Hi, Say, it may have sounded like an electonics question but it's not.How do all of you mount your SMD (surface Mount) micro LEDs into your ditch lights?A while back I used a medium size LED & tried mounting them in the DL bucket itself, it looked terrible, so I used an M.V. non-operating lense instead. However, I really do want to have operating lights on my models & this is driving my question!What do you do?So far, I like using RailFlyer & Detail Associates buckets, & have some unused DA clear lenses on hand.So where do you place the LED?One thing I have been doing on my models, has been using Evergreen 0.100 channel for DitchLight stand off mounts, although it is not P87, I think it is a nice detail.Right now I am finishing a Kato GP35 & have soldered up some LED's, & I'm planning to mount then in the Channel part, back paint it with RC flexible paint (as a light sheild & insulator) & then put the DA lenses into the RailFlyer buckets, & apply those over the LED filled brackets on the pilot.Another thing I have a challenge on, is the glue to use on a 'working' lens. I once modified a Kato 'light pipe' & used standard epoxy, & those lights may as well be OFF, it killed the illumination transfer.. I was thinking of using/trying Woodland Scenics 'Water Effects', or EviroTech, but do not know which may maintain the the light transparency..Any Suggestions?I'd welcome any & all thoughts, concerns, & suggestions! I also hope to post my efforts on the GP35 soon, it's still in the works!Thanks!
Chad.
Since my time frame is way before ditch lights I do have one modern loco with them. It is a GE AC4400 that has them mounted on the pilot front. I drilled an 1/8 inch hole and pushed 3mm LEDs from behind and wired them to the decoder. I painted the sides and left the very ends left un painted.
For SM LEDs you can squirt just a dab (smaller than a drop) of clear RTV in the DL bucket to hold the LED in place. Cover with a clear lens and your done. This is how I do my steam loco headlights and reverse lights. I did used white glue once to hold a SMLED and then thought how will I replace it if need be? Then the dab of RTV came to mind. I also cover the twisted magnet with a piece of 1/16 inch shrink wrap so the thin coating does not get scuffed off.
Pete
I pray every day I break even, Cause I can really use the money!
I started with nothing and still have most of it left!
LION might put the LED inside and use a fiber optic to move the light to the right spot.
Your spots may be different, for that I have a LEOPARD
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Thanks for the responses, & good info.I made some progress, & perhaps should have waited until I had this photo to start the thread.
On the cab is a D.A. becon with an SMD LED in it, (used W.S Realistic Water [the clear one] to affix it into the orange lens dome). Although it has a little 'gelatin effect' look on inside of the lens, it is water clear, & not fogged or tainted. On the pilot you can see my channel parts with the embedded LED's, they will get a 'spot' of paintmask before the unit is painted. This is the Rear pilot, the front one has the pin lifter brackets inverted for a taller plow & I may have to put more thought on how to make them fit the front. After the rest of the deck work is done, it will be painted & I will know if I get any severe bleed through, I am afraid I may. Hopefully I will make more progress on this as the week goes on.
Very nice. With front and rear ditch lights and headlights with a rotary beacon you will need 7 functions. I have heard that the QSI Titan decoder has 10 functions. That's a load of wiring. Take your time and don't rush the job.
Good luck
Thanks Pete.
You are way ahead of me, as this is being wired DC for now, the ditch lights will be constant (tied with the directional headlights) & the beacon is added with an Ngineering micro circuit. So wiring will be easy, until I decide to go DCC & want all of them to have off/on & function controls -someday. Thanks!
Many areas/railroads don't use "flashing" ditchlights, so they can be wired into one function (for DCC) or even in parallel with the headlights to save another function. I wire mine pretty much as the OP (including the beacon) and use a low cost 4-function decoder.
As for mounting smd's, for the pilot mounting I glue the DA bezels either directly to the pilot or spacers to set them off from the pilot, when they have dried (at least 24 hrs), I drill all the way through and glue the smd's from behind with Microscale's Kristal Klear, you can also use Canopy Cement, completely closing up (sealing) the hole, (I tape them in position with masking tape until the KK dries).
