Internal Structure Light Bulbs

[ft-fan]

I was at the store the other day and saw they already had Christmas lights on sale. I almost bought a string to have for lighting structure interiors, but then I noticed 2 different kinds of lights. The had a string of 100 "regular" mini-lights, but they also had a string of 100 "rice" lights, which have similar bases, but the bulbs are maybe 1/3 the size, very tiny. The rice bulbs were about double the price (still on sale). Does anyone know what is the difference in brightness and/or durability between these? Is the smallness of the rice bulbs a benefit? They would go inside N-scale structures.

Thanks for your help.

FT 

[tstage]

FT, 

As far as brightness, they should be the same as the larger bulbs.  Durability?  That's hard to say without seeing what they are rated at.

I use grain 'o wheat bulbs in the interior of my HO structures and buildings and grain 'o rice bulbs on the exteriors.  (Except on my NYC Freight station, pictured below)

Click picture to enlarge 

For the most part, GOR bulbs have a lower voltage and amp rating and, therefore, don't last as long as the larger incandescent bulbs.

If these bulbs are going to go inside a building or structure, the size of the bulb will only matter if it can be easily viewed through a window or opening.  Otherwise, a larger bulb would work fine.

Another thing to keep in mind, FT, is how will you change out a bulb (not if but) when it burns out.  Things to consider before you dive in.

Tom 

[ft-fan]

I use grain 'o wheat bulbs in the interior of my HO structures and buildings and grain 'o rice bulbs on the exteriors.  (Except on my NYC Freight station.)  For the most part, GOR bulbs have a lower voltage and amp rating and, therefore, don't last as long as the larger incandescent bulbs.

If I use a wall wart to power these, I can use some kind of resistor in the chain to reduce the amperage that actually gets to the bulb. This will help with them lasting longer won't it?

Another thing to keep in mind, FT, is how will you change out a bulb (not if but) when it burns out.  Things to consider before you dive in.

From reading other threads in here, I sort of plan to make either the roof or the entire structure removable. Hopefully, that will take care of it.

Thanks for the reply, Tom.

FT 

[tstage]

FT,

Question for you: Do you plan on using the lights in the string as they are already configured, or are you wanting to use the bulbs individually?

For lighting, I like to wire my bulbs "in parallel" vs. "in series".  ("In series" would be just like the Christmas light string you saw in the store.)  I do this for two reasons:

1. I like to be able to control each of my lights individually (on-off)
2. If one light goes out, all the lights ahead of it don't go out as well.

I also wouldn't want to reply on a sole resistor to be a buffer or keep everything in check.

FT, I also chose to assemble most of my structures and buildings with removable roofs so that I had access to the bulbs.  Whether just the roof or the whole building is removable depends on how you plan on lighting it.  Here's how I did my NYC Freight depot:

Click picture to enlarge

The wires for the bulbs are barely visible when looking in through either the windows or sliding doors.

Tom

[gmcrail]

One hint - you can nearly eliminate the burnout issue wth incandescent bulbs by running them at a lower voltage than they are rated for.  Running a 1.5v bulb at 1.2v, for example, will not reduce the brightness noticeably, but will extend the bulb life by maybe a factor of 20 or more.

 

 

[ft-fan]

FT,

Question for you: Do you plan on using the lights in the string as they are already configured, or are you wanting to use the bulbs individually?

For lighting, I like to wire my bulbs "in parallel" vs. "in series".  ("In series" would be just like the Christmas light string you saw in the store.)  I do this for two reasons:

1. I like to be able to control each of my lights individually (on-off)
2. If one light goes out, all the lights ahead of it don't go out as well.

I also wouldn't want to rely on a sole resistor to be a buffer or keep everything in check.

Tom -

I believe my plan is to chop the string up and have 100 individual bulbs. I definitely don't like scenario #2 that you gave above. I hadn't given much thought to controlling each bulb individually, but I know I will have to when the time comes. But running them in parallel will definitely help with keeping more of the layout lit. 

Electronics is not my strong suit, so I will have to learn more about using a resistor before I get to that point. The purpose of the question is to help me figure out which would be a better one to buy. Maybe I should get one of each and then I can decide which would work better.

