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Light Up Your Locos With LEDs (92)

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LEDs are a great option for adding lights to your models and for replacing existing incandescents when they eventually blow. In this video I'll show you how I install both 3mm and surface mount device (SMD) LEDs in a couple locomotives. The process is relatively easy once you know the tricks and tips I will be sharing with you so take a look. Here are some links to websites for various materials mentioned. Note that many are available at local stores or from Amazon or eBay sellers.
Pre-wired LEDs on eBay www.ebay.com/i...
Misc LEDS from Streamlined Backshop www.sbs4dcc.com
LEDs fro Richmond Controls www.richmondco...
Misc electronics www.allelectro...
Misc LEDs, small circuit boards, SMD resistors, Kapton tape www.ngineering...
Wiring harnesses, Kapton tape www.tcsdcc.com
Other misc items available at local hobby shops, eBay, Amazon, hardware stores
Uhu tac putty
Zap Zip Kicker
Testors Clear Parts Cement
Locktite CA Gel
Makeup microbrush

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5 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 115

@greglewis7806 Год назад

Thanks for your thorough demos on how to do work through these installations. Really helpful thanks.

@tomschmidt3165 4 года назад

I'm a first time viewer, long time modeler and picked up some valuable tips for installing and mounting LED's. Thanks Larry

@TheDCCGuy 4 года назад

Tom-Glad to have you here, enjoy the videos-Larry

@jhoodfysh 2 года назад

Thank you Larry for more very useful information. Surface mount LEDs and surface mount resistors how neat. I will watch the rest of this series later today.

@TheDCCGuy 2 года назад

John, I don’t try to solder wires to the LEDs and resistors anymore, way too small. Instead I use prewired ones I get on ebay. I have shown these in my more recent videos on decoder installs.

@mysticrailroad 4 года назад

Love those Southern Alcos

@TheDCCGuy 4 года назад

Me too, my favorite diesel locos.

@SpencerBaum 4 года назад

I got a pack of small leds from Amazon with resistors built in and have been using them on all my locos. They're so easy to install and look great!

@TheDCCGuy 4 года назад

Thanks for sharing

@karguy1720 4 года назад

I've DCC-upgraded a number of old locomotives, and the lighting has been the most difficult part of each upgrade. Your suggestions will make this much easier for me. Many thanks!

@TheDCCGuy 4 года назад

Thanks for sharing

@markgoodrich941 4 года назад

Thanks again for a great video. I have ordered my parts and by the time they arrive I will be ready. I appreciate your time for preparing these videos for us.

@dapro2848 3 года назад

For every one who does not know . Go to Evan Designs and buy there LEDs with bridge rectifier. They do not have polarity issues. Many colors and sizes. You can not get any easier then this and are ready to install. I put a dab of yellow paint on the tip to tone it down a little. Once you try these you will not use anything else.

@TheDCCGuy 3 года назад

Good link, I tried to find them previously to no avail so bookmarked them this time.

@swiv99 3 года назад

Excellent tutorial and info...thanks for the links to products too. :)

@Lefthandedhammer 3 года назад

3000 to 17.9 in a little more then a year! Good job.

@vincentp.chianese2873 2 года назад

One thing that may make some of this easier. ZAP comes in a small spray bottle. Works really well and is refillable. So add the CA, cyanoacrylate, then hold the two pieces together as seen in the video then spray a quick shot. Done.

@TheDCCGuy 2 года назад

I have a large bottle of the stuff and I dab it on using a micro brush.

@michaelricks1618 4 года назад

I'll be able to try this myself now! Thanks a lot for sharing such useful info, Larry.

@TheDCCGuy 4 года назад

Hope it works for you. More tomorrow.

@wilzdart 4 года назад

Really learned a lot with this video on LED's , Up to now just used them on buildings. I model in N scale so the 3 MM are a little too tight to install but with the surface mounts I can see they would help. I hope at some point you will do a series on signals using the digitrak components.