Once dry, I paint the back of the smd first with silver or white and then cover that with black. Sealing up the back of the hole/smd prevents paint from seeping into the hole and discoloring the light - the KK dries as the name suggests and doesn't affect the smd. For the lenses, I use the DA 7" lenses, for thicker pilots I use the lenses with the little "light pipe", trimmed to the proper length if neccassary, For thinner situations, I just use the lense without the pipe. I also use the KK to glue the lenses in.
For walkway mounting, I use basically the same procedure except I mount the DA bezel to the "plate" included in the package and then drill it out. I drill a hole for the wires through the deck, just behing where the light assembly will be mounted and another hole through the pilot to run the wire back. I hope this was helpful.
Jay
C-415 Build: https://imageshack.com/a/tShC/1
Other builds: https://imageshack.com/my/albums
In a lot of cases for ditch lights, I prefer light bulbs by miniatronics which are long life. 1.5 volt versions are small and easy to work with while the 16 volt don't get too hot with track voltage. Lots of options. But, a key item is to buy the cast metal Details West ditch lights for either pilot or below mount. The bulbs generally look great inside of these castings and not hard at all to install compared with LEDs, light pipes(I've done that too) and fiber optics. Particularly when it comes to taking the shell on and off for maintenance. The castings can be drilled out for larger bulbs. You will likely need to drill a small hole for the wires to go back into the shell. Insert the wires vs pushing the bulb through the passage ways to keep them as small as possible. BTW, for the under the pilot ditch lights the bulb head can serve as it's own lens.
Note, I use light pipes many times for class lights on diesels if I don't mind them being lit by the headlight(LED many times).
Richard
OK, there is some progress on my lit Kato GP35. Here is a picture of how I have added the components to the standard Kato DC control board. Photo Key:
A - Lt. Orange - These are the 'Kicker' resistors that I added to reduce the power to the SMD LEDs on Magnet Wire. I 'cauciously' used 340 Ohm 1/4 watt resistors to make sure I did not smoke-em. They are a little dim in raw form, & I have not seen what the light pipe does to the main headlight LED output yet. However, I would say I would try a 180 Ohm next, because all through the DC range they are not overdriven with the 340 Ohm ones I used here. I bridged them in series off the existing 3V LED's from the factory. Again, playing it safe. (Yes I know, many people like a resistor on each LED, but I cheated on two, if more I would comply!B - Pinkish - I also soldered the 'clip in' motor leads on the board only, I did verify each truck put power up to the board & left the trucks alone.C - Blue - I soldered the Ngineering Stobe Flasher to the motor leads, it was about a volt -ish less than track power, & I don't intend to ever run this unit over 10-12 volts, so it should be OK..D - Cream - This is the small Ngineering Strobe circuit, it only needs the two cab leads attached & then bottomed onto the foam tape. This Circuit has many possibilities & is DCC compatible! A real neat unit! *E - Gray - Oooppsssiiieee, Cat hairs!
So far I have been successfull in getting things installed & working. Due to my conservative resistor choices, my ditch lights are a liitle underpowered. But, I have not installed the body with the 'lightpipes' at this point for a real visual test or impression.I hope to complete the unit today & post more pictures in natural light vs. it with low lighting.I did get some light casting bleed through, but much less than I anticipated. So far, the extra effort has been good, as it looks a little more scale & the wiring is captive in/under the styrene channel brackets, as mentioned before.As far as light hiding, I do not think I did any better than the already available 2x3mm LED's (N102110) aready offered . If you can hide the wires, flush mount them, & just throw a Ditch Light bucket & lens on it, if you would so desire, then you are there! I wanted a little more 'scale' look though. It's a trade off, but only in a little effort.. Items used in this part of the build; (electronics)Ngineering N8043 Universal Strobe SimulatorNgineering N1011-10 Micro Super White LED (Blue tint, Matches the Bluish Kato run LED's, -as it is an experimental unit, so not True Color LEDs)Ngineering N5038 Magnet Wire -Run to the SMD LEDsNgineering NX12V SMD Resistor PackNgineering N1013-5 Micro Yellow LED -for strobe light, as there was not amber/orange at the time, or in my stock
Again, I am running this unit on straight DC for now, so it is using the factory KATO board as the directional light controller to drive the Ditch Lights from the headlight LEDs.
