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L.E.D.s for building lighting? Scenery and structures
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New member 9 posts kyleh24 New member 9 posts
kyleh24

I am considering using LEDs to light my structures, off of the dc side of a standard powerpack of ~14v. (I use DCC for track). I am curious of what color leds work well for you. Regular yellow ones from Radio Shack don't appear to produce a pleasing color, although I have not actually put one in a building yet. If anyone has been down this road, and can point me to a source and also what resistor you used, I would appreciate the advice.

Thanks, Kyle
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lexon Prolific poster 1,211 posts
lexon

LED's

Generally LED's are a point source. Inverted cone LED's produce a 360 degree light. I bought a bunch of white ones at one time off of ebay and they came with resistors to use with 12 volt lighting. they are 20 ma, max LED's.

Rich
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East Rail Regular poster 124 posts
East Rail

Ngineering.com Great Resource

You're smart to consider the LED's.  There's a tremendous amount you can accomplish with them in terms of structure lighting.  An excellent resource for LED products, tools, and expertise is Ngineering.  Here's their website:

http://www.ngineering.com/index.htm

I suggest putting a call into the owner as he's really helpful.  The tools he suggested to me really made the job much easier.

Lance

Modeling Miami's Downtown Spur: http://www.lancemindheim.com

 

Visit the Downtown Spur at http://www.lancemindheim.com
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Bruce Petrarca Frequent poster 920 posts
Bruce Petrarca

I have a page about LEDs on

I have a page about LEDs on my site. While it talks about using them with DCC, the output of a DCC decoder is 14 volts DC, or there abouts. So my page is directly applicable to your application. http://www.mrdccu.com/curriculum/Lighting/LED.htm I am lighting the entirety of South Bend on our club's layout (http://www.pcmrc.org/south_bend.html). I put a surplus 5 volt and 12 volt power supply into a metal case with relay that is powered from the track DCC through a rectifier and filter cap, with a protecting diode across the relay. I use the 5 volt section for single LEDs and the 12 volt section for up to three in series. All with appropriate resistors in each leg. I use "white" LEDs. In a factory, I used "bright white" ones for that fluorescent look. On the dock section of an old factory, I used the same LEDs, but painted them with Tamaya Acrylic X-26 to make the SMD LEDs look like open incandescent bulbs. One factory has a few windows on the visible side, so I aimed some 3 mm Golden White LEDs at the (frosted) windows from the interior roof. The White Castle diner has a commercial 3-LED strip in "bright white" - again fluorescent. The theater has a few "bright white" LEDs in the ceiling of the box office area. I'll Have some photos later, but you get the drift!

Bruce Petrarca, Mr. DCC; MMR #574
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kyleh24 New member 9 posts
kyleh24

LEDs

Thanks to Rich, Lance and Bruce for excellent information...Kyle
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La RueD Active Member 35 posts
La RueD

A better LED supplier ...

Not exactly sure of your intentions, plans, power considerations, but I recommend you check out the micro and nano LEDs offered by Evan Designs (http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/ledlights1.html) and their other lighting accessories. 

Their LEDs are pre-soldered and guaranteed for two years and their prices are the best. They give discounts on  multiple unit purchases. Customer service is excellent.

Best wishes, ...

D.

 

 
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