Thanks for the picture. Do you have wiring coming up the far wall through the pipe/conduit? Do those wires go through the front wall to light outside lights? Otherwise they just seem to end. Do the ceiling lights come up through a conduit on the near wall?

Thanks again.

FT 

[tstage]

Tom -

I believe my plan is to chop the string up and have 100 individual bulbs. I definitely don't like scenario #2 that you gave above. I hadn't given much thought to controlling each bulb individually, but I know I will have to when the time comes. But running them in parallel will definitely help with keeping more of the layout lit.

FT,

That's what I kinda thought you had in mind, but had to ask the question anyhow.

Electronics is not my strong suit, so I will have to learn more about using a resistor before I get to that point. The purpose of the question is to help me figure out which would be a better one to buy. Maybe I should get one of each and then I can decide which would work better.

As long as they are outrageously price, it sounds like a reasonable plan to me.

Thanks for the picture. Do you have wiring coming up the far wall through the pipe/conduit? Do those wires go through the front wall to light outside lights? Otherwise they just seem to end. Do the ceiling lights come up through a conduit on the near wall?

Thanks again.

FT

Here's a picture of the front of the Freight depot: 

Click picture to enlarge

You pretty much nailed it, FT.  Yes, the conduit in the corners is supposed to look like ventilation pipes.  The wires run up through the conduit (brass tubing) and out through the front or far wall.  The wires are not glued.  So they can be pulled out of the wall easily, in case the light has to be changed.  The ceiling lights also come up through conduit on the near wall.  I pre-bend the wire at 90 degrees and apply CA to help the wires retain their shape.

The outside lights and inside lights can be controlled independently of one another.

[Edit: FT, it just occurred to me later this morning that that last statement above is NOT true.  I do have them wired separately.  But, presently, they are all wired onto the same controller.  See below.]

They are 12V-1.7A bulbs - a little large prototypically for HO (1.5V-1.2V bulbs look better but don't last as long) - and I run them with a spare MRC 1370 Railpower power pack at about 8V so that they last much longer.

Tom

[ft-fan]

Electronics is not my strong suit, so I will have to learn more about using a resistor before I get to that point. The purpose of the question is to help me figure out which would be a better one to buy. Maybe I should get one of each and then I can decide which would work better.

As long as they are outrageously price, it sounds like a reasonable plan to me.

I'm afraid you lost me on this. Are you saying the resistors are expensive? The strings of lights were only a few bucks each, about 50% off "normal" price.

FT 

[steemtrayn]

Now let me get this straight...Your plan is to use 110 volt Christmas lights to illuminate your N scale structures? If so, don't forget to place a fire extinguisher next to the layout.

[tstage]

Sorry for being ambiguous, FT.  I thought you were speaking of buying one of each of the string of lights to play around with.

Electronics is not my strong suit either but I've had fun learning and am still learning.  

Tom

[modelmaker51]

Now let me get this straight...Your plan is to use 110 volt Christmas lights to illuminate your N scale structures? If so, don't forget to place a fire extinguisher next to the layout.

To help you get this "straight", he is going to cut up the 110 volt Christmas light string into individual lights, and power each one with 12volts or less. The individual lights are usually 1 1/2 or 2 1/2 volts. He won't be needing his fire extinguisher.

[tomikawaTT]

A couple of years back I scored a major deal on icicle lights - a case of 300-lamp sets for about 1.5 cents per lamp, sockets included.  Turns out they were wired in strings of 50, with 2.5V bulbs.  Since then, I've been using them in series strings of 4, powered with 6.3v AC from a filament transformer.  That gives a nice yellow light, appropriate for interior lighting for the time and place I model.

So far, in intermittent use, I haven't had any burn out.  When one does, replacement will involve pulling the dead lamp and replacing it with a like serviceable item - literally.  The lamps push into the sockets, no screwing or soldering.

The series strings can be separated - one lamp in one building, another in a second building and two more up under the eaves of a covered passenger platform.  Putting each string on a separate slide switch is no problem, and prevents the, "Why does every light in town go on/off at the same time?" situation.

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

[RRCanuck]

I chop regular internal-use Christmas lights into individual units, and power them with wall warts with variable output.  Works fine.  Cheers.