MTH Passenger car lights

[Jerry B44]

Cool, glad it worked out for you.  I just sprayed the interiors, masked off some of them, but was sorta sloppy.  UP cars varied in colors/materials, so I just grabbed some stuff I had.

[enginear joe]

Oh yeah, and no heat from the bulbs too! the roofs used to get hot.

https://youtu.be/YA9dBVFv3No​

I don't know how to link the videos anymore. I can edit and remove the underline, but it still won't link?

 

[enginear joe]

I had a brand new LGB Amtrak car create a short, when I put it on the track. I was never sure what happened. I had guessed that the higher track power setting that I use, took out something on the board. Seeing how my other LGB Amtrak car's lights didn't work either. So I did the same conversion on one to start. It worked great. On each end there is a single bulb that also lights up the end lights on each car. I believe these should be colored? I just put in a single clear LED w/ 500 ohm resistor, at each end to light up, the same way the single bulbs did. I think these should be either red or amber? I could color the lens later.

 I was going to leave the board in place and just use their switch for an on/off of the new lights. I decided that the space exactly fit all the new stuff so I yanked their board out, and replaced it with all the stuff listed above. All the wires are right there, so the switch out was very simple and easy. I added short wires to the LED strips, and just plug them into the existing sockets, on all these cars so far. The strips self attach with their tape.

 If anyone does this mod, make sure you check the output of the buck board with a meter. They come set all over the place. Usually up around 20 volts. Turn them down to what you need, 11 volts for the strips seems good.

[enginear joe]

Okay as I've been working on this a bit 

 

• Inductors...I use 220uH...MTH includes a 22uH in the PS2 steam locomotive upgrade kits mainly to kill any interference that the cv (constant voltage) lighting boards create with regards to the DCS signal. Any cars/ locomotives that use an auxiliary lighting board gets the inductor treatment. Personally I add them onto both + & - power inputs...some folks use them on the + side only...I elect to use them on both as they're cheap enough and while you're in their why not??  
• But now there's different ratings of inductors...personally I like the small higher amperage iron core style such as these rated at 100ma which is .1 amps...a tenth of an amp. The price is right at $4.25 per 50 delivered is 8.5 cents each or 17 cents per car if you use 2

http://www.ebay.com/itm/50Pcs-220uH-100mA-4x6mm-10-Tolerance-Radial-Lead-Inductor-Black-/231335526773?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35dcac0175

 

• Next is full wave bridge rectifiers...need these to eliminate any ac sine wave that maybe on the track (not all DC power supplies are electrically "clean") and to correct any polarity issues. I use these as again cheap enough at $12.25 per fifty makes them 25 cents each per car 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bridge-Rectifier-Diode-50-X-2W06-2-Amp-600-Volt-Full-Wave-Rectifier-50-pcs-/261943898372?hash=item3cfd12b104

 

• Next will be Buck Converters...These are great as so many uses for them..and cheap enough!! These are stepdown DC regulators that are something like 92% efficient..which translates into no heat generated. These are rated 4V to 35V in and are adjustable on the output side from 1.25V - 30V out. The Led strips I use are setup for 12V in. These things are a bargain at 75 cents each and they have different footprints available...I'll list a few     

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LM2596-DC-DC-Adjustable-Buck-Converter-Step-Down-Module-Power-Supply-1-23V-30V-/261826975246?hash=item3cf61a960e

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-DC-Power-Supply-Buck-Converter-Step-Down-Module-4-75V-24V-to-0-92V-15V-HS-/111711750780?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1a028a0a7c

 

• For anti-flicker lights I use 4700uF capacitors...big black things that are cheap! I'm sure that there's other capacitors to use but I stumbled across these one day and bought a bunch of them. Depending on the number of Led's you install in each car will directly determine how long the capacitor will stay charged. I was using something like 42 led's per car (they come ready to use in groups of 3 resistored for 12V) and one capacitor would keep the car lit for maybe 10 seconds after it was removed from a powered track...plenty long enough to provide a few seconds of anti-flicker operation rolling down the rails. I never researched using super caps or various other caps as I was staying in budget...read cheap.
• Okay as I'm capable of powering my layout up to 30 volts so I use 35v caps...24v caps would probably blowup! I wire the cap across the output of the bridge rectifier so a 35V cap will charge to approx. 90% of it's capacity. If you used a 12v cap and wired it to the output of the Buck Converter would it keep the lights lit longer?? I don't know as I never tried it..I only used what components I had on hand at the time...later on I may try different ways. I found quantities of 4700uF caps anywhere from 35 cents for each up to 70 cents each qty. 50 or 100...there's more listed with qty's 1 to 12..however you want to purchase

   http://www.ebay.com/itm/4700uF-35V-18X30-20-40-105-50-PCS-Aluminum-Electrolytic-Capacitors-/261365091979?hash=item3cda92ce8b

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/100pcs-32mm-x-18mm-7mm-Lead-Pitch-Electrolytic-Capacitors-4700uF-35V-/271655660155?hash=item3f3ff06a7b

 

 

Okay so now we're up to the grand total per car of...

1. - .17 Inductors
2. - .25 Bridge Rectifier
3. - .75 Buck Converter
4. - .35 Capacitor

------------------------------

   $1.52 total per car 

 

Later I'll list the Led lights that I use 

 

Be carefull if you use they link for the buck boards listed here. The one model works fine up to 40 volt input. The smaller model just blew up on me! It only handles 24v input. The cap and the circuit raises the voltage about five volts. The board should have a bigger voltage handling on the input I believe.

[Choochoowilly]

Made my own for my LGB coaches, used styrene bar, 2 AAA battery holder, small RC car slide switch and 10mm LED's. Hid the battery pack and switch in the clearstory section of the roof and sill using the original batteries, easy cure.

[grsman]

Very nice job!

Tom