bantam blue comet LED project

The tender back up light I drilled, but I am not sure where to drill the marker lights out.  The top corners would be good, but the screw in posts that hold the tender to the bottom are in the way!  bummer.  I would have to install them slightly off, but then you interfere with the back hold bars and ladder area.  tougt to decide.  I thought of install 2 pieces on top of the tender to house the LED's, so I would drill up through the top and insert them that way, but......... the LED prewire unit may be tough to bend into a curve shape.  so, I might just drill the back in some tiny spots.    suggestions? 

im going to do the flickering upgrade also for the firebox.  gunrunner had a great way to wire one of these.  I did see that a guy on Ebay is selling a made up one for 20 bucks a piece.  its not tough to make your own. 

I don't have any pictures, but I just glued the two LED's to the plastic, then used the gel CA glue to attach the plastic to the boiler shell with the LED's centered in the firebox hole.

You'll want to form the leads flat right at the back of the LED's, and use two of the same type of flickering LED's, i.e. from the same batch of tea lights.  If you do that, they work very well simply wired in parallel, different styles may have different operating voltages and may not work as well in parallel.  I also insulate the leads at the back of the LED's with liquid tape, you can also use plain tape, just make sure they won't hit anything.

Obviously, you'll want to check the clearance behind the cab wall to make sure there's room for the LED assembly.

ok,  gel CA glue.    http://www.amazon.com/Starbond-EM-2000-Type-Thick-Glue/dp/B00C32MKLK/ref=sr_1_1?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1391106210&sr=1-1&keywords=gel+ca+glue. 

sounds like this is the stuff. 

   is this acceptable to use?  and did you use the red film or just let the yellow flickering be the flame? 

and I saw the black liquid tape or red also.  Lots of choices.  anything in particular you use that works good, dry faster than another? 

thanks for the good advice! 

That "thick" glue in your post is fine, that's what I'm talking about.  It's thick and doesn't run everywhere when you apply it.  It also is gap filling and will provide a better bond for stuff that isn't perfectly mated.

The Liquid tape I use is black, I block back-light with it for the most part, and it also serves a double purpose of keeping the light in place when I stuff them into the shell.

Great im getting some tonight

john,  hey in the flickering LED diagram.  you show the 470 ohm resistor at 1/4 watt.  The 220 uf 35v capacitor.   now, I also see a( 22uh and 1N4005)  what is this for?  looks like  switch.  do I need any of this? 

thanks.  i was going to order the stuff.  Digikey?  you have the numbers by chance. 

For the headlight, would you use a 3mm unit? I wanted to set it down into the opening on the steamers, I would use the 470 ohm resistor at 1/4 watt for that too?

What diagram are you looking at? Anytime I use track power with a diode and a cap, I try to include the choke to provide the best DCS compatibility.  The diode is essential to protect the cap and flickering LED from reverse polarity.

For the headlight in a PS/2 unit, I use a 220 ohm resistor, no diode, choke, or cap needed.

I buy at Mouser or Digikey.

the diagram you showed for the flickering led is attached.  so the cap and diode is which part then in your diagram?   thanks. 

is the 22 uh the diode?  when you buy these.  is that on a certain voltage rating for these or do you plug in 22uh diode and it should come up.  Whats the 1N4005? 

thanks

Chris

Thanks, I post quite a few diagrams, so I forgot what page we were on.

The 22uh is the choke, the 1N4005 is the diode that converts the AC to DC.  The capacitor filters the DC and the resistor provides current limiting.  This was configured to run off track voltage for command operation, 16-18 VAC.  The two flickering LED's are wired in parallel and are from the same batch of flickering candles to insure the same manufacturer and specifications.  The stripe on the diode is on the end with the bar, the end with the arrow has no marking.  The positive terminal of the two LED's connect to the resistor coming from the diode.

john, a super big thanks for the explanation.  your educating me all the time.  I never got into the electronics, so my knowledge is limited.  im a earthmoving soils engineer! but I love to figure things out.  thanks and have a good night.  ill post some pics of the continuing progress

cutout of the firebox and cab light where the driver will sit.  going to paint the interior black.  mask off the entire engine outside and spray it satin black

And he's off!

hahaha. My bets are on 7! 

so looking at stuff.  the choke I found was 22uh coil type 21mohm 3A.   the 1N4005 diode says 1 amp 600V.  would these be correct?

