Has anyone attempted to change the LED lights in Menards buildings? They use a cool white temperature for their LEDs, but I like the look of soft white way better, as it is more authentic to my time period and I believe it gives off a better look on the layout. Is it easy to take these buildings apart and change them out?
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I’ve painted leds, changed them to warm white and also reduced the voltage from the recommended 4.5v to 2.75-3v. Dimming the existing lights is most effective for my taste. Not so much glare and brightness. More realistic imo. I have mostly the older buildings which are pressed cardboard construction which is glued. Can be taken apart with care by using putty knives/sharp knives and twisting the blade gently along the glued seam.
TedW posted:I’ve painted leds, changed them to warm white and also reduced the voltage from the recommended 4.5v to 2.75-3v. Dimming the existing lights is most effective for my taste. Not so much glare and brightness. More realistic imo. I have mostly the older buildings which are pressed cardboard construction which is glued. Can be taken apart with care by using putty knives/sharp knives and twisting the blade gently along the glued seam.
What type of paint worked best for changing the temperature over to warm white?
vthokies2007-2011 posted:TedW posted:I’ve painted leds, changed them to warm white and also reduced the voltage from the recommended 4.5v to 2.75-3v. Dimming the existing lights is most effective for my taste. Not so much glare and brightness. More realistic imo. I have mostly the older buildings which are pressed cardboard construction which is glued. Can be taken apart with care by using putty knives/sharp knives and twisting the blade gently along the glued seam.
What type of paint worked best for changing the temperature over to warm white?
Didn’t use paint for warm white, changed leds. Shown in the pics are amber paint top of red owl, and warm white used on feed supply next door. Notice difference between red owl and feed supply warm white to menards “blue white” on red owl. Left the red owl alone as it looks more like the fluorescent grocery store lighting. Both building lights are run at 2.75vdc cause they are too bright any higher imo. Most important is to get them the way you like them.
Ted, what happened to the gal's leg? The first photo looks fine, but is broken in the second photo?
OC Patrick posted:Ted, what happened to the gal's leg? The first photo looks fine, but is broken in the second photo?
blame the dog.. LOL...Bad Jack.. Bad DOG..
Tee Hee, Law suit pending. Tripped on a sidewalk crack.
vthokies2007-2011 posted:
What type of paint worked best for changing the temperature over to warm white?
TedW posted:Tee Hee, Law suit pending. Tripped on a sidewalk crack.
Well, she doesn't have far to go to reach a lawyer. Dewey, Cheatum and Howe has a law office right above the Red Owl. Blame the dog, no doubt Jack's owner has deep pockets and a quick settlement will ensue.
stan2004 posted:vthokies2007-2011 posted:
What type of paint worked best for changing the temperature over to warm white?
Thank you Stan2004. I feel it would be a lot easier to paint the bulbs, than to change them out, as some of the Menards buildings have several LEDs.
stan2004 posted:vthokies2007-2011 posted:
What type of paint worked best for changing the temperature over to warm white?
Stan threw my own thread back in my face! 
Hello All.......TedW: what power supply are you using to get 2.75 volts? Is the DC output of the power supply ok with the Menards LED's? Does the power supply run hot? I am trying to "tone down" the Grand Hotel, which is much too bright as shipped. Thanks in advance. 
I've found that reducing the voltage works in most cases, however if the building has an animated sign or flashing strobe it will need 3.8 - 4 volts to work properly (for instance Morton Salt).
I haven't used the Tamiya paint mentioned, but have had good results with a yellow sharpie to soften the light.
Bruce
TEDW I think I have found a DC-DC step down (LM2596 DC-DC step down variable volt regulator Input 3.2V to 40V Output 1.25V to 35V adjustable buck converter) at Amazon. Is this the one in your picture ? I was going to try using Menard's AC/DC converter which I think outputs 4.5VDC -- and splice this into output side. I have the Menards Starbucks which is too bright for me. Do you think that might work ?
TEDW -- thanks for the info I will give this a try
Be advised that most, if not all, step-down DC-to-DC voltage regulator modules have a so-called headroom or dropout voltage; this is usually at least a Volt and possibly several Volts depending on the design. In other words, if your input is 4.5V there is a "overhead" or "tax" such that the maximum settable output voltage might be, say, 3.5V or less.
For dimming Menards buildings, from what I have read you want somewhere around 3.9, 4.0, 4.1 Volts (plus or minus). So this may not be achievable if starting from 4.5V DC.
That said, if you want to fine-tune the brightness, I'd start with a wall-wart of 9V or 12V DC or other readily available voltage. Watt-for-watt, these will be less expensive than a Menards adapter. I suppose a potential downside is you inadvertently plug a 12V adapter directly into a 4.5V Menards building and fry the LEDs.
For example, I don't know if the Menards pricing shown below is current as this was taken from an earlier thread but I just pasted in the eBay listing. The assumption is you're feeding a DC-to-DC converter (or converters plural) of some type, so the matter at hand is a source of DC power or Wattage. Should be easy to find A DC adapter on eBay for, say, 10 cents per Watt. The Menards adapters are about 10 times that or roughly $1 per Watt. I say converters "plural" above because you can have a single DC adapter driving multiple DC-to-DC stepdown modules so that you can fine tune different buildings to different voltages … since a DC-to-DC stepdown module might set you back $1 or so!
STAN2004 Thanks for the input -- I already have the Menards adapter so I was trying to utilize that -- so maybe I can give it a try -- but I may have to get a different adapter with higher DC output if it does not work if I am reading you correctly.
By all means give it a try. I don't know which DC-DC module you have but I found one on eBay that has the input/output voltage range you mention. In its product description it says:
- Input voltage range: DC 3.2V to 40V (The input voltage must be 1.5V higher than the voltage to be output. Can not be boosted)
- Output voltage range: DC 1.25V to 35V voltage continuously adjustable, high efficiency (maximum 92percent) maximum output current is 3A
So in this case the headroom voltage I mention is 1.5V. So if your input voltage is 4.5V, the output voltage should be set to 3.0V or less. In general, the headroom voltage requirement is a function of how much current you're drawing so it may be settable to a higher voltage for small building(s) with just a few LEDs. Definitely a your-mileage-may-vary scenario.
STAN2004 Yes I found what I think are the same ones you described on Amazon at 2 for $11.95. So I will give them a try. Thanks for your help.
I saved most of the cell phone chargers from old cell phones. Most are 5 volt. Change the plug on the other end to fit your building and it works great.
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