What size LED's for Athearn headlights

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NYSW F45 said:
I have those SMD leds. Will regular clear rod work in the holes or should it be fiber optic? The blue box loco's headlight holes are enormous compared to the RTR ones. and the guy i won those 3mm leds from hasn't gotten back to me about swapping them for the 2mm ones.
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If you use regular clear rod, make sure to heat the ends so that it produces an optical lens.

NWCanuck said:
I can't find the part number right now, but give Athearn a call because the tapered light rods for the Blue Box versions from Athearn are a perfect fit for the RTR. I wish I had the part number for you. Maybe get in contact with Jerome as he may have the part number. Those 2mm LED's look like a good solution too. Very similar to the LEDS that Mark ended up with after turning them down on his lathe.
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It really depends on the model. Some models, especially the ones made with RPP tooling, will have a long hole.
 
I was going to order some Miniatronics Yeloglow 2mm or 3mm to wire the headlights and ditch lights on a Athearn RTR C40-9. They apparently come with the resistors already in. Anybody used these? They have 2mm golden white ones in yeloglow, anyone know if they are the yellow color when off? Also, can you wire these to the Athearn light board Headlight/Backlight positions given that the resistors are already in place? Im using a NCE 13SRJ so it doesnt have the 5v common red supply once you plug it in to the Athearn Quickplug.

Thanks,

Brad
 


The Miniatronics LEDs come with the resistors in the package, but they aren't wired in. The lenses are clear. The Yellowglo are pretty nice, sunny white.

If you get a jar of Tamiya Clear Orange paint, you can dip any white/yellowglo/sunny white whatever white LED into it, and the LED will turn into a color that matches incandescent bulbs.
 
Eric,

One more question.

With the resistor attached to the Yeloglos, can you just solder them to the front/back light positions on the stock Athearn board?

The NCE 13SRJ decoder I am using doesnt have the wire harness if you pull it off to attach it to the Athearn Quick Plug (the 5v red common is on that harness).
 
No, there are resistors on the board to drop the voltage to 1.5 volts. If you want to install LEDs, wire the negative lead to the negative pad, and then clip the blue wire off of the quick plug (clip it off close to the board) then solder all of the positive leads (Front and rear headlight, and any other lights) to the blue wire. Make sure that the polarity is correct or else the LEDs won't light.

If this is too complicated, I'd suggest that you get an NCE DA-SR decoder, which is a board replacement and can do LEDs without resistors (resistors are built into the decoder)
 
well i ordered the leds from that led site on page 1. The ebay guy cancelled by bid so im off the hook for that.

Back to the shells, I have a bunch of RPP shells that will be getting lighting. 1 of them is a SD90MAC that was to goto Mark but he's out of commission for a while. If I get that clear rod, I was going to use the Details West clear lenses for the tips.
 
Eric,

Thanks for your help.

I think Id have to clip the white (front headlight) and yellow (rear headlight) wires as well, close to the Athearn board and hook the negative leads up to those right? I understand the positive leads going to the common (blue) with resistors attached.

Do you agree?

Brad
 
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I don't think you'll need to clip the yellow and white leads unless there are resistors on the board on that lead. Most brands will put their resistors on the positive lead (like Atlas) but some put resistors on both (like Bachmann) so I'd have to look at the board to be sure.

If you can't tell whether the negative pads for the lighting functions have resistors or diodes or not, go ahead and clip the white and yellow and wire those in as well.
 
Hey thanks,

I think I will go ahead and clip the yellow and white and just go with the resistors wired into decoder power. I just ordered some of the Miniatronics 2mm white leds, so we'll see how it goes. I had just finished the wiring on this NS C40-9w, moved the cab light from the nose to above the cab and installed ditch lights, but I just am not happy with the brightness of the lights. Even though its destined to be a "filler" engine always in a consist, I just want it to look good. I think bright leds will help. I have a feeling installing the led ditch lights is going to be a pain.

I may also replace the lamps in my Amtrak P42 that I wired in a year or so ago depending on the results with this project.

Thanks again, take care,

Brad
 


Mark had surgery on his wrist...probably why he hasn't been on, can't type. I hope he doesn't mind that I posted it :o

Could someone tell me if a TCS T1 can support ditch lights for the front only? If it can, would I be able to wire 2 leds for the headlights and 2 leds for ditchlights to the same outputs on the stock athearn board? I do not need flashing as the NYSW has stopped using flashing ditch lights. I guess what I really want to know is, will this be to much of a draw on power?
 
I edited my response to Steve as Eric's answer was more accurate as to what he was trying to do.

My ditch light leds should be arriving from Ulrich models tomorrow and the other leds should arrive this week. i am going to start the bulb removal and splicing today for the installation.

I sure wish someone made an easy upgrade to LEDs for Athearn RTRs. I know Ulrich does one for the Athearn SD70ACe and you can use that or buy the parts separately to the tune of around $50, but its not as cost effective as doing the splicing and dicing yourself.

Does anyone make a decoder that readily supports LEDs as a drop-in replacement for Athearn light boards without having to add all the resistors?

Brad
 
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The TCS T1 will be fine. The functions are rated for 100ma. LEDs draw 30ma max, less with resistors, so three LEDs should be fine for one function. With the T1, the ditch lights would be hooked into the headlight though, and wouldn't be controllable independent of the headlight
 
diburning said:
The TCS T1 will be fine. The functions are rated for 100ma. LEDs draw 30ma max, less with resistors, so three LEDs should be fine for one function. With the T1, the ditch lights would be hooked into the headlight though, and wouldn't be controllable independent of the headlight
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Thats what i was going to do I think, just hook up the ditch to heads. and the t1 will be fine this way?
 
NYSW F45 said:
Mark had surgery on his wrist...probably why he hasn't been on, can't type. I hope he doesn't mind that I posted it :o
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Dont mind at all and I can type slowly but as for Soldering or machining I can forget that for a while.

Arm3.png
 
should wire up some fancy flashing leds and attach them to the cast...or find someone to machine a billet cast for ya LOL


And now that I think about it, a T4X or NCE decoder might be better suited for me. Even though the NYSW doesn't have flashing ditch lights anymore, I think i'de rather be able to control them independently from the heads.
 
NYSW F45 said:
should wire up some fancy flashing leds and attach them to the cast...or find someone to machine a billet cast for ya LOL
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Na this is actually the second cast then tomorrow this one comes off and the stiches come out and a new cast goes on. Then I still need 4 pins removed down the road once everything settles and starts healing properly.
 


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