Need help getting LED lighting to work using ERR DC Commander

I know nothing about the Royz trains light kits, but all you need for using LED headlights on ERR boards is a bare LED a 470 ohm resistor and a diode.  Did you try swapping the polarity of those LED lights from Royz?  For TMCC lighting, frame ground is positive and the light output is negative.

@Mike Benham posted:

I am converting 3 Williams BL 2 locomotives to tmcc using the ERR DC Command board and sound board.  The first locomotive is running fine and sounds fine.  My problem is my LED light kits from Royz Trains.  If I test the lights with track current they  work fine.  When I hook them up to the command board I get nothing.   I have tried all the combinations I can think of.   Maybe I don’t have the feature code set right or maybe I don’t know how to activate the light feature.   Appreciate any help troubleshooting this.

In Command mode the Lighting outputs are negative with respect to common, frame, outer rail....  Swap the LED wires to see if it works then.  If not, then try turning off the command base to see if the LEDs light up.  In Conventional mode, the R4LC outputs an AC waveform, not 1/2 wave polarized.  The R4LC outputs go to the DC commander terminal directly.  It could be the ROYZ kits need AC?

As GRJ stated, all you really need is a resistor and LED in series attached to the Lamp outputs on the DC Commander.

jon

John,

On the ERR Command Board I am using terminals 4, 5  for the front and rear input for the headlights and terminal 6 as the common.   I have tried changing the polarity but get nothing.   

Mike

Jon,  Thanks for your input.   I will try shutting off the Command Base.  

@SantaFeFan posted:

In Command mode the Lighting outputs are negative with respect to common, frame, outer rail....  Swap the LED wires to see if it works then.  If not, then try turning off the command base to see if the LEDs light up.  In Conventional mode, the R4LC outputs an AC waveform, not 1/2 wave polarized.  The R4LC outputs go to the DC commander terminal directly.  It could be the ROYZ kits need AC?

As GRJ stated, all you really need is a resistor and LED in series attached to the Lamp outputs on the DC Commander.

jon

A Dr. ZW sighting awesome.

Jonz (or other) does the RCMC do this same type of behavior where the outputs change in conventional to AC vs 1/2 Sin wave?  What about the R2LC?

Thanks

Jim

The RCMC has straight current limited DC as it feeds LED's directly, no AC there.

The R2LC, ERR R4LC, and the early Legacy R4LC all exhibit the same behavior, half-wave DC in command mode, full-wave AC in conventional mode.  R2LC-C08 or later, and Legacy R4LC all have negative polarity in respect to ground in command mode.

A point to take note of.  If you're converting an early TMCC unit to LED's, the R2LC-C07 has inverted lighting outputs, the lighting pins are positive in respect to frame ground.  Also, the old LCRU can come up either way, positive or negative in respect to ground, drove me nuts the first time I encountered it.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

The RCMC has straight current limited DC as it feeds LED's directly, no AC there.

The R2LC, ERR R4LC, and the early Legacy R4LC all exhibit the same behavior, half-wave DC in command mode, full-wave AC in conventional mode.  R2LC-C08 or later, and Legacy R4LC all have negative polarity in respect to ground in command mode.

A point to take note of.  If you're converting an early TMCC unit to LED's, the R2LC-C07 has inverted lighting outputs, the lighting pins are positive in respect to frame ground.  Also, the old LCRU can come up either way, positive or negative in respect to ground, drove me nuts the first time I encountered it.

Hurray for consistency!  Thanks for the info.

Jim

Slight correction, or at least speculation.  I suspect the RCMC may have PWM outputs to the lights, not plain DC.  However, it'll always remain one polarity, so as far as connecting lighting, you can assume it's DC.

For wiring the RCMC, you can refer to Bruk's excellent Legacy wiring diagrams, a masterpiece of clear documentation!

Legacy RCMC & RSLITE Jan2017.pdf