advice for lighting

[Martha]

I am addicted to lights/lighting. What I do now (don't laugh or judge) I use dollar store strands of lights, 3mm I believe. They use 2- 1.5v batteries (totaling 3v). I use Lemax power adapters that is rated 3v with 4 leads to each adapter. I snip and add one or two from a strand with a quick disconnect wired in for each building or whatever. I do not want to use battery power is why I wire them to an adapter. The problems I run into, 1. takes a lot of time to wire them up like I do. 2. I put too many on an adapter I am losing power, reducing the intensity of the lights. 3. There are now 4 leads with multiple leads coming off each one so it looks like something from another galaxy sent to earth to drain our life force. I upped to a 4.5v adapter with the 4 leads and now bulbs are burning out as they are over heating. I do attempt to solder 3mm and some smaller to wires but they don't always work and still having to wire to an adapter. Resistors are suppose to come into play someplace but not sure were or what omhs they should be.

12volts scares me, not really wanting to go that route.

I found these https://www.amazon.com/Model-Power-Stick-Lights-4-Pieces/dp/B000BQSWJO They are from Model Power, self stick comes in either 3v or 12v. would these be what I should use? I know Woodlands Scenics has some handy dandy lighting system however I cannot afford them.

IF I was to consider 12v won't there be a lot of electric usage? How would I hook them all up? I'm talking lots of buildings and lots of other lighting.

I guess same question on 3v, how do I hook them all up? I don't know much about power/electric stuff and it has to be safe and not a fire hazard.

I hope I gave enough info on how I do it now verses how it should be done. And please take into consideration I am not capable of crawling under a layout soldering stuff together upside down.

Thanks all, you always give the best advice. M

[Len]

You might want to consider these instead of incandescent lights: https://www.amazon.com/Evemodel-DD00W-20pcs-Wired-Bright/dp/B01MQ1212P/ref=sr_1_5?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1487802504&sr=1-5&keywords=wire+led+train+lights

Cooler, so less chance of melting anything, and less power draw. And Wire them in parallel and you'll only need one 1K ohm resistor for the lot. They work with 12-18V AC or DC, so an old power pack would make a decent power source. And the cost is only $0.75 each vs $1.66 each for the MP bulbs.

Len

[Mr Mechanic]

What I did for any lighting that I needed was do a search on Amazon and found all kind of LED lights,3mm and 5mm that had free shipping,some came from Japan. I went to Radio Shack and bought resistors from 1-Mohm down to 100-kohm. For power supply I used an old cell phone charger,cut the cell phone plug adapter off and connect the power wires, the positive to a resistor and to the positive side of the LED and the other LED connection to the ground. I started with a high resistor and kept going down till I ended up with the brightness I needed.You can connect a lot of LED's through 1 resistor.Keep the resistor out in the open to help keep it cool and you can light everything you need to. LED's stay cooler than incandescent lights,and last a lot longer. I made a end of train light using the track power, a 22-kohm resistor and a 3v 2mm tower light that I found at the LHS. You can get a bulk supply of LED's for cheap so you can experiment,if you burn one out,go to a bigger resistor. Just another idea to try for lighting.

[bapguy]

Are the strands LED's? If so 4V is too high. LED's don't over heat, the burn out in a bright flash!.   Joe

[James in FL]

I find lots of modelers intimidated by wiring and electricity in general.
Without going into electricity 101, I'll try to explain it as simply as I can for those afraid to start a fire.

Wiring LED's;
You will need to know a few things, this information is easily found on the rating of your power supply and rating of your LED's.

Supply voltage is the maximum voltage you are supplying from your power supply.
If using a wall wart, it's usually listed on a label. (12-18 volt AC or DC is OK).
Old train set power packs usually 12 -18vDC. (Variable DC is a plus).

LED voltage is the voltage rating of your LED's (usually 1.5 to 12 volts depending on size and color).
Running them at a higher voltage than they are rated for will quickly burn them out, running at a lower voltage will dim the intensity of the light output and prolong the lifespan.

LED current is the amount of amps your LED's are consuming, (generally 20 - 30 mA).
Error on the side of safety and assume 30mA. (Also depends on color and size).

So we now get to the algebra.
VS = supply voltage
VL = LED voltage
I = LED current (amps)
R= resistance (in ohms)

R = (VS - VL) / I

Does not have to be exact, not rocket science, if in doubt use the next size bigger (higher resistance).

It's that easy.
I hope I explained that in layman's terms.
If not, there are many on-line calculators you can use to determine the proper resistance you will need when wiring your LED's.
They do all the maths.
You just input the proper information (ratings) of your LED's.

Good luck

[James in FL]

I also agree with Len here.
Wire them in Parallel.
If you choose to wire them in series, if one LED would go out, the entire circuit would go out.
Like old Christmas tree lights.

[Martha]

Thanks all for your input. I do not have the knowledge nor understanding to wire parallel or in series or use this resistor or buy this or that. RS is a joke, hasn't been a knowledgeable employee since the early 80's.

I believe I should of asked if anyone has used the Model Power peel & stick lights and if so in 12v or 3v and did they like them. If they have how did they hook each one up to a power source?

I guess I could include the LEDs Len suggested as they appear to have 2 wires, hot & ground and prewired. I've watched how to on youtube none I found was for dummies such as myself. They babble this or that or say do this and the next scene is the pretty little church lit up. I need step by step I guess to guide me from point A to Z and everything in between. So if anyone out there can direct me to a good how to video or walk me through wiring I would be SO grateful. I have old train power sources that you can hook up to dc or ac so I have that. I can solder a tinnie tiny bit.

Oh yes the xmas lights are LEDs. and some of them I hooked up to 4v did not flash burn out. they took a slow bright to dim to out approach and would burn at the touch so no idea what that was all about.

Thanks. M

[Len]

Parallel wiring is pretty straight forward, an example using the SMD LED's I pointed to on Amazon. If you used 1 LED per building (you'd probably actually use more) for 3 buildings you would have:



The "diamond" on the lower right is supposed to be the 1K Ohm resister the package calls for.

Len

[WoundedBear]

Martha...........

My suggestion to you, seeing as how most electrical work is above your skill levels, would be to try out Woodland Scenics' new Just Plug lighting system.

http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/category/JustPlugLightingSystem?perPage=1900

White River's 2016 HOn3 Annual has a good article on using the system.

Sid

[Martha]

Len, you describe the parallel wiring pretty good. now do I solder each connection or can I wrap the wires together then shrink wrap them? What gauge wire are we talking? If I use those prewired SMD's as you suggested stick with the same gauge to the power source?

Sid, love the Just Plug however it will cost quite a bit for all I have plus more in the future. The Model Power were pretty cool as they concealed the connections and don't need special power supplies.

Mr Mechanic, I've gone that route and if I had a little more brains I would continue trying to go that way but I have reached my limits on that so now finding a easier way for me to do it.

James in FL, yup that is what many before you have tried to explained to me. Just not working for me HOWEVER there may be a few modelers out there that will understand and benefit the time you ALL have spent replying to me.

I will keep this going once I figured out what to do. Have an awesome evening gentlemen. M

[Len]

Martha - If you don't want to solder, wire nuts are a good alternative. You can get them at most home improvement stores, such as Home Depot: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ideal-72B-Blue-WIRE-NUT-Wire-Connectors-100-Pack-30-172P/202894268 Another option is 'suitcase' or 'tap splice' connectors.

18 gauge lamp (zip) cord works well for feeds from the power supply. It comes in a variety of colors, so you can use one color for lights, and another for other things. One side has ridges and the other is smooth, so it's easy to keep track of polarity if that's an issue.

Len