Flicker-Free LED Lighting for a K-Line Caboose?

I have upgraded a bunch of passenger cars and a couple cabooses to LEDs with capacitors. I use warm white LED strips, a bridge rectifier, a 480ohm resistor, and a 1000uf capacitor. Here are some pics of the cars. Second picture is the capacitor and rectifier setup I use.

Have you tried a conductive oil such as Bachmann EZ Lube on the pickup roller pins?

This has virtually eliminated flicker on my cabooses and passenger cars alike.

I use it on locos as well.

" I have upgraded a bunch of passenger cars and a couple cabooses to LEDs with capacitors. I use warm white LED strips, a bridge rectifier, a 480ohm resistor, and a 1000uf capacitor."

For those of us who don't know a bus stop from a bus strip - what is the purpose of the three components:

Bridge Rectifier

480 ohm resistor

1000uf capacitor

Thank you. My application is upgrading several sets of passenger cars (Lionel / MTH / K-Line / Weaver) to LEDS  running DCS / TMCC .

Also - you are using "warm white". Some of the pictures i have seen show a bluish hue that I thought looked nice. May I assume the LED strips come in whatever "warmth" you want for light? I see in the second pic everything but the resistor - where does that go?

I appreciate the input.

Paul

I plan on using GRJ’s LED board with most likely a strip of 3 LED’s from my LED reel.

@Sid's Trains posted:

I have upgraded a bunch of passenger cars and a couple cabooses to LEDs with capacitors. I use warm white LED strips, a bridge rectifier, a 480ohm resistor, and a 1000uf capacitor. Here are some pics of the cars. Second picture is the capacitor and rectifier setup I use.

Where do you suggest I shop to get these items?  I really like how your cars have turned out!

And btw I'm an engineer, but not an electrical engineer, so I learned the basics of all this stuff but I'm no expert by any means, hence why I'm looking for suggestions!

@Railrunnin posted:

" I have upgraded a bunch of passenger cars and a couple cabooses to LEDs with capacitors. I use warm white LED strips, a bridge rectifier, a 480ohm resistor, and a 1000uf capacitor."

For those of us who don't know a bus stop from a bus strip - what is the purpose of the three components:

Bridge Rectifier Converts AC current to DC current required by LED lights.

480 ohm resistor  Restricts the amount of current the LED lights receive.  Too much current will cause the LEDs to stop working..

1000uf capacitor The capacitor stores energy that keeps the LED lights “ON” whenever momentary losses of supply current occurs.

Thank you. My application is upgrading several sets of passenger cars (Lionel / MTH / K-Line / Weaver) to LEDS  running DCS / TMCC .

Also - you are using "warm white". Some of the pictures i have seen show a bluish hue that I thought looked nice. May I assume the LED strips come in whatever "warmth" you want for light? I see in the second pic everything but the resistor - where does that go?

I appreciate the input.

Paul

There are several threads here on the forum regarding converting to LED lighting.

@RickO posted:

Have you tried a conductive oil such as Bachmann EZ Lube on the pickup roller pins?

I have lubed the rollers with very light oil to ensure they roll freely as at least MTH suggests to do, although I've never tried this product.  May give it a go!  Although it would have to be a night-and-day improvement to fix these K Line cabooses.

I feel like with these K Line cars part of the problem is that the pickup rollers are made of a different metal compared to most rollers I've seen as well as the fact that the springs don't press as hard down upon the rails.  Also, the juice-thirsty incandescent lights don't help matters.

@Catonsville Central Railway posted:

Where do you suggest I shop to get these items?  I really like how your cars have turned out!

And btw I'm an engineer, but not an electrical engineer, so I learned the basics of all this stuff but I'm no expert by any means, hence why I'm looking for suggestions!

I bought all of what I use on Amazon, however ebay is also a good place to look.

I use my LED lighting modules.  DCS compatible, no flicker, adjustable intensity, and compact construction.

If you are a "roll your own" guy, there is some information on making your own thru-hole boards with the same capabilities, just slightly larger.

Open up this thread: ELECTRICAL REFERENCE MATERIALS & MANUALS

Search for this text: DIY Constant Current Passenger Car Lighting Module

The cost for these DIY modules should be around $3/ea total, less if you order parts from overseas.  The PCB's can be ordered from OSH Park, but you can also order in bulk from off-shore board houses in quantity for considerably less per board.