Interior lights flickering just seem to take the edge off the beauty of interior lights. So, lets look at these options and see which one, if any you prefer to light your passenger cars, cabooses and the like. Joe
I second that :thumbs_up: You could also wire all your cars together - if you keep on layout an dnever move them aroudn. then just have a couple of the cars havepower pick up and share a cap.
Lots of good info here: http://www.ngineering.com/accessories.htm http://www.ngineering.com/Bridge_wiring_tips.htm - has a wiring diagram at bottom. http://www.ngineering.com/Capacitor_wiring_tips.htm This is very important: The capacitor is a polarized type called an electrolytic capacitor. That is, it has plus and minus connections. To function properly, it must be connected with the minus lead hooked to the minus (-) connection on the bridge rectifier. Hooking it up backwards will destroy the device and it may even "pop" like a firecracker. These electrolytic types come in several varieties. The most common are the wound film type that look like small cylinders. A much more compact version is the tantalum capacitor. They're more expensive, but much smaller for the same capacitance value. Our N3100 is an example of this type. Capacitance values are defined in microfarads (μf), the bigger the number, the greater the capacity of electrical charge it will hold. For our purposes, 500 to 1000μf will do the job. Capacitors are also rated by maximum allowed input voltage. Always make sure the capacitor your going to use is rated higher than your voltage source. Otherwise... "pop" like a firecracker. For this application, a 16 volt unit is fine. I found 800uf is good. if you wire all the passenger cars together: You do not need to have a bridge rectifier & caps in each car - just the lead car (car with power pickups) - saves big money and work. depending on the number of lights, you might want to up the caps rating/add more caps - like from 800uf to maybe 1600uf - just add more till desired result. but you will still use far more than if you wire each car seperately. Usually the first passenger car is a mail car RPO, refer or etc with little to no windows. so that is a good car to put the caps/bridge rectifier in. if you want, you could put power pick up trucks on a couple cars . if enough of hte cars have power pickups - you would not need the caps/bridge rectifier - unless using DCC. For DCC you need a bridge rectifier to filter out the pulses caused by the DCC system.
Be careful when wiring cars together if you have return loops. They could bridge the reversing section and create a big smoking/melting-type mess.
Thanks for the links and information provided by all in this thread! Joe Daddy appreciates it. The complexity and cost of using bridges and capacitors (6-16 for each car) and the issues of having cars wired together is not trivial. I am close to being convinced that the battery and a latching reed switch is a pretty clean solution. A lot to think about for this 'trivial problem" :teeth: Thanks again for all your contributions and wisdom. Joe
Not if powered off one car - or 2 max right after the locos. but if you wire all cars together and they all have power pickup, then maybe. but you should never need to do that. I'd suggest you just pickup power off the 1st car (refer or RPO or whatever) and then run wires to the rest for the lights but not for power pick-up. that is why you woudl use a cap. if you picked power up off of more than one car, you would not need the cap. I bet if you got some 6 wheel power pick up trucks (Kato?) that would give you 12 wheels of power pickup per car, you would not need a cap. I run steam locos flawlessly off of two 4 wheel pick up tender trucks. otherwise, clean your track, and/or use Kato Unitrack. if you do the battery thing, try small calculator batteries and use LEDs as the LEDs use much less power than standard bulbs and will not kill the battery as fast - nor produce as much if any heat.
According to the website you posted the link for, if you wired the cars together, it requires a bridge and 6-16 tantalum capacitors. This, in itself is 8 - 18 bucks plus shipping, so say 20 bucks, too much for a solution that I am not comfortable with to start. Some factual data: HO scale, Walther's and Rivarossi passenger cars on Atlas track. Givens: Wiring cars together is not an option. Atlas flex and switches, code 83. DCC Lenz. Druthers: Power directly from the track Thanks again for the brain food. :teeth: Joe Daddy
how much will it cost you per car for a battery & magnetic switch? plus the cost of future batteries? Also, you can save a lot on the caps by using standard caps from a radio shack or ever cheaper online - those neegeering tant. caps are expensive $$$ due to being so small, and with HO, you got the room. I have fit standard caps in N scale passenger cars. You could even go with a standard (larger & cheaper) bridge rectifier. one cap & one bridge per car - about $1-$2 total per car - since you do not want to wire cars together. Did you see this: probably more work and money per car than a standard cap & bridge (~$2) btw, I'm in N scale, so I was thinking smaller components.
Remaining Dark My passenger cars will remain dark until I get more time to digest and sort this out. At the moment, I see NO clear, satisfactory solution. Thanks again for those valuable friends who have contributed their thoughts to this challenge. Best regards, Joe Daddy
Interesting Reading the Jan 2007 issue of MRR, they reviewed the Rapido passenger cars. They include lighting in the price of the car! No kit to purchase at half the price of the car. They have chosen to use batteries in their implementation. Their justification: No flicker. No burned out lights because of track voltage issues.
