I need bulbs like this

I have a ton of them, mine came out of MTH passenger cars.  Send me an email and we'll fix you up.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

I have a ton of them, mine came out of MTH passenger cars.  Send me an email and we'll fix you up.

Thanks much!

these bulbs are either 12v or 18v so check which are needed

He runs conventional, so I'll be sorting out 12V-14V bulbs.

John, aside from MTH, is there a source for those bulbs. And what are those mounts called?

Not sure what the mounts are called, but they're like Christmas Tree bulbs.  The RailKing 12V bulbs have a larger base than the 18V bulbs out of Premier cars.  I've never bought these as I've been taking them out of cars and converting them to LED lighting.  I have a really large pile of the 18V bulbs from premier cars with the smaller base.  I did eleven Premier Super-Liners, each of those had seven or eight bulbs.

I'm sure someone has them, but I have no idea where you'd get them, other than MTH.

The MTH # is CI-0000009

That's an 18V bulb, he's needing a 12-14V bulb.  Same size, just different part.

Just out of curiosity, are those the same as the Lionel 8352-xxx wedge bases that Jeff Kane lists? He also has an 18V version, but no photo.

I saw those in a search, and I suspect they're the same.  They sure look the same, and the wedge size appears to match the size of the RailKing bulbs.  The bulbs from Premier cars have a smaller wedge and area almost all 18V bulbs.

To further muddy the water, T&C sells an LED version of the 8352 bulb as described in this OGR thread.  $2 each in small qty so can get spendy to retrofit a fleet.  They call it 18V though it will light more dimly at 12-14V.  T&C could easily change a 1-cent component within the LED assembly to offer a version better suited (brighter) to lower conventional-control voltage rolling stock applications...but I suspect there's little demand.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

I saw those in a search, and I suspect they're the same.  They sure look the same, and the wedge size appears to match the size of the RailKing bulbs.  The bulbs from Premier cars have a smaller wedge and area almost all 18V bulbs.

I have a mess of those, is there a way to tell the voltage or do you just light them up and watch the color?

I put 12V on a push-in socket and just went through them.  The ones that were pretty dim I put in the 18V pile.  The ones that seemed to be full brightness I figured were the 12V ones.  I have probably 60-70 of the 18V ones at least.  Most or all of my 18V ones have a smaller wedge on the base, so that may be one way to sort them.

Lionel ones work in the MTH cars just fine.  Bigger issue on the MTH cars is when run on 18v and the mounts melt.

Jim

Yep, even the 18V bulbs in the Premier cars don't fare that well over time.  However, I haven't had a single one of my LED upgrades melt anything.

They look like Christmas tree lights, if they are the same size you can get a string of 50 for under $3.00 at Walmart during the season.

Not even close Mike.  The voltage and current would be all wrong with stock Christmas lights.

On eBay there are multiple vendors selling both 8352-xxx voltage versions.  They may be sharing photos but what is consistent is the 14V bulbs have a WHITE base while the 18V bulbs have a GREEN base.

Obviously with the wire-terminals you could swap one bulb into the other base but perhaps at some point in time this was the de facto "standard" on how to identify which is which?

I found a WHITE base (passenger car) and GREEN base (lock-on) bulb out of MTH products and powered both at 12V.  The WHITE base bulb was the lower voltage:

Well, the 18V bulbs from Premier passenger cars have a gray base.

These bulb holders appear like those of mini Christmas tree lights.  Even if the bases are not an exact fit the mini Christmas tree light bulbs would work with those bases.  The mini Christmas tree light bulbs come in 12 volts (for 10 bulb strings) as well as 6 volts (for 20 bulb strings) and cost about $1 for 10 replacement bulbs and are available around the Holidays or here at 12 per $1.29.  The used strings of any size bulbs or length can be cut up for bulb sockets and wire sockets with wire pigtails for use as building lights or to install wires in passenger cars.

https://www.hardtofinditems.co...olt-80-ma-0-96-watt/

The mini Christmas tree bulbs are a lot longer than the ones you show but may work.  They also come sometimes colored and the color can be scratched off with a knife.

I have been using the mini Christmas tree lights for over 40 years for building lights, signal lights and as passenger car lights as they were cheap (usually 50 cent for 10 after Christmas) and use less power especially important for passenger cars.

I use the 6 volt bulbs in series for 12 volt lighting transformer use and you could wire three 6 volt in series for 18 volts.

Charlie

Christmas bulbs will be way longer than the bulbs that MTH and Lionel use.

Of course, this is a moot point with me as I replace these with LED lighting if I have to open the car up for work.

I’ve read this thread several times since it has my question exactly. Some operating accessories I’ve recently purchased have a single incandescent Christmas bulb in a small plastic shed. I run it at 18v so the light is bright and of course it glows in all directions. Is there an omnidirectional LED replacement bulb for this?  I want to change to them because I’m concerned the heat generated from the incandescent bulb may eventually effect the small plastic shed.  I’ve looked at the T&C site mentioned above and there’s not much info on the light direction.  The reviews say the LEDs aren’t as bright as the incandescents, but I’m okay with that.

@texgeekboy posted:

I’ve read this thread several times since it has my question exactly. Some operating accessories I’ve recently purchased have a single incandescent Christmas bulb in a small plastic shed. I run it at 18v so the light is bright and of course it glows in all directions. Is there an omnidirectional LED replacement bulb for this?  I want to change to them because I’m concerned the heat generated from the incandescent bulb may eventually effect the small plastic shed.  I’ve looked at the T&C site mentioned above and there’s not much info on the light direction.  The reviews say the LEDs aren’t as bright as the incandescents, but I’m okay with that.

Have you thought about LED tape lights? They are flexible and typically can be cut down to 3-4 leds. You could get color changing sets too.

