power source recomendation

[Soo Line fan]

Been using this one for years. Plugs right into a DMM

[jfb]

hey guys thanks for the replies but it was a older package that i took the amp total from and just mulltiplied it. Was  and can the packaging  be wrong is my or your guess. I have 4 average lights to each wiring harness and 38 total harnesses and this power source is just for the lights street and buildings plus highway it was my foul up that i did noy say 38 harneses before and each harness is connected to a 205 atlas selector point some accesories have to go to a 215 selector of dc power . I was just saying that i heard that some lionel power packs are 50 amps and that can be wrong also and the reason for asking more experienced modelers like yourself. I have to get real info from experience like you have already.I stated that i have a learning curve hear on this sight. I have 85 percent model power lights and 15 percent life like lights and the life like package stated the amount of amps needed and from there i did the calculating maybe the package was wrong? or faded too much.. I figured that they all were probably about the same amount needed and my learning curve continous. I am getting back to this around memorial day my other obligations have to come first.

[big daydreamer]

this is painful to watch.... 

OP:

1) Read through the first few tutorials on this site: https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/where-do-i-start

2) Following writing conventions is a pretty good idea if you want people to understand what you are writing, so I suggest that you follow them.

[rrinker]

 ANd you still haven't indicated what you read on that one package and what it was the package for. If it was one of those 6 light floodlight towers, it very easily could be 300ma, .3 amps, if they used 50ma bulbs (entirely plausible if it was an older Life Like accessory). I once had a few like that, late 60's/early 70's vintage, they used fairly high current bulbs and every single one of them had melted plastic after a while. But a Life Like street light? Just one? No way is it a 300ma bulb, it would have to be a misprint or a faded decimal point. Or Life Like being cheap and using the same package for everything from a simple street light to those floodlight towers.

                            --Randy

 

[hon30critter]

big daydreamer

Following writing conventions is a pretty good idea if you want people to understand what you are writing, so I suggest that you follow them

jfb: I really have to agree with big daydreamer. 

Dave

[Soo Line fan]

In the time it took to compose the last response, he could have used a DMM and had his answers. But then we told him that in his last thread.

Now we have to wait till Memorial weekend...................

[jfb]

i am just trying to get a idea guys so here it goes 1. life like round street lights it was a older faded package unopened. 2. I really have no idea of the bulb size,I never contacted the manufacturer back then or would have thought too. I understand the meter idea and agree but wth such large lay outs posted on this website like most experienced modelers like your self i thought you would have a idea of how much power is needed considering that most here have the older and better pieces from the past and of course real experience and not wanting to rebuild a layout from a time and cost perspective that can be huge. I needed real world experience sometimes testing is not the total solution with electrical testing meters it can be just like book work or computer work and not fully real and all points of view have to be looked at. I have zero problems with running less power with dimmer lighting it saves bulb replacement anyway. I was giving the supposed series wiring total amperage and it is in series as a estimate to not completely under power it all. you guys have the real world finished product experience and it should be flattering to have someone ask you for your opinion on a finished product. I doubt anyone would rebuild another from a cost and time point of view and just do it right the first time with small changes thrown in periodically. I need real world experience. thanks jfb i only have so much time for computers every now and then. 

[MisterBeasley]

To me, one of the great joys of model railroading is the learning that goes along with it.  This place is like a great University of Model Railroading, where you can meet every day with some incredibly skilled and helpful people who are happy to answer questions and present solutions.

One of the most common suggestions we give out on the Electronics and DCC Forum is "get a meter."  Really.  You can find a perfectly acceptable one at Harbor Freight for well under ten dollars.  This one handy gadget will let you measure current, voltage and resistance and even let you buzz out a connection.

Once you've been reading this forum for a while, you'll discover that the first step in providing a solution is to ask more questions.  Hard data, like "how many amps does a single bulb draw?" is the key that helps us figure out what's going on.

