My grandson likes running my Flyer trains and one of his favorite cars is the searchlight car. This entails turning off all the lights in the train room and watching the light cast shadows on the walls and other rolling stock. But the flickering and anemic light always bothered me. So, using leftover parts from my junk box, I came up with this proof of concept. The light itself is pretty much snapped together except for the two screws that mount it to the yoke. The photos should be self explanatory. I will likely go back to it, tidy up the wiring, build some sort of tool box to cover the electronics, and make it look more realistic. I don’t know if there is a screw base led instead of a strip of three (used them in my passenger cars) that could replace the original incandescent but it would still need the electronics.
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Regarding screw base leds, I should have searched before posting. I found numerous vendors that sell them, but I can’t say for sure they would be the right size to replace the original incandescent. Maybe someone can enlighten me. Thanks
Nice setup, inspiring. That's one big bridge rectifier you got there..........
For that puny little LED strip, I'd have done something like this.
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Those LED strips have a max electrical power of about 1/4 Watt per 3-LED section. You might be able to cram in a high-power (1/2 Watt) 8mm diameter LED. This would be twice as bright and would allow mounting closer to the original focal point of the searchlight reflector, hence may give a more prototypical directional beam. The buck-converter would be set closer to 3V (instead of 12V for 3-LED strip); this provides more flicker tolerance in that the on-board capacitor can discharge to a lower voltage before brightness decays.
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Yeah, I know...it’s all overkill. Like I said this was just to see if it was doable using the parts I had on hand. I had to “dance with the one I brung” and I’m not exactly a rocket surgeon when it comes to electronics. Thanks for your comments!
Went to town and country parts at last york. They had AC led bulbs with miniture bases that fit most train sockets. voltages are compatible with track power. No need for a power converter.