40034_Nick Posted November 9, 2021 Share Posted November 9, 2021 To be fair i have no idea about capacitors. To keep lights in coaches going from wheel pickups can i just put a capacitor between one of the wires between the lights and pickups? Like this sort of thing? https://www.railwayscenics.com/4700uf-25v-capacitor-decoder-stay-alive-kit-p-1952.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigelcliffe Posted November 9, 2021 Share Posted November 9, 2021 No. You need some sort of rectifier between the DCC track signal (or DC if analogue) and the capacitors. That might be as little as one more diode (giving half-wave rectification), or there may be a rectifier in the lighting inside the coach which could be tapped into. The rectifier components need to be "fast recovery" as the DCC signal is changing at quite high frequency. The components in a bag at the supplier quoted are expensive compared to buying from electronics suppliers. - Nigel 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
40034_Nick Posted November 9, 2021 Author Share Posted November 9, 2021 No idea what that means.. but thanks :-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JST Posted November 9, 2021 Share Posted November 9, 2021 (edited) This one seems to imply that it can be fitted between the decoder and the lights.... is that right? https://www.layouts4u.net/coach-lighting-tail-lights/dcc-kits-and-tail-lights/anti-flicker-dimmer Edited November 9, 2021 by JST Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
40034_Nick Posted November 9, 2021 Author Share Posted November 9, 2021 11 minutes ago, JST said: This one seems to imply that it can be fitted between the decoder and the lights.... is that right? https://www.layouts4u.net/coach-lighting-tail-lights/dcc-kits-and-tail-lights/anti-flicker-dimmer Interesting.. Thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LimboBrit Posted November 9, 2021 Share Posted November 9, 2021 2 hours ago, 40034_Nick said: Like this sort of thing? https://www.railwayscenics.com/4700uf-25v-capacitor-decoder-stay-alive-kit-p-1952.html It looks like this should work because the diode needed for rectification as mentioned by @Nigelcliffe is included. Just make sure you get the connections to the electrolytic capacitor the right way round to avoid inadvertently making a time bomb. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
40034_Nick Posted November 9, 2021 Author Share Posted November 9, 2021 I went for the ones JST suggested ... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
40034_Nick Posted November 18, 2021 Author Share Posted November 18, 2021 (edited) On 09/11/2021 at 13:11, JST said: This one seems to imply that it can be fitted between the decoder and the lights.... is that right? https://www.layouts4u.net/coach-lighting-tail-lights/dcc-kits-and-tail-lights/anti-flicker-dimmer This things work amazing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and they can actually fit in the back of a coach. Edited November 18, 2021 by 40034_Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JST Posted November 18, 2021 Share Posted November 18, 2021 Excellent! It is safe for me to buy some now then..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
40034_Nick Posted November 18, 2021 Author Share Posted November 18, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, JST said: Excellent! It is safe for me to buy some now then..... Yes mate.. I ordered another 15 couple of hours ago.. One thing i will say is don't put a resistor after the antiflash unit as it already had one on the circuit board.. i had wires going to the ceiling lights which worked and wires going to the back flashing light that needs/had a resistor between the wires so the back flashing light didnt work. the work around was to bypass the anti flicker unit to the back flashing light. so i split the cable just after the wheel pickup which meant the power went direct to the flashing back light avoiding the antiflicker unit. Edited November 18, 2021 by 40034_Nick 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
40034_Nick Posted November 18, 2021 Author Share Posted November 18, 2021 (edited) Also what i worked out from a chart is the Anti flicker internal resistor is 10K. and another good thing is once you lifted the coach from the track the lights stay on for ages.. Seriously great piece of kit. just wish i had tried it a few years ago :-( Edited November 18, 2021 by 40034_Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
40034_Nick Posted November 18, 2021 Author Share Posted November 18, 2021 1 hour ago, JST said: Excellent! It is safe for me to buy some now then..... I didn't mind being the Guinea pig 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now