[CSX Robert]

We have given you our "real world" experience.  It tells us that there is no way these lights draw .3 amps each, but you don't seem to want to believe us, and it's not like it's one person's opinion, several have questioned the current draw of your lamps.

 

We can't tell you precisely what an old "life like round street light" would draw.  Even if one of us has what we believe to be the same part, if yours was produce in 1980 and another was produced in 1985, they may not draw the same amount.  What we can tell you is that it probably doesn't draw .3 amps and that it is probably closer to .03 amps.  If you really want to know what YOUR lamps draw, then you really need to measure the current draw of YOUR lamps.

[rrinker]

 WHy sonny, back in my day we never measured a darn thing, we just kept hooking up lights untilt eh circuit breaker tripped......

 Kinda, that's how we did it. WHen I was a kid, we didn't have a multimeter. We put lights in all the buildings, a smoke unit on a few of them, and just hooked it all up and hoped it would work. Granted, we were only dealing with a 4x8 (plus a little in the final version). Knowing what I know now, after a college education and 40+ more years of experience, I tend to at least think things out a little more before just firing it up and hoping no smoke escapes. You can;t come by that accumlated knowledge instantly. You cna ask questions, you can do research, and eventually you will 'get it'. It's part of what make this a life long hobby, you can't just run out, read one book, and suddenly be an expert. Notice I rarely answer scenery questions - because I'm horrible at it. Every book or article I read, or video I watch, makes it all seem so easy - until I actually go and attempt it. Bob Ross made painting look easy, too....  I do try to provide explanations for answer, not jsut ansers - for those that chose to read past the answer to their question to see how it was arrived at, perhaps next time they can figure it out on their own. Yeah, I'm hitting that "get off my lawn" stage, but the instant gratification crowd can just take a hike as far as I'm concerned. At least TRY - forget Yoda's bad advice. You may surprise yourself (I keep tellingmyself that about scenery), but it is hard to not help someone who has at least made some attempt to resolve a problem on their own. If there's any chain of thought provided, some gentle nudging at the point of difficulty may reveal the solution to the problem for the person, and having orked through it once, they can then do it themselves next time. The feeling of accomplishment is the end goal - I do think there is far too much dilution of that these days in the newer generations, but this is not the forum for the kind of discussion that topic would lead to. I've seen it here, with thigns liek decoder installs. FIrst time asks a lot of questions, we provide help, person comes back and says they got it working. A few weeks later - same person posts a completed project they did themselves, without posting the questions. From bare understanding to being able to accomplish the task on their own - when I see stuff like that I know how a teacher feels when they see a student 'get it'.

                      --Randy

 

[Soo Line fan]

jfb

you guys have the real world finished product experience and it should be flattering to have someone ask you for your opinion on a finished product.

 

 

 

Flattery will get you no where

 

 

[big daydreamer]

jfb

...

 I needed real world experience sometimes testing is not the total solution with electrical testing meters it can be just like book work or computer work and not fully real 

...

 

LOL. Wow, that's rich. Measuring the resistance of your bulbs with a multimeter is the most "real" thing you can do, and you still need to understand electrical theory if you want to  build a circuit without having someone here hold your hand through it.

anyways...

Why are you even asking for help if you think that you already know everything?

The "experienced modelers" here are telling you to get a meter and you are saying that they are wrong?

Edit:

I noticed that you want to wire the lights in series, and in that case you should not be multiplying the current by the number of lights.

[jfb]

14.7 needed amps with the proper order of all being used everything will never all be used at once. I also like to learn the way all of you did it before through learned experience and assuming that the manufacturers had it right . I never heard bad things about the manufacturers products before and it just was a common sense question then. I bought the meter and measured it under the proper order of running it plus a little insurance around the 10 percent rule. I also did not want to replace bulbs etc in the future products move on and maybe will not be made in the future. I stated that I do not mind running under powered for the reason stated in my last sentence. We are all a achieving community and I was not asking anyone exactly how there layout is that is your business and kept secret for what ever reason. I just wanted to get mine going with a little help and no damage. jfb, good luck with your layout.