Viessman Lamp Problems

[John M Upton]

Hello

 

I have two rather nice 16v Viessman wooden lamps on my HO scale plank.  Both are wired correctly to a static 16v output supply on the rear of a Gaugemaster controller.

 

The mystery is that one of them suddenly started glowing brighter than the other one and then the next day the bulb burnt out.

 

I wrote it off, took it out and installed an identical one in its place. A few days later the lamp in the very same location did exactly the same, glowed brighter and then burnt the bulb out again.

 

The other one, wired and supplied in exactly the same way from the same 16v supply is still merrily working.

 

What am I doing wrong or have I been unlucky?

[AndyID]

My guess is that the actual voltage is a good bit higher than 16V because you are not drawing very much current. Can you measure the voltage? The solution might be to add a resistor in series with the lamps. What are the bulbs rated at (voltage and current)?

 

You could also run the lamps in series but they might might not be bright enough for you.

[RAF96]

My guess is they are wired in parallel and when one sees a disconnect say if a bulb is loose the other gets brighter and dies.

[dhjgreen]

22 hours ago, John M Upton said:

Hello

 

I have two rather nice 16v Viessman wooden lamps on my HO scale plank.  Both are wired correctly to a static 16v output supply on the rear of a Gaugemaster controller.

 

The mystery is that one of them suddenly started glowing brighter than the other one and then the next day the bulb burnt out.

 

I wrote it off, took it out and installed an identical one in its place. A few days later the lamp in the very same location did exactly the same, glowed brighter and then burnt the bulb out again.

 

The other one, wired and supplied in exactly the same way from the same 16v supply is still merrily working.

 

What am I doing wrong or have I been unlucky?

Are these filament lamps or LEDs Viessmann do both?

[John M Upton]

I think these ones are filament lamps.  Looking on Gaugemaster's website, it seems replacement bulbs are available which I might try.

[Nigelcliffe]

37 minutes ago, John M Upton said:

I think these ones are filament lamps.  Looking on Gaugemaster's website, it seems replacement bulbs are available which I might try.

 

If you do get replacements, run them at a lower voltage - either two in series (if that gives enough to light them), or some sort of method to drop the voltage a little (I'd use an adjustable DC voltage regulator, but I'd be using DC, not AC as my source).  

 

The life-expectancy of a filament bulb is pretty short at or near its max voltage.  Bring it back a little and its massively longer.   

 

 

- Nigel

[SamThomas]

Most european accessories are designed to run with a "nominal" 16v AC.

 

As already mentioned "16v" from the outputs of many controllers can  be way higher.

 

Best to run them at at 50 > 75% of their rated voltage AC or DC.

 

Also, consider fitting LED's.

 

If you are planning on additional lighting then once you have settled on your optimum voltage then purchase a suitable regulated power supply.