With Christmas fast approaching, I am sure we all have been there. That dreaded set of lights that when one bulb goes out they all go out. Don't throw them away. Instead, cut them apart into single lights and strip the ends. Test them on a section of powered track and the ones that work, keep them. You now have a light for a structure you may want to light. Cheap and easy.
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Fester...your a genius.You have no idea how you have helped me.
do you need to add resistors to these since they are run in series with a voltage drop. it seems when a few go out, too much voltage goes to others and they all blow out with dark rings around the bases. I get that all the time if I dont replace the bulbs. so if you use these on layouts, I wonder how do you wire as to not put too much voltage to them? a add on resistor in line? I bet Gunrunner JOhn who
I know that when it comes to electrical that's my weak point. If I am viewing the photos correctly then the light (which normally would be in a string plugged in to a 120v outlet) is being powered by the power in the track. Is that correct?
It just seems to easy to me and I feel that I am missing something.
I am not an expert or an electrician but I simply bought a terminal strip from radio shack and used a old Lionel power supply and ran the wires from it to a terminal strip. I then ran wires from the lights to the terminal strip. By controlling the power from the throttle on the power supply you control how dim or bright the light is. I wired about 11 old plasticville buildings this way on my old layout and for almost 8 years I never had an issue. I did have 1 light burn out at one time but I simply just replaced the bulb. The picture I posted was just testing the individual lights that I cut from the strain of lights so I knew which lights worked and which ones did not.
I am not an expert or an electrician but I simply bought a terminal strip from radio shack and used a old Lionel power supply and ran the wires from it to a terminal strip. I then ran wires from the lights to the terminal strip. By controlling the power from the throttle on the power supply you control how dim or bright the light is. I wired about 11 old plasticville buildings this way on my old layout and for almost 8 years I never had an issue. I did have 1 light burn out at one time but I simply just replaced the bulb. The picture I posted was just testing the individual lights that I cut from the strain of lights so I knew which lights worked and which ones did not.
Uncle Fester Thanks for the response! that is a very easy solution to lighting buildings and other things on your layout. I imagine with the many different colors of bulbs you could get very creative with the special effects
Thanks again!
Yes, you can get very creative with different color bulbs. I mostly used white but I did try a yellow bulb in a factory I have. Looked pretty good. I found these miniature lights at the local craft store. A strain of 25 for $5.00 I am going to experiment with these and maybe make some street lights when I find the time.
I'm surprised that no one has explain this simple trick. When you buy Christmas light it is a string of lights ( in series ) that you plug into 120 volts. Most trains transformers have a 12 volt power terminal for assessors. 120 divided by 12 =10. Take your string of lights and dived by 10. My string has 50 Christmass lights divided by 10 = 5 lights. So now I hook up my 5 lights in series to the transformer.
I'm surprised that no one has explain this simple trick. When you buy Christmas light it is a string of lights ( in series ) that you plug into 120 volts. Most trains transformers have a 12 volt power terminal for assessors. 120 divided by 12 =10. Take your string of lights and dived by 10. My string has 50 Christmass lights divided by 10 = 5 lights. So now I hook up my 5 lights in series to the transformer.
Thankyou for the info Sherward. Any information on the electrical side of modelrailroading I will take. That's my weak spot. I have learned a lot from the forum pages. My 4x8 conventional layout has been retired to make way for a new and bigger layout. I plan on starting the bench work after the holidays. It will have Legacy and DCS as the mainlines, and I will work in a couple conventional loops so I can still run my old Lionel steamers.
UncleFester
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