You don't need a 3 amp choke for LED lighting.  Here's a suitable 22uh Choke.

ok, I got a list of stuff at digi-key. 

77f220k-tr-rcct-nd-    choke

1n4005-tpmsct-nd-     diode

cf14jt470kct-nd-   resistor

565-1546-nd-  220uf cap

these are what I thought might work, but if you have any suggestions or these are wrong.  i put in the choke you recommended.  those are digi-key part numbers.  I have them saved in a checkout box. 

thanks a bunch

Chris

Your voltage spec on the cap is a bit light, use this one: http://www.digikey.com/product...M221/P5166-ND/245025

You want a 470 ohm resistor, not a 470K, use this one: http://www.digikey.com/product...4JT470RCT-ND/1830342

The other parts look fine.

thanks john, hope im not bugging you too much!  thanks Chris

I have the Close Browser Window key for when it gets too annoying.

Changed out the items you stated and ordered!  thanks for all your help john! 

We'll need pictures of the project!

john, I just glued in the tender markers in there.  the leads are long so I could glue the wires to the tender top.  I was able to drill right through the corner posts. worked well.  easy!  thanks for tip.  All works.  I have to post video later. 

Progress, that's what counts!

the kendal 937D was rated high by users, it looks the part, well constructed and lots of tips, a rubber handle and the holder seems to be ok also. 

With the LED,  Ill flatten the tops slightly with sandpaper.   I thought of clear plastic of a Plastic knife?  think that would work? I could dremel the piece, its tough.  would have to drop some CA glue to see what it would do to it.  melt or bond?  mmmm.  Ill figure it out, but its strong and it would work well

I just take my little 4" grinding wheel out and stick the LED against it momentarily, it gets a nice flat top.

I use CA glue to glue them to some thick clear plastic for my firebox mod.

I thought of my 2 Inch wheel I have for my dremel.  that would work.  Bench grnder would rip the heck out of the plastic!    good idea john.  im going to try my plastic knife and grind a shape out of it.   Did you use any Red stuff or just let the yellow color be the flame? 

The side of my grinding wheel is pretty smooth, so it doesn't rip up the plastic of the LED.  I don't stick them on the front of the wheel.  I've never lost one doing it that way, but the Dremel will work as well.  I'm all into saving work, and hand filing one of these is a lot of work!  I did exactly one that way before I realized that there had to be a better way.

I tried the red lens, but I like the effect of the LED's with no extra coloring.  The two really enhance the effect as you get them "beating" against each other randomly, very cool.

Great ill  do that.  I forgot a key item.....   wire!  Lol , now I can glue the leds but gotta get wire  so what guage?

Personally, I use #30 wire-wrap wire, it's really small, and the black or white insulation makes it pretty easy to hide inside the car.  Current carrying capability is a non-issue here, so I use something that gives me the most flexibility in routing and concealing it.

back from ths shack with wire and Rosen Flux.  something else I missed.  I think im good now.  drilled out the markers a bit more to set the LED's inside, but I cant seem to get them deep because its impossible to drill out the back inside the shell.  I might try to anyway, at least hollow out part to get the 2 wires into the holes a little.  the shrink wrap is a little too much, and I dont want to mess up the markers on the front side from boring out too much. mmmmm

If you use the little ceramic LED's, you can usually slide them in from the front.  Also, if you can't find the really fine heat-shrink, a trick I do is leave the leads on the ceramic LED long and slide insulation from a small wire over them so that the heat shrink connections are inside the shell.  I've never run across one that I can't get the LED's in place.

john, I used a different unit I had from Evans, and they light up well, almost too bright of a green, but it should look cool.  tested with a 9volt battery.  then glued them into the shell from behind.  ill tell you what.  the CA gel glue takes forever to dry!  it was still tacky in the morning. I put the shell on my heater vent to speed it up a little.  I guess the VOC is slow drying.  im patient! 

When I looked at the headlight wires for tapping in.  I see a dark blue and light blue.  any knowledge of which is which.  one is on the bottom and the other attached to the side.  I forget on these screw in base bulbs what is + and -.   I see a purple that goes to the smoke unit. 

There should be a connection between the purple wire and one of the headlight wires, that will be the positive side.  Connect the LED on the bench, if it doesn't work, reverse it.

I used the purple off the smoke unit, and the bottom feed off the headlight base. that lit them well and here are a few pics. the markers Lit bright and well.