Fitting Tail Lights to RES MK1

[daz9284]

Dear all

 

I have a Bachmann RES MK1 and I am wanting to fit tail lights to both sides on one end which are on all the time. I have bought some micro LED's and I will be making a DCC layout, so I am just wondering how i would wire them up? would it be a case of just wiring them to some pick ups on the axles?

 

many thanks

darryl

[daz9284]

many thanks for the reply, I'm just fitting the two tail lights to one end. Would it be best to wire the two LED's in series or parallel? or would it be best to test in each to see which gives the 'correct' brightness?

 

many thanks

Darryl

[tractor_37260]

On 26/09/2019 at 21:54, daz9284 said:

many thanks for the reply, I'm just fitting the two tail lights to one end. Would it be best to wire the two LED's in series or parallel? or would it be best to test in each to see which gives the 'correct' brightness?

 

many thanks

Darryl

 

Hi Darryl

               When using DCC pairs of LED's should be wired in parallel.  

For a pair of coach tail lights you have 2 options

Wire them directly to the track via wires and pick up's via the coach wheels, the tail lights would then always be ON as long as the track is powered, regardless of direction, avoids the cost of a decoder

Or use a decoder which would allow the lights to be switched on/off to suit from the handset - wheel pick-ups would still be required. 

For both options a resistor is required, 1Kohm is a good starting value, if the lights are too bright, using a higher value resistor ie a  1.5 or 2 Kohm will dim them.

For either option join both the long LED legs together (+ positive) and both short legs - (negative) together.  Use the in-line resistor between the short legs and the power source.

If using a decoder, the long + positive legs are connected to the decoder BLUE wire, the short legs VIA an in-line resistor to one of the decoder function output wires, White/Yellow/Green/Purple.

Normally the White & Yellow wires are directional by default, using either wire would mean the lights would go on/off depending on direction.  The Green and Purple wires are basically just switched on/off regardless of direction by a handset F key,  these would probably be best to use in this case.

HTH

Edited September 28, 2019 by tractor_37260
amend text

[daz9284]

19 hours ago, tractor_37260 said:

 

Hi Darryl

               When using DCC pairs of LED's should be wired in parallel.  

For a pair of coach tail lights you have 2 options

Wire them directly to the track via wires and pick up's via the coach wheels, the tail lights would then always be ON as long as the track is powered, regardless of direction, avoids the cost of a decoder

Or use a decoder which would allow the lights to be switched on/off to suit from the handset - wheel pick-ups would still be required. 

For both options a resistor is required, 1Kohm is a good starting value, if the lights are too bright, using a higher value resistor ie a  1.5 or 2 Kohm will dim them.

For either option join both the long LED legs together (+ positive) and both short legs - (negative) together.  Use the in-line resistor between the short legs and the power source.

If using a decoder, the long + positive legs are connected to the decoder BLUE wire, the short legs VIA an in-line resistor to one of the decoder function output wires, White/Yellow/Green/Purple.

Normally the White & Yellow wires are directional by default, using either wire would mean the lights would go on/off depending on direction.  The Green and Purple wires are basically just switched on/off regardless of direction by a handset F key,  these would probably be best to use in this case.

HTH

many thanks for the detailed reply. it is appreciated.

 

I bought some micro LED's from DCC concepts and the instructions say the resistor is to be attached to the +ve legs.

 

all the best

darryl

Edited September 29, 2019 by daz9284