Bob

why oh why does it seem that NOTHING electrical related is easy and straight forward .  Every thread that I follow dealing with something electrical has controversy, differences of opinion, etc.  It seems answers are never straight forward.

off my soap box now

walt

@RSJB18,

Thanks.  I actually do a lot of LED lighting conversions, so I do have a supply of those.  There are +/- wires attached to the bulb base inside the sheds, so I could attach the wires for the LED strip to them.  I was hoping for a simpler, drop-in replacement rather than a modification.  If I do the mod, I would place the small LED strip in the bottom of the shed (you can't see in there at all, only light shines through some frosted windows), so that would take care of the light direction problem.  I may end up doing that.

@texgeekboy posted:

@RSJB18,

Thanks.  I actually do a lot of LED lighting conversions, so I do have a supply of those.  There are +/- wires attached to the bulb base inside the sheds, so I could attach the wires for the LED strip to them.  I was hoping for a simpler, drop-in replacement rather than a modification.  If I do the mod, I would place the small LED strip in the bottom of the shed (you can't see in there at all, only light shines through some frosted windows), so that would take care of the light direction problem.  I may end up doing that.

IIRC there is a direct LED replacement for the old style christmas lights too. Do some searching before taking them apart.

@walt rapp- No soap box necessary. Lot's of options out there. If it were easy everyone would be an electrician.

Bob

@walt rapp posted:

why oh why does it seem that NOTHING electrical related is easy and straight forward .  Every thread that I follow dealing with something electrical has controversy, differences of opinion, etc.  It seems answers are never straight forward.

off my soap box now

walt

Well, this isn't really as much electrical as it is lighting characteristics.

I searched around and this link will take you to what I could find for a direct LED replacement for that bulb.  Amazon has some nice LED bulbs that would probably work, but I could only find entire strings not bulbs.  Pulling the bulbs out seems to be more work than putting in an LED strip, not to mention throwing out the empty string.

If the above LED replacement bulb is uni-directional it wouldn't work, and from the picture it looks like it may not be omnidirectional.

OOPS, I just went to buy some at the above link.  I ordered 4, the price came to less than $10, but the site won't send out orders less than $20 (not counting shipping).  Oh well, I'll just put a small LED strip in the bottom.

@RSJB18 posted:

IIRC there is a direct LED replacement for the old style christmas lights too. Do some searching before taking them apart.

Bob

Look more closely at your LED Christmas light string. You’ll see a cylindrical device between the plug and the first light.  That regulates the electricity going into the LEDs, much like @gunrunnerjohn’s LED kits do for passenger cars. Your LED lights for home lamps also do the same. (The base usually has opaque ceramic housing that hides the electronics.

So there is no drop-in replacement for small bulbs, though you may be able to use them in certain applications. You need to adjust the circuitry to compensate for the fact that LEDs don’t need as much voltage to burn brightly.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

I have a ton of them, mine came out of MTH passenger cars.  Send me an email and we'll fix you up.

What did you use to replace the bulbs?

@FrankRazz posted:

What did you use to replace the bulbs?

I replaced them with LED strips and my LED Lighting Regulator.

@Jim R. posted:

Look more closely at your LED Christmas light string. You’ll see a cylindrical device between the plug and the first light.  That regulates the electricity going into the LEDs, much like @gunrunnerjohn’s LED kits do for passenger cars. Your LED lights for home lamps also do the same. (The base usually has opaque ceramic housing that hides the electronics.

So there is no drop-in replacement for small bulbs, though you may be able to use them in certain applications. You need to adjust the circuitry to compensate for the fact that LEDs don’t need as much voltage to burn brightly.

Been there done that....

The led strings are no better than the old twinkle lights. Just hurts more to throw out a $20 string when they die....🤬🤬😆

@Jim R.,

If you look at my post above yours, I'm pretty sure the link points to a true drop in replacement for a Lionel 8352 bulb.  The reviews also say the light isn't as bright as the incandescents.  But your comment is directed to @RSJB18, so perhaps you're talking about something else.

@texgeekboy posted:

@Jim R.,

If you look at my post above yours, I'm pretty sure the link points to a true drop in replacement for a Lionel 8352 bulb.  The reviews also say the light isn't as bright as the incandescents.  But your comment is directed to @RSJB18, so perhaps you're talking about something else.

But the reviews indicate the bulbs are less bright than the incandescent ones they replace. That’s not a drop-in replacement. At the same voltage, the LEDs should be much brighter. So the LED maker merely subbed in a bulb that’s starving for power, probably to avoid burnout.  You’re better off with a regular circuit built especially for LED light strings.

@Jim R.,

Actually, it being less bright is exactly what I want.  At 18V the incandescent is very bright.  The frosted windows in the shed glow like lights from a spaceship.  My only issue is whether or not the LED is omnidirectional, not narrowly focused.  I think it's not omnidirectional.  I'll end up putting in a small LED strip in the bottom of the shed sometime in the next week or so.

@walt rapp posted:

why oh why does it seem that NOTHING electrical related is easy and straight forward .  Every thread that I follow dealing with something electrical has controversy, differences of opinion, etc.  It seems answers are never straight forward.

off my soap box now

walt

an electrician i worked with years ago would say- "if you ask two electricians a question, you'll get three answers"

thanks to those who did not take me to task on my comment.  while I understand the very basics of electrical things, as the last poster replied, there always seem to be multiple and conflicting answers.  Many times the conversation gets really deep into what I would call theory, but to those in the know they probably would call it just talking facts.

I do want to offer an apology of sorts to the originator of this thread for side-tracking a part of it.

walt

Look up 'wire lead'  bulbs on Amazon for the voltage range you need.  Bend the leads straight on the bad bulb, pull it out from the base and put in a new one, bend the leads back into place.