@TheDCCGuy 4 года назад

I recently did a DCC Corner column on signaling and touched on the Digitrax system. Ben Lake and I think Dana Kawala did an article in MR on Ben’s use of that system for the Canadian Canyons feature layout. He covered it in much greater detail in the videos they did on Model Railroader Video Plus.

@scotttucker8127 2 года назад

Merry Christmas Larry to you and your family ⛄🎄 and thanks for your helpful videos they really help me learn alot about Dcc and doing projects

@clerenyvald8385 Год назад

I subbed and liked, because this can be used in the scales I do. That, and inspired by those beautiful RS-3 models.

@louisdupreez9803 4 года назад

Nice explanation, always been baffled by LED's with equal length legs

@TheDCCGuy 4 года назад

Glad it was helpful!

@HumancityJunction 4 года назад

Thanks for explaining this in a clear concise way.

@j.mcq.8418 3 года назад

Yes, it is pretty good and he does a top quality job.

@mgamga9476 Год назад

Just learned something for everyone. If your L.E.D. bulbs are a bit to big to fit in headlight hole. You can sand down the circumference of them a bit to fit.

@TMandN 4 года назад

Pretty much how I do it as well Larry. I didn't see anything about dealing with light bleed. Just for note, I use a thick acrylic black, flat preferably and paint the lens,and LED assembly in place, or pre assembly if possible. Anyway, great video. I subbed as well as go to your site often. Keep up the good work!

@TheDCCGuy 4 года назад

The Uhu putty does a great job of sealing the light into the lens as well as holding the LED in place. On the RS3 the shell is dense enough and the green paint dark enough so I ‘ve never seen any bleed through. The main concern is keeping it from lighting up the cab.

@davethomas1220 Год назад

Great stuff!

@andrewcummins-15thstreetya80 4 года назад

Hi Larry, another very informative video.

@TheDCCGuy 4 года назад

Glad you enjoyed it

@donh8833 2 года назад

Testors canopy glue is just a diluted white glue.

@additudeobx 2 года назад

Adding resistors in line to LEDs is not the best practice. It's OK in a pinch, but as voltage variations can affect the LEDs performance. Instead of soldering or adding a resistor in line with an LED,, use an SMT current limiter instead. It's about the same size as a resister, only variations in voltage will not affect its current output. You can put 7-8-9+ volts across the LED/Current Limiter and it will only allow 10ma, or 20ma of current thru the LED. They even make them SMT pre-mounted on a small circuit card so all that's needed is to solder the wires. They also make them in a "transistor" style looking package. There are also 4-pin SMT voltage regulators, (Maybe 1/8 in sq) put 20+v in and get 3-5v out. This stuff is pretty easy and makes adding LEDs simple.

@ricter591 4 года назад

Thanks Larry

@robertrichter2783 4 года назад

Thank you, even as an experienced installer, I learn techniques that are different than what I do, I would combine common wire from the led’s before the connector using smaller plug

@TheDCCGuy 4 года назад

I know what you mean but in this case because the wires come from different ends of the model and meet in the middle at the connector it makes no sense to combine the commons. Now if I had installed more than one LED at each end I would have combined the commons.

@HillcotMR 4 года назад

I've used some led strips for mine. Good video, subbed

@TheDCCGuy 4 года назад

Thanks, iI think I have a lifetime supply left over from our kitchen remodel!

@HillcotMR 4 года назад

The DCC Guy, store them, you’ll need them

@farmerdave7965 4 года назад

When you think you are really good at soldering, just attempt to solder very thin magnet wire to 0402 LEDs. You will become humble very fast. Don't ask me how I know this. Now I buy my LEDs with wires and resistors already on them. It makes life so much easier.

@TheDCCGuy 4 года назад

I too have a spool of magnet wire that is now surplus now that I can get these SMD LEDs prewired. Doing it by hand was a total pain!

@charlieb308 3 года назад

I have an old Athearn freight engine and bulb is dead, it’s the kind that clips inside and touches a copper piece of metal, it’s DC only, can I upgrade this to LED light?

