Atlas GP38 DCC Lighting Question

[Dan]

Hi all, I have an Atlas GP38 which I am in the process of a heavy kitbash to GP39-2,

Its a silver series which means it has a factory equipped decoder.

It will be equipped with ditchlights, my online research seems to indicate that surface mount 0.8mm Golden White LEDS might do the trick, I understand one disadvantage with LEDS is not being able to get them to flash on/off but using micro bulbs can present heat problems, any opinions on this anyone?

Also while I have the shell in a million pieces I do not know if the headlights as they are, will be up to scratch, I am wondering if I should be looking at wiring in new/replacement leds or bulbs directly behind the headlight/numberboard rather then relying on the facory 'tube' system, I would appreciate any experts out there passing on their thoughts/knowledge on the matter.

Dan

 

[jbaakko]

1.5v bulbs should be fine. I'm not sure about the LED issue you noted though, never heard it myself.

 

[UP2CSX]

It all depends on the decoder. Some will flash LED ditchlights and others won't because the current requirment isn't met by the board. If you put resistors in, the flashing current is too low so the ditchlights stay on all the time. The 1.5 volt incandescent bilbs from Minitronics should work fine with most boards and the heat build up is not excessive. If I had the locomotive in pieces anyway, it'd replace the light tube with LED's mounted directly in the headlight housing and numberboards. It will look a lot better and there's no heat to worry about - just make sure you get the proper ohm value resistors.