I'm converting an older Kato S2 steamer to DCC and have replaced the GOW bulb with a yellowish white LE. On newer decoders I'm seeing "bulb & DCC optimized". Do I still need to ad an inline resistor or does the decoder handle that? ESU Loksound Micro and Digitrax DZ146 are the specific decoders in question. Thanks!
A resistor is definitely needed. I use any where from a 470 to a 650 depending on just how bright you want the light. If you don't put one in line the LED will get really bright for a tenth of a second, then pop! Put the resistor in the negative line, which is the white, yellow, green or purple wire. The blue one is a positive common, and it is not recommended to use a resistior in that line. I installed loksound in one of these and it was fairly straight forward. Enjoy!
The below fellow has a lot of good DCC info. Check out all the links. http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/nswmn1/Lights_in_DCC.htm http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/nswmn/dcc_articles.htm Rich