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Changing lights on circuit boards

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  • Member since
    September 2004
  • From: Germany
  • 1,951 posts
Posted by wedudler on Friday, May 25, 2007 11:08 AM

I've installed in a few engines ESU loksound decoder and white LEDs as well as beacon lightl. I used too 1kOhm resistors.

 Wolfgang

Pueblo & Salt Lake RR

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  • Member since
    August 2004
  • From: Amish country Tenn.
  • 10,027 posts
Posted by loathar on Friday, May 25, 2007 10:52 AM
DED.Laugh [(-D]
  • Member since
    December 2004
  • From: Bedford, MA, USA
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Posted by MisterBeasley on Friday, May 25, 2007 10:41 AM

What kind of lights are in the locos now?

Are you running DCC or DC?

A LED requires a "current-limiting" resistor to keep it from frying.  I use a 1K resistor with all my LEDs, and it seems to work pretty well.  You will get a brighter light with a smaller resistor, and a dimmer light with a larger one.  Don't "test" a LED by hooking it up "just for a moment" without a resistor.  You will then have a Darkness Emitting Diode, or DED.

LEDs must be wired with the correct polarity.  If you wire them backwards, they won't work at all on DCC.  They'll work OK on AC, though, because half of the cycle is always right for the LED.

I like the golden white, sunny white or yellow white LEDs a lot, by the way.  They make great headlights.

It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse. 

  • Member since
    February 2007
  • From: Ontario
  • 383 posts
Changing lights on circuit boards
Posted by Caso.Sub on Friday, May 25, 2007 10:08 AM

Hello

Im looking at changing lights on my kato. proto and atlas locos. I don't like the lighting colours they give off. I was looking the NCE LED's

The LED pack provides ten "Sunny White" LEDs. Size: 0.120" (3 mm) diameter. Rated at 3 to 20 mA.

Any thoughts?

Anyone done this before?

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