I have a dc supply and don't want or need the ac input. Does anyone know how to wire them that way. I have 4 different ones to wire.
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Davedross,
You would like to make the AC power supply's over to DC. Yes. . ?
You could install DC Rectifier after the AC portion.
Good luck, John
No not at all. I have a dc supply. The buildings are made to take 4.5 volts ac and then convert it internally to dc. That doesn't work for me. I don't want to be limited by the length of their cord or have to use up tons of outlets. I already have dc power for my other lighting so I want to know how to bypass the input and wire my dc output right in there.
Originally Posted by davidbross:
No not at all. I have a dc supply. The buildings are made to take 4.5 volts ac and then convert it internally to dc.
Are you sure about this? For example this Menards building says 4.5V AC adapter. But in many cases "AC adapter" simply means it plugs into an AC wall outlet. If you look up the 2 recommended "AC adapters", the both put out 4.5V DC.
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You may be able to use a buck converter,discussed here
I am not use about getting a jack to plug in. maybe radio shack.
Dale H
You got me there. I assumed the conversion was in the building. Ok so I still want the avoid the input and wire the building without using the jack. Has anyone done that?
Daleh I see you provided a different idea. I am still looking for where to cut and attach the wires.
Just surmising,I do not have the building. From the female jack mounted on the building,there should be 2 wires coming off of the back of it inside the building. Cut these 2 wires off the jack and hook to the 4.5 volt DC power. I use the buck converters as mentioned. I think one would handle all 4 buildings. If it does not light,reverse polarity,then it should light.
For connections you could splice (and insulate) the 2 wires,color coded, to them and extend them under the layout. I use Euro barrier strips as shown in the link.
Dale H
Which plug and sockets are compatible with the buildings as built. I would like to leave the buildings unmodified and roll my own power supply and cables without taking out the jacks built into the building? Pat B.
I bought this the other day also but ripped out the circuit board inside. I'm going to make my own rectifier and wire it my way so that it can be wired to the transformer just like all of my other buildings.
I just bought a building, too. Is there anyone out there that can tell me how to rewire it so I can hook it up to a MTH transformer? I, too, would like it compatible with the rest of my buildings that all turn on and off with my transformers. My only other option is to re-wire it with new LEDs that can be powered by my transformers.
has anyone re-wired these buildings to transformer power?
4 years ago i thought i was going to rewire this. I ended up taking the easy way out. I purchased the AC adapter that had 3 leads (289-4002) and used that; i have 3 Menards buildings. Plugged into the power strip that was controlled by my main control power on switch.
GG1 2340 posted:has anyone re-wired these buildings to transformer power?
If you do a search on this topic you will see a variety of ideas of powering your Menards and controlling brightness with transformer power. You will have a lot of individual flexibility over each building if you do. You will find there are ways of using transformer power with the addition of the proper electrical components. You will even see the links to what you need and where to purchase in some of the post. I don't profess to be an expert, but have found a change of 1/10 of 1 volt can make a difference in brightness acceptability.
There was a post earlier today suggesting an AC-to-DC converter module on eBay for less than $3 (free shipping from Asia). That post vanished - I'm guessing because it might have had a link to the eBay listing which is not permitted per OGR terms of use.
You can buy AC-in, DC-out voltage converter modules for less than $3 (free shipping from Asia) if you don't mind waiting a couple weeks...or a bit more $ from U.S. sources. These modules require a DC voltmeter to set the DC output voltage to 4.5V DC using a tiny screwdriver adjusting the blue "trimpot" on the module (see photo above). As Bryant notes in previous post, the guys on OGR have reported that Menards buildings may be too bright if driven by the fixed (non-adjustable) voltage output of their wall-output adapters as shown in this re-cycled photo from a previous OGR thread on this topic:
IIRC, guys have reported turning down the voltage to 4.0V or even lower to dim buildings to their liking.
To use the AC-to-DC converter module, you need a DC voltmeter which I realize some guys don't have. You don't need a fancy/expensive meter and I purposely showed the "free with coupon" meter from Harbor Freight Tools.
The DC voltage from the converter module is on screw-terminal whereas the Menards buildings have a 5.5mm x 2.1mm coaxial female power jack. Of course their AC wall output adapters have the mating male plug. So you need to make a cable with the male plug. You can buy pre-made "pigtail" cables with the male plug already molded on. But the length of the cable is a wildcard depending on your layout. You can buy bare plugs that require soldering, or you can also buy screw-terminal adapters (male and female) for about 50 cents a piece (free shipping from Asia).
Separately, if you don't have a voltmeter you can buy a DC-only digital meter for an astounding 99 cents (free shipping from Asia). For example, you could have several AC-to-DC converter modules set to different voltages (e.g., 4.5V, 4.3V, 4.1V) each monitored by its own meter. Then attach buildings to the voltage that suits them best.
Separately, there is a possibly frustrating side-discussion about how many buildings a particular Menards wall-output adapter or an AC-to-DC converter like the above can drive. There have been several OGR threads on this - math is involved so can become tedious. If you just have a few "small" buildings that only have a few LEDs each, no need to over-complicate matters.
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Stan, again you come through with above and beyond services.
I am amazed at your tirelessness in helping us.
You will find that different Menard's buildings look better at different voltages. Example- I run the York Hotel at 4 vDC- any more and it runs you out of the room, it's so bright. And while others (Power Plant) I run at near the 4.5vDC recommended.
I run all of them using buck converters as referenced above, from a ZW dialed to 11 AC volts AC or so, then dial the converter so the building is as bright or soft as what I want. Running them all the same and it's hard to get the look you want.
Thank you all.
I will investigate further but Stans post clarified things.
Thanks Stan
