Questions about wiring Berko/Eckon Signals?

[Peter749]

I have got to the stage of placing 6 colour light signals around the station and for ease of use I will use Berko/Eckon Signals.

Each design has LED lamps and require a maximum of 12v DC.

A resistor is provided with each set of signals and that wire connects to the Negative part of the 12vDC Supply

 

The SPDT On/On switches will be mounted on the control panel and I'm trying to work out where the Resistors will go in the circuit?

And what Power Supply I will need for the Signals - type of Transformer?

 

Not done Signals before

The Layout is DCC but I wish to have proper switches for the signals

 

Any advice please?

 

TIA

 

Peter

 

[Knapdale]

For power I use a Gaugemaster Analogue Wall Mounted 12v DC smoothed regulated power supply (GMC-WM4). It’s also useful because I can easily disconnect the adaptor from my signalling wiring to power a model drill when I need to.  
 

I connected my resistors to the negative wire coming from the signal. I don’t have the instructions any more, but I think that’s what was advised in the instructions. 

[Graham108]

When I was having problems with Eckon signals some time ago I was advised to have a resistor for each  bulb, rather than one connected to the 'common' wire.

 

[Suzie]

Eckon  signals are designed as 'common cathode' unlike all the other makes of signals and the resistor is intended to be wired in series with the negative connections of the LEDs. The four aspect and those with feathers will have extra 'common' connections that have their own resistor so that only one LED is using a resistor at a time to ensure even illumination.

 

They don't draw much current, typically only 10mA or less per LED so a simple 12V 1A 'wall wart' type power supply will run a hundred signals.

 

If you are just going to use switches connecting the common wires via the resistors to the negative terminal of the power supply, and connecting the positive terminal of the power supply to the switch common will be fine, but if you intend to have some automatic operation in the future you might like to adjust the wiring as most DCC decoders will expect you to have common anode signals.

[Izzy]

If you are using DCC and your system has enough spare capacity (mine is a 3.5amp one) the you could do as I do and take the power from that as an accessory bus. I find this useful with my portable layouts as it means only one plug. I do feed it through either a simple AC/DC rectifier Gaugemaster sell to get the DC or a AC/DC adjustable voltage regulator where I reduce the voltage down to just under 6v for use with hacked servos. The same value resistors mean the LED brightness is reduced down a bit more which is helpful as especially the reds seem rather over bright most times. 
 

Bob

[Peter749]

19 hours ago, Knapdale said:

For power I use a Gaugemaster Analogue Wall Mounted 12v DC smoothed regulated power supply (GMC-WM4). It’s also useful because I can easily disconnect the adaptor from my signalling wiring to power a model drill when I need to.  
 

I connected my resistors to the negative wire coming from the signal. I don’t have the instructions any more, but I think that’s what was advised in the instructions. 

Thanks - I will look at that as an easy soloution

[Peter749]

12 hours ago, Graham108 said:

When I was having problems with Eckon signals some time ago I was advised to have a resistor for each  bulb, rather than one connected to the 'common' wire.

 

Thanks - that is helpful

[Peter749]

On 26/08/2023 at 07:29, Suzie said:

Eckon  signals are designed as 'common cathode' unlike all the other makes of signals and the resistor is intended to be wired in series with the negative connections of the LEDs. The four aspect and those with feathers will have extra 'common' connections that have their own resistor so that only one LED is using a resistor at a time to ensure even illumination.

 

They don't draw much current, typically only 10mA or less per LED so a simple 12V 1A 'wall wart' type power supply will run a hundred signals.

 

If you are just going to use switches connecting the common wires via the resistors to the negative terminal of the power supply, and connecting the positive terminal of the power supply to the switch common will be fine, but if you intend to have some automatic operation in the future you might like to adjust the wiring as most DCC decoders will expect you to have common anode signals.

Thanks. I don't intend to use the DCC System to control the signals - I like to look at a switch to tell me which way a point or signal is set.

[Michael Hodgson]

2 minutes ago, Peter749 said:

Thanks. I don't intend to use the DCC System to control the signals - I like to look at a switch to tell me which way a point or signal is set.

You can't.   The switch will only tell you which way the point or signal is supposed to be set. 

 

You would need feedback from the device to be sure that it has responded correctly last time the switch was operated.  But it's really a question of whether you think it's worth the extra cost and complication of proving the equipment is working properly and as models aren't safety critical, most people don't follow prototype practice in this.

[Peter749]

On 28/08/2023 at 15:39, Michael Hodgson said:

You can't.   The switch will only tell you which way the point or signal is supposed to be set. 

 

You would need feedback from the device to be sure that it has responded correctly last time the switch was operated.  But it's really a question of whether you think it's worth the extra cost and complication of proving the equipment is working properly and as models aren't safety critical, most people don't follow prototype practice in this.

The control panel and points are near each other and as I move the point switch I hear the Peco point motor click over.

 

It will be the same with the signals as I will see what aspect is showing when I change the switch. And also if the signal/point stops working.

Edited August 30, 2023 by Peter749
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