# More lights



## riderdan (Jan 2, 2014)

One of the really neat things about my layout is that I can see most all of it from the dining room window. And at night, it’s really cool to look out and see the miniature town all lit up. I just like being able to admire how cool it looks with all the lights on. 


Before summer vacation, I’d made a set of post lights for the maintenance stop by the station. This section has a water tower and coal bins for servicing the steam locomotives, and looks nice during the day. But it needed lights.









Sorry the photo is a little fuzzy. Unlike a "real" camera, my phone doesn't do low light very well.

The new lights are the three posts at the rear of that section. The poles are made from brass tube and the light canopies from brass domes. I think this looks good now. The steam locomotives could definitely be serviced at night in this location. Of course, we'll see how long the LEDs last


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## jimhoot (Mar 21, 2015)

Dan

There is no picture or link to one?


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Strange... I am usually the one that can't see the embedded image! I see it just fine, this time.


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

Looks great Dan! I did the same after waking up one night and thinking it would be nice to see the buildings lit up.

-Jim


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## Mike Flea (Apr 8, 2014)

Very nice Dan, lights up the area well


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## Naptowneng (Jun 14, 2010)

I agree, light on the layout at night are very cool. I have used the solar garden light mod approach, with a success rate of about 50% in keeping them working......;(

Jerry


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## jimhoot (Mar 21, 2015)

Looks good Dan.

Turns out the server at work wont open your's and some other pictures.
No problems here at home.


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## Dick Friedman (Aug 19, 2008)

I've added several lights to my RR also. They look like signals, but I use them to add atmosphere and to show that power is getting to the rails. No light = no power. I use a red/green LED mounted on a brass tube. The head is a 3D print. The front is a single print of the square hole for the LED and its shade. The second print is the box which hides (and weatherproofs) the LED.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

The little solar powered lights are now 97 cents each at Wallmart, just a solar cell on top, and a single LED below, easy to hack and put in a building 

Might be a great alternative if you don't mind remoting the solar cells from the light

Greg


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## RCE (Sep 14, 2009)

I am thinking of using solar powered lights in my layout. This is what I am thinking of using : http://www.bulbhead.com/shop/outdoor/solar-bling-lights-1.html
Could the wires between the lights be cut and lengthened to go between the buildings and remove the string of lights that would not be used?
Thanks
Richard


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## Cataptrra (Mar 16, 2015)

RCE said:


> I am thinking of using solar powered lights in my layout. This is what I am thinking of using : http://www.bulbhead.com/shop/outdoor/solar-bling-lights-1.html
> Could the wires between the lights be cut and lengthened to go between the buildings and remove the string of lights that would not be used?
> Thanks
> Richard


I would say probably not. It all depends on the voltage required to light all 50 of those white L.E.D.'s and not knowing if they are using high power batteries, and/or a step up transformer to get the correct voltage to make each L.E.D. light the same brightness. you'd more than likely have a difficult time cutting out and removing ANY of the L.E.D.'s in the string.

Best bet here is to either black them out with some type of black light cap or flat black paint and leave the entire string intact. Or possibly between the buildings use them as a street lamp or free standing porch{yard} light for the building.

Now if you want to hack the string and make use each L.E.D. individual, I base it on most white L.E.D.'s are usually 3VDC, however, they are some that may be .5 VDC {half volt}, best way to test is to sacrifice one as an experiment, using a single cell 1/2VDC battery, like an AA cell and see how bright the L.E.D. operates, add in a new successive cell, test again at 3VDC, then 3 cells = 4.5VDC and finally 4 cells = 6VDC, if the L.E.D. lights at any of these voltages with a nice brightness, then you've found the ideal voltage to operate them on.

But most strings are wired in series and if this is the case with these solar lights, then the voltage to light the entire strand could be as follows:

.5{1/2}VDC per L.E.D. * 50 = 25VDC
3VDC per L.E.D. for * 50 150VDC
4.5VDC per L.E.D. for * 50 = 225VDC
6VDC per L.E.D. for * 50 = 300VDC
{Been awhile since I've figured this out, but think I've got this right. However, I doubt the strands would operate on anything higher than 12VDC, but you really never know.}

Now if the string is wired in "parallel", then each L.E.D. would get the same voltage as the actual L.E.D. voltage requirement, that is, each L.E.D. could be 3VDC, so every L.E.D. on the string would see no more than 3VDC at it's location. If wired in this manner, cutting the string would be okay with no issues . This is also how this string could be wired, but without knowing or seeing the actual string itself, I can only speculate on how they wired it. Because they could have used yet, a 3rd method, called series-parallel, where a specific number of bulbs are wired in series and are interconnected with those wired in parallel down the string.

Just too many variables without having the string in hand, opening the solar panel to see how the electronics are done to really know for sure if the string could be cut and hacked, unless someone has done it before and posted it somewhere, is the only way to know for almost certain if it can be accomplished.


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## riderdan (Jan 2, 2014)

Greg Elmassian said:


> The little solar powered lights are now 97 cents each at Wallmart, just a solar cell on top, and a single LED below, easy to hack and put in a building
> 
> Might be a great alternative if you don't mind remoting the solar cells from the light
> 
> Greg


The problem I have had with those is that the brightness starts out pretty low and drops off even more precipitously than the hardwired LEDs. I had a set in the front yard and they were barely visible after 6 months. Most of them were in full sun all day, but barely glowed when the sun went down. I do have one of those "solar lighthouses" which has held up better. Possibly it has a more efficient PV cell and better battery?

Since I've already run the wires and had the transformer on hand, replacement lights now just cost whatever the cost of a single LED is. About $0.15 each. I don't count the time for resoldering them, since I'd have to do that whether using my method or solar.

For those without a "free" transformer and the layout pre-wired, I think solar could be a better choice.


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## Cataptrra (Mar 16, 2015)

riderdan said:


> The problem I have had with those is that the brightness starts out pretty low and drops off even more precipitously than the hardwired LEDs. I had a set in the front yard and they were barely visible after 6 months. Most of them were in full sun all day, but barely glowed when the sun went down. I do have one of those "solar lighthouses" which has held up better. Possibly it has a more efficient PV cell and better battery?
> 
> Since I've already run the wires and had the transformer on hand, replacement lights now just cost whatever the cost of a single LED is. About $0.15 each. I don't count the time for resoldering them, since I'd have to do that whether using my method or solar.
> 
> For those without a "free" transformer and the layout pre-wired, I think solar could be a better choice.


The issue with those "cheap" solar lamps is they rust out very quickly as water does tend to get down inside to the battery and it's contacts, the battery may be just fine, but the contacts have corroded, not allowing the solar cell and electronic charging circuit to do it's job very well. 

This is why these tend to start dropping off or diminishing in their light output over a 3-6 month time period.

If when new, you open them and add some non-conductive dielectric grease on the battery contacts, they will work much longer, but need to be re-greased probably at least once a year, maybe every 6 months.

I've got some solar flood lights that are 7 years old and still working fine, just added the dielectric grease to the battery contacts and slipped the battery back in and they've been working for years now. I do re-grease them every 6-7 months to keep them functional.


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## CliffyJ (Apr 29, 2009)

Dan, that scene is looking wonderful!


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

I had no luck with those strings of solar lights, just poor quality.


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