interior lighting and dcc

[full maxx]

My passenger cars have interior lighting and the ddc says it will control lighting but how if the passenger cars are not wired to the decoder

[jonathan]

The instructions are referring to the lights in the locomotive.  As you surmised, the car lights get there juice right from the track.

Some folks, have asked in the past, about DCC voltage on the track (15 volts) and whether or not the passenger cars can handle the voltage.  If you try this experiment, please let us know how it goes.

Regards,

Jonathan

[full maxx]

well what would I do about the lights in the passenger cars when I switch to dcc...will they work or burn out because of the voltage ...the first set I got says dcc on board  so if there was a problem with the lights in the passenger cars running dcc why would it not say so....

[Chris350]

My guess and it's only that, is that if i's a DCC ready set, there is a resistor of sufficient value to limit the current from the DCC 15v to the necessary voltage for the lights.  Otherwise the lights are capable of handling 15v.  I will venture that in the case of an other passenger car with lights you can find out what voltage the lighting is rated for and add a resistor as needed.  Otherwise you are looking at replacing the lighting with 15v capable lamps.

[full maxx]

ok the acela says dcc ready so that means that it has the plug for the decoder ...so are the lights in those pass. cars also capable of dcc

[ABC]

The passenger cars, could be wired for DCC, but when you place the decoder in the locomotive it will only control the locomotive and not the passenger cars. The passenger cars would require a separate decoder and for you to hard wire the lights to the decoder, and would entail a lot more work just to turn the lights on and off. Also, if you run this set on DCC there may be an increased rate in which the bulbs will burn out as opposed to standard DC. The locomotive has an 8-pin socket for the decoder, so all you would need to do is insert the decoder in the correct orientation, there usually is a number or color corresponding to one of the pin holes indicating which way is correct.

[full maxx]

thanks for the info...just one more question ... will the Acela handle 18' radius curves

[ABC]

No the passenger cars are way too long, they would likely derail or come uncoupled. 22" radius would be the absolute minimum, but they still will look terrible, but you don't have the option of running them on 30+ inch curves.

[rich1998]

For the most part, the cars will light on DCC. You should have a 5 amp booster.
If a reversing section is too short for the loco and passenger cars. you will get a short and the booster will shut down. The complete train has to be in the reversing section.
Below is a link to some DCC lighting I found from A Google search. I would rather not give an opinion as i do not use lighted cars.

http://books.google.com/books?id=muvUGCV_3zUC&pg=PA70&lpg=PA70&dq=dcc+passenger+car+lighting&source=bl&ots=vBVjv4_kvJ&sig=11F-z9R_ShG3fknJc-nQ6iOILsU&hl=en&ei=TmFvS4uvBIeY8Abnz5CEBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CCsQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=dcc%20passenger%20car%20lighting&f=true

Some people use a full wave bridge rectifier, super capacitor and voltage regulator to convert the DCC to straight DC to prevent flickering.

Nothing more annoying than a passenger car with flickering lights. You need clean track at all times.
Drives the passengers crazy. I assume you have passengers in the cars and crew in the loco cab.

Miniatronics sells a kit for good constant lighting in passenger cars.

lex

[Nigel]

....
Some people use a full wave bridge rectifier, super capacitor and voltage regulator to convert the DCC to straight DC to prevent flickering.
.......

Make sure you add a resistor to the above so that there is not too much load on the DCC booster after a shut down.

From the wheels, it should be current limiting resistor, bridge rectifier, small capacitor, voltage regulator, super capacitor, lights (LEDs or low voltage bulbs).

On another matter - Kato had some lighted passenger cars a few years back that would melt due to light bulb heat on DCC, the bulbs did not burn out.......

[full maxx]

if the set comes dcc equipped how could there be problem with the lights...

[rich1998]

if the set comes dcc equipped how could there be problem with the lights...

Your first question.

"My passenger cars have interior lighting and the ddc says it will control lighting but how if the passenger cars are not wired to the decoder"

You asked the question in the first post. I guess you will just have to try it and find out. This has nothing to do with the decoder in the engine. There are pickups on the wheels of the cars.

lex

[full maxx]

what I meant is , is it possible for the lights to over heat on dcc vs dc as suggested above

[ABC]

what I meant is , is it possible for the lights to over heat on dcc vs dc as suggested above

It is possible, I've seen it happen, but it dependent on several variables. Also, it takes a lot of juice to run a full lighted passenger set and on DCC they are more sensitive and may flicker more (like someone said earlier I think).

[full maxx]

the dcc should be here today but all I have is the double oval so far...gonna expand soon tho, so we will only be running one engine at a time for now...I need a couple of switches and there are no #6 left on ebay right now and I also need to build an addition to the table to make it bigger to accept the additional track