad. I meant DCC circuit. The bus line actually. If there is a short, the bulb will act as circuit breaker or sorts and will keep an offending loco from smoking it's decoder.
Overmodwait until you go to a Pull-a-Part facility and cut one from a harness.
You don't know how hard it is to keep from cutting one out of my wife's van.
Thanks everyone. I think I have everything except why a wiring block would be advantageous.
#27 (medium underset shank) are usually used whenever a standard #5 is too low. Because it is underset it sits a little higher.
#26 (long centerset shank) are usually used for the front of Athearn blue box locomotives that you plan on installing aftermarket snowplows.
#29 (long overset shank) is the same use as #26 but used when #26 is too high.
Boy Chip, is it ever great to see you around again.I always enjoyed your comments.
In regard to that socket for that bulb, just go to an auto wrecker and find the one you need. If it is a take it out yourself place, they will probably just give it to you , if not maybe .50.
Hope to hear more from you. "SPACEMOUSE FOR PRESIDENT."
Johnboy out..
from Saskatchewan, in the Great White North..
We have met the enemy, and he is us............ (Pogo)
There is that - 1156 bulbs are too high a current to work with the Zephyr. You need smaller bulbs like the ones NCE uses with their CP-6.
I've never been a fan of using light bulbs - instead of cutting off the power, they alow whatever the bulb rating is to continue to flow. In the case of the 1156 - that's 3 amps, if your system puts out that much or more. At 15 volts, that's 45 watts. That's enough to melt something. Dick Bronson at RR CirKits has a somewhat better approach, by adding a 30 cent or so component to the light bulb, which switches the current path to the secondary, lower current filament of a dual filament taillight bulb.
I'll just add this:
4, Many of the steam locos I have call for various couplers for the front. Your numbers look similar. Some tenders do to. I went to the Kadee conversion charts to find out what I needed and also found that for some modifications were needed also.
Good luck,
Richard
Thanks again everyone.
Just an FYI. Today I found a stash of the Grain of Rice bulbs. They are 12V.