* - I am not associated with Ngineering, or any other manufacturer, I can't even rely on my 'own' schedules!!! However, if I enjoy a product that works great for me, I'll tell you about it in detail!
Hopefully, more to follow soon, if you are interested, please stay tuned!..
& Thank you!
Progress, I added a Woodland Scenics guy as a Conductor, & then a Faller fella as an engineer, after serious trimming & arm bending (bent well, soft cast!) to the interior. Then I attempted to assemble the unit, as I already had the walkway installed & soldered up, all I should need to do was add the hood & cab parts.. UmmKay, well, a little trick here.. Everytime I inserted the cab lightbar my 'Strobe Light' wires disappeared, each time! Well, there are 'wings' on the lightbar for orientation, & I had the wires catching a wing & pulling it back into the cab.. After rethreading that (& the wire was then trained to go there), I fished it out past it & made everyone happy!!! Suprisingly all the LED's are somewhat balanced, I guess I got lucky! Running it at around 8-10 volts they look pretty smart, that is where these shots were taken at. I used an LED 'Hat Light' as a photographic flood fill from the side, & a hallway CFL from the front (about 4-5 O'clock orientation). It is also on a piece of track I use for plow & coupler testing, & in this case, has a set of roller bearings on it. It's the DC way to run still!!I think it really looks good, both of these photo's are unaltered, they are cropped for size, but I did not do any other editing at all!!One item of note, since the Ditchlights LEDs & the main LEDs can take higher power I cranked it up a few times, & the Stobe circuit fell off after about 12V indicated on my powerpack (old Tech-II MRC DC). It also did/does not come on until about 6V & over, it is also forward only. I can call that a feature, or take it the other way. But when it is going, it is bright & very neat! I'm sure you can see some of the light bleed through on the ditch light mounts, almost impossible to avoid using white plastic parts, but it's impact is much less than I thought it may have been. After these pictures & playing with it a bit, I am very pleased with the results of my efforts. I also love the stubby little GP35, I think is it an excellent unit. It was a nice project!
This is the finished product, I think it was a good project. I think my lights came out as good as many factory ones (I may have a bias) but what do you think? On this project I used these manufactures products;Railflyer: Pin Lifter/Cut bars, Grab iron (cab top w/nbw detail), Ditchlight HousingsDetail Associates: Stratolite beacon, Eyebolts, Sinclair Antenna, grab iron (plow), Wind Deflectors, Headlight LensesDetails West: Plows, Horn, MU 3 Hose cluster, Nolan style Rerail frogs (not shown, hooks over rear truck) Cannon: Cab SunShadesKaydee: Scale Coupler -Whisker, Trainline w/AnglecockNgineering: Electronic components
Thanks again to all who have commented & gave suggestions, it is very appreciated! If I left anything out, or something is confusing, please ask.If anyone thinks this was not a welcomed thread, please say so too, I don't want to waste your time or forum space.I have not gotten much feedback on the tail end of this & really, I don't know if I explained it 'that' well, or if people are not interested in it.I welcome any & all comments, -as always!Thanks again!
Modelling HO Scale with a focus on the West and Midwest USA
Oy! Alex!
Hey, I really appreciate the comment, I am glad you like it.
Here, is a pic of something I used to do, (abt 10 years ago) & I hope you enjoy it too! A 1/24 SAR!!! (it's sometimes misunderstood up here..) Hope you like my 'lil donk!