voltage of C19 headlight?

[peterbunce]

Hi,

Can anyone tell me the voltage of the LED headlight on the new C19 please?

I want to change it to an oil headlight, and its being 'difficult' to get apart.

Yours Peter

[Kevin Strong]

I believe the resistors for the headlight and marker lights are on the PC board in the loco, so all you would need to do would be to swap out the LED for one with a warmer color to represent an oil lamp instead of an incandescent one. (Though a yellow or brown Sharpie will do much the same thing and save the work.) If you were looking to replace it with an incandescent lamp, I think you'll have to bypass the onboard electronics and go straight to the track/battery feed or the B+/gnd leads coming from the tender. They're the ones that power the cooling fan in the loco, so you can tap off of that.

Later,

K

[GG1onFordsDTandI]

The voltage on most leds are 1.5 to 3 volts, but the boards are unlikley to support a normal bulb due to to the need for much more amps than an led, not to mention the led is a diode so removal and swap could even possibly affect the internal circuits. Use bulb with a diode if you decide to get brave. better to measure the voltage, then swap led colors and/or swap out extra resitance to adjust the brightness if you must. But I would try the sharpie first.

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Kevin,  Have a loco with those too bright bluish color Leds, would the yellow or Brown Sharpie trick work on those??  I don't want green headlights!!

Bill

[StanAmes]

When controlling a LED there are two approaches, control the voltage or control the current.  The C19 controls the current to the LED and thus does not use any form of current limiting resistor in the circuit.

If you replace the LED with another that has a similar current rating than all you have to do is hook it up.  If you are using another form of light then the + side of the light will need to be connected to the locomotive + and you will need to install whatever current of voltage limiting you desire between the + and the light.

Hope that helps

Stan

[Kevin Strong]

@Bill, alas, the Sharpie trick doesn't work all that well on the "cool blue" LEDs. You may have luck with some orange translucent paint (see my article a while back on LEDs in GR--I painted some Aristo RDC LEDs), but by and large it doesn't look natural to my eyes. Alas, the Sharpie trick on those leads to green lights. (Which kinda works as a general light inside a building like a station that might have had green walls, but that's about it...)

@Stan, thanks. With no wiring diagram, it's difficult to tell what's going on there. Speaking of wiring diagrams, did you ever get my e-mail about the chuff circuit in the 2-6-6-2?

Later,

K

[GG1onFordsDTandI]

When controlling a LED there are two approaches, control the voltage or control the current.  The C19 controls the current to the LED and thus does not use any form of current limiting resistor in the circuit.
If you replace the LED with another that has a similar current rating than all you have to do is hook it up.  If you are using another form of light then the + side of the light will need to be connected to the locomotive + and you will need to install whatever current of voltage limiting you desire between the + and the light.
Hope that helps
Stan

What are the boards current handling max. for light circuits like in general? And does the neg. leg do the controlling and/or just switching etc. ie, Does this take the light off the boards functions in any way, besides the limited voltage source?

[GG1onFordsDTandI]

Interesting refrence, perfect timing - http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,23266.0.html