@mandbhomestead 4 года назад

Larry Great video on lighting up a loco, love all the tips and tricks in the video. I am interested in the pre-wired surface mount LEDS also. I think you said you would get links for those in this video, looking forward to those links. Thanks for sharing and stay safe. Ken

@TheDCCGuy 4 года назад

www.ebay.com/itm/L0805GW-20pcs-Pre-Wired-GOLDEN-White-SMD-0805-Led-Lamp-Light-Set-12V-18V-NEW-/221183972188?hash=item337f97935c

@mandbhomestead 4 года назад

Thanks!

@TheDCCGuy 4 года назад

I’ll get the rest of the stuff added to the description later today as soon as I get the proofs for my next column checked and back to MR. Sometimes things seem to land all at the same time!

@mandbhomestead 4 года назад

Thank you again for work on getting the info on the products. It is well appreciated.

@milepost856 4 года назад

I like smd led 0402 warm light prewire 900 resistors, that 4 inf dcc guy

@docs9154 4 года назад

👌 very informative

@TheDCCGuy 4 года назад

Glad you think so!

@uptownphotography 4 года назад

Nice video and well done. I gave you a sub.

@andy41417 Год назад

negative has triangle electrode inside

@johnfalk6536 Год назад

What is the black putty you use to seal the back of the LED to avoid light bleed?

@TheDCCGuy Год назад

It is often referred to as black tac or blue tac in some cases and it is a strong adhesive putty. The black version seems only to be available in the US from a company named Uhu and I found it on Amazon. You can get the blue or white version at a lot of hardware and craft stores but I prefer the black.

@markmeade8502 3 года назад

This has been very helpful since I have no clue about electronic . I am currently in a gathering mode until I can build a small layout/ module in N scale. How do you know where to wire it to the DCC module?

@TheDCCGuy 3 года назад

Where doesn’t matter so much as how. I have a number of videos here on wiring as well as installing the wiring bus on the modules. Plus my book “Wiring Your Model Railroad” available from the Kalmbach Hobby Store or Amazon goes into detail.

@allencarter534 3 года назад

Where do you connect the negative wire when using Nixtrainz motherboard Decoder Buddy and connection board. Can you connect the ground soldering pad? Your knowledge on using the Decoder Buddy will be great. Love your videos.

@TheDCCGuy 3 года назад

The connector pads are marked in the board and on the instructions. He is about to release a new version that also has a solder pad for the third wire used with LokSound decoder keep alives.

@allencarter534 3 года назад

@@TheDCCGuy Thanks, I have positive power on top and bottom pads but no negative per the instructions and diagrams of the connection board. Does that mean I have a bad decoder from Soundtraxx, 885010/TSU-21PNEM, Tsunami2 (Diesel Sound decoder? Can't figure out why the LED (with 1000K resister), doesn't work when connected. LED is good as tested. Also I can take the positive connection per the instructions for the connection board and place the negative lead on the Ground pad at the keep alive pad and lights fine. Any help will be appreciated. Your videos are fantastic and have been great. Thanks. (Thanks for your quick response)

@allencarter534 3 года назад

Mr. Puckett; Thanks for all of your videos and help. Had a bad solder (or lack there of) on connecting the connector board and the Nixtrainz board. Once I connected another light, proper solder connection, worked perfectly. your help was tremendous. Again thanks..

@jarrinwoodruff1863 2 года назад

Where did you get the leds from with the resistors already on them?

@TheDCCGuy 2 года назад

I included that information in the description to the video.

@frankhellman6879 4 года назад

I'm not at all an LED expert, but I've heard that LEDs can be dimmed (within limits) by increasing the amount of resistance added. Effectively, provide a little less voltage than the LED is rated at. If correct, that would be a convenient way to abate a "too bright" headlight. What I don't know is how many ohms would be reasonable, in series with those nice pre-wired 1k resistor LED units you're using, to get some reasonable dimming - without causing flickering or inconsistencies. Do you have any insights on this? Thanks!

