Re: Coach Lighting
Vollrath, Don <dvollrath@...>
John, Your initial description indicates that you may be using ‘miniature rectifiers feeding LED strips’. If you use a full wave (4 diode) rectifier circuit between track pick-up and the LED strip you already have what is required.. except adding of a resistor to vary the brightness. What can also be done to help reduce flicker is to provide a carry-over storage capacitor. Circuit wise this means to add a relatively large capacitor, rated for 25V and several thousand microfarads, using a 100 ohm resistor to limit charging current from the rectified track voltage and a diode connected to supply current from the capacitor toward the LED strip through the brightness adjusting resistor. This may be enough to eliminate annoying flicker. DonV
From: WiringForDCC@... [mailto:WiringForDCC@...]
On Behalf Of John Cahill
Sent: Wednesday, January 29, 2014 1:31 PM To: WiringForDCC@... Subject: Re: [WiringForDCC] Coach Lighting
Thanks, Don. Does it matter which direction the diode faces? John C
On Wed, Jan 29, 2014 at 6:59 PM, Vollrath, Don <dvollrath@...> wrote:
Don’t forget to include a diode to protect the LED strip from reverse voltage. (if it doesn’t already include a rectifier.) Use a single resistor to limit current and brightness. DonV
From:
WiringForDCC@... [mailto:WiringForDCC@...]
On Behalf Of John Cahill
Hi! I am investigating the multiple possible methods of lighting coaches/carriages on my HO NCE controlled layout. I have tried Flicker Free, which works fine. I have also built small circuits using miniature rectifiers feeding LED strips. In order to light my entire collection using any of these methods, a significant investment in time and electronic components would be required. I have tried a small experiment using direct DCC track power to light a short strip of LED lights and found it worked fine, especially with the addition of a 1K resistor in series in the circuit. Is this approach too simplistic or am I missing something? Any comments appreciated! Thanks in advance, John Cahill
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