All,
Trying to put a healight in my Brass Decapod. I drilled out the holes to run the wires but am having difficulty finding a bulb small enough to fit. Currently I am using the grain of rice bulbs that Micro Mark sells but even these are too long. I also want to fit some kind of lense or clear piece of plastic to the front. Anyone out there have and experience with this? What would you recommend? Are LEDS smaller than these bulbs? If so, where can I get them? Thanks in advance.
Chris
Hi,
What I would use in this case would be SMD (surface mount) LEDs. They’re designed to fit on top of a PCB, and are about 2mm thick or thinner. I’ve used these for N scale decoder installs without any problems. I’m not sure which American stores would sell them, but Radio Shack may be a good starting point.
Hope this helps,
tbdanny
Try searching Walthers for both LED & Incandescent bulbs, I have used small Circuitron & Miniatronics mini bulbs, & some are more than haf a s small as what you have in the picture. Just be sure to get the appropriate resistors &/or a slightly higher value for longer life. If you want I can look at some part numbers I have used in the past. For LED’s Ngineering has a good selection of SMDs that would nest nicely in the buckets. If you shop at Micromark, get the little punch set & using clear sheet you can make lense covers. Or you can fill the whole lens with a water-clear epoxy, but bulb changes are a nightmare.
I think the 2x3mm surface mount LEDS from Ngineering will do nicely. The actual opening in the casting is about 4.5mm. If these are 20ma each do I have to do anything special to hook it up to a standard HO decoder? I will have one for the loco headlight and another for the tender reverse light. These lights won’t be on at the same time.
If this is your first time dealing with micro LED’s, I would actually recomend the smd LED’s from www.richmondcontrols.com He has some with the wires pre-attached. Get the “Golden White”.
As you’re mounting these in a brass headlight, I would coat the first inch of wire with Microscale’s Kristal Klear or Goop to give the tiny wires extra protection from abrasion against the brass.
You will need a 1000 ohm, 1/8 or 1/4 watt resistor for each LED. You can get them from Richmond for free with the LED’s, or from Radio Shack.
Thanks Jay. Another good option. I like the fact that the wires are already attached. This is the sort of install I was looking for. Thanks for the info on the resistor too!
Chris
I would also coat the edges of the LED and the inside of the headlight with Kristal Klear (before you paint the reflector white or silver) to prevent any shorts. The contacts on the LED are right at the edges and could contact the brass. You can actually dip the whole LED a couple of times in the KK as it dries completely clear.