@TheDCCGuy 4 года назад

You can play around with a small trim potentiometer to dial in various resistance values just be careful not to overdo it and blow the LED. Once you find the right amount of dimming just use a multimeter to read the resistance across the pot and you’ll know what size resistor to install with the LED.

@markmatteo2417 4 года назад

If you were limited on room, how many LED could be used on one function. Could you add SMD LED like 0402's for a pair of step lights or ground/truck lights to say the headlight function if you had to? Or is 3 LEDs too much for the output of a single function? Thanks Mark

@TheDCCGuy 4 года назад

It depends on the decoder and how much current each function can support. Each LED requires about 20 mA and most functions cannot exceed 100 mA so that would mean 5. Check your decoder instructions to see what the functions are limited to.

@markmatteo2417 4 года назад

@@TheDCCGuy Great answer thank you for explaining. I am only considering a headlight and 2 truck lights together. Thanks again!

@markmatteo2417 4 года назад

I have been wanting to add a nose gyralite in a few of my locomotives. Not sure what I can fit in the nose as far as LED so do you think it would be feasible to add fiberoptic to an LED a short distance away within the locomotive shell and have the effect from the LED follow the fiberoptic to display the same lighting pattern on the light on the nose of the loco?

@TheDCCGuy 4 года назад

Not sure how well the fibers would work but worth a try. You could also use grain of rice bulbs. The Walthers catalog and website should be a good resource for the parts and available bulbs. As for fibers I got a bunch last year from China off eBay.

@markmatteo2417 4 года назад

@@TheDCCGuy I have thought about the nano LEDs but I have to see. I am specifically referring to Atlas GE U Boats where there is currently no nose lights at all. So I am not replacing anything, but adding lights in this case. I will try and see what I can fit in the nose lights I am adding and see how to go about it. I may first try on an Atheran U33C dummy

@fallnflags5587 4 года назад

Hi the Energineering . Com link goes to a RU-vid page, is that correct? As a aside, do you have a recommendation for reasonable priced and reliable DPDT toggle switches for turnouts? Thanks. Don

@TheDCCGuy 4 года назад

My mistake, take off the first “e” and it will work. As for the DPDT toggles my go to for almost all things electronic is All Electronics.

@chikes4862 2 года назад

1 comment .whi are u using 4 leads .i ame using esu decoders and the blue lead is the positive the purple and green are the negative .i use the blue for the 2 led's ;so the plug have 3 pins not 4

@TheDCCGuy 2 года назад

That works too.

@chikes4862 2 года назад

@@TheDCCGuy if you have the space then its not a problem but if you dont have space then les leads are welkom

@Steve_B1950 4 года назад

Should the resistor always be attached to the positive lead or does it make a difference as long as the LED has the correct polarity?

@TheDCCGuy 4 года назад

The location does not matter as long as it is there.

@Steve_B1950 4 года назад

@@TheDCCGuy Thanks so much!

@jasonpeachrick2037 3 года назад

Let’s say I was installing those surface mount LEDs into a unit with two bulbs in one headlight fixture, like many EMDs. Is only one resistor required for both LEDs, or do both LEDs each require their own resistor?

@TheDCCGuy 3 года назад

I always install them with their own resistor, it avoids complications. Also the surface mount LEDs from China come with 1000 ohm resistors already installed. Here’s how I handle the small dual headlights. I fill the opening in the light casting with some Testors glue or canopy glue, anything that dries clear. This will usually form a lens shape, just don’t over apply it-I use a toothpick. You could also use Glosscote. Then I mount the LED from the rear so that it covers both openings and you only need one LED.

@jasonpeachrick2037 3 года назад

@@TheDCCGuy I think I gotcha! So the glue itself acts like a lens for both openings?

