Mth ho scale Empire State loco with blown headlight led

Model Railroader Electronics and DCC
1

hi guys

I’m wonderin if somebody can help me

My mate had a problem with his controller and has blown the LED headlight in

his ho scale Empire State locomotive. Link below of the locomotive from the

mth website

http://www.mthtrains.com/sites/default/files/download/exploded/80st15841e.pdf

As you can see by the drawings it’s a 3mm led, we,were wondering if you

please advise or find out what the mcd value of the LED is please, so we can

get a replacement locally

We know mth sell these for $7.00 but the cost of postage to australia would be 3 times more than the cost of the LED

Looking at the gs4 it looks,to,have he same led

Thanks

Quentin

2

Got any spare holiday lighting with 3mm LEDs? That should work. I tend to use Warm White ones, as they are the cheap seats equivalent to the fancy Golden White or whatever hobby branding may call them.

Note that brightness can be controlled by varying the value of the resistor in the circuit. The factory usually installs one with a large enough value to protect the LED (which obviously didn’t work here) but this frequently leaves them too bright. You can simply add additional resistance inline.

3

Any 3mm white LED will work. Warm White or golden white would be the best for steam locos. Cool white looks liek a flourescent lamp, and the sunny white looks more like modern sealed beam lights in diesels.

All but special ultra bright LEDs used in flashlights and stuff have close enough to the same rating, only thing that really matters is the forward voltage and the current limit.

–Randy

4

thanks everybody for your help