@TheDCCGuy 3 года назад

Yes, basically it fills in the little openings and if done right makes very convincing lenses. Of course if the model has a plastic insert that should transmit the light from one LED glued to the back of it. In most cases there really is no need for more than one.

@johncann100 4 года назад

Larry, Is there a listing of where the surface mounted LED's w/ resistors mounted on the positive lead can be purchased ?

@TheDCCGuy 4 года назад

www.ebay.com/itm/L0805GW-20pcs-Pre-Wired-GOLDEN-White-SMD-0805-Led-Lamp-Light-Set-12V-18V-NEW-/221183972188?hash=item337f97935c

@HHh-qe2ch 3 года назад

A bit outdated, but the resistor can go on either side.

@marktravis8247 4 года назад

Another great video, Larry! Can you say again what material you used to make the headlight lens in the Alco (to use in place of the bulb that Athearn used to provide)? Thanks. --MARK

@TheDCCGuy 4 года назад

That was Testors Clear Parts Cement. Just stick the tip in the holes and give a little squirt then let it dry.

@mgamga9476 3 года назад

All that and was waiting to see how it looked. You never showed finished product. Any time you make a video you must show end result. That is what we are watching for.

@TheDCCGuy 3 года назад

OK, you’re the first in 14,470 viewers to note that, but I’ll keep it in mind in the future.

@j.mcq.8418 3 года назад

@@TheDCCGuy I also didn't see exactly where you wired up the 4-wire plug thing on the loco.

@mgamga9476 Год назад

Also what Is the name of that puddy. Is actually called ooh hoo puddy? I cannot find that anywhere. Do not know what to ask for.

@gvet47 4 года назад

I was surprised you can cut off the lens of an LED so easy. Does it create more of a frosted look at the cut? Maybe it dims the light some so not so bright? I need to cut one just to see!

@TheDCCGuy 4 года назад

These are so bright that even with the cut end sanded it still provides more than enough light.

@mgamga9476 Год назад

Does anyone know the name of the black puddy he is using. I can only find it in white

@TheDCCGuy Год назад

As I say in the videos it is Uhu adhesive putty I found on Amazon.

@mgamga9476 Год назад

Thank you did not know spelling so could not find it.

@mgamga9476 Год назад

Thanks so much I found it. I was spelling it Ahu. Did not work LOL Your trains and layout are awsome. Wish I had space to do that. I am going to start a 4x8 n scale layout. Just need to figure a track plan.

@billligon4005 3 года назад

LED does not work on DCC track power, works perfectly with 9v battery?? Suggestions ?

@TheDCCGuy 3 года назад

Did you get the polarity correct?

@billligon4005 3 года назад

Yes, polarity was correct for 9v battery, this was a ‘blinking’ LED but on track power it will NOT blink??

@TheDCCGuy 3 года назад

What exactly do,you mean by on track power? Are connecting directly to DCC power or to one of the function wires on the decoder? If to track power then the interaction of the blinking and the alternating current of DCC may be the reason.

@markmatteo2417 4 года назад

What kind of connectors did you use for the connection between the shell lighting and the decoder wiring? I like those. I tried decoder buddy don't much care for them.

@TheDCCGuy 4 года назад

Those are TCS wiring harnesses. Their website is www.tcsdcc.com and I think the harnesses are in the accessories section.

@markmatteo2417 4 года назад

@@TheDCCGuy thanks

@sort187 4 года назад

Can I use those pre-wired LEDs on regular DC locomotives?

@TheDCCGuy 4 года назад

Sure, but it will take special wiring to keep the polarity correct. Remember that when you reverse direction of travel you do it by reversing polarity and as I said in the video these are polarized devices.

@sort187 4 года назад

@@TheDCCGuy So, if I run in reverse, the (head) light would go out?

@TheDCCGuy 4 года назад

Yes, but you would always need to orient them the same way on the tracks. The standard for wiring DC is that when positive power is applied to the right rail the loco will move forward. But as soon as you hit the reverse button that all reverses as does the loco. And of course that depends on which way it is facing-DC is complicated!