Wiring LEDs to Atlas Switches

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Play-Doh

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May 12, 2006
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Hey Folks

Does anyone know how to wire an LED to indicate an open or closed atlas switch machine? I would like to create a board with my yard that can tell me at a glance if a switch is open or closed.

Im not sure if this had been discussed before....I ran a search with no luck.


Any help you can supply would be great!

Thanks!
TJ
 
YmeBP

YmeBP

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There are 2 threads in specific that I've learned the most about this from. I'm actually at the phase of my layout now that i'm wiring my control board :).

This one:
http://forum.zealot.com/t150429/

and this one:
http://forum.zealot.com/t115968/

The essence is you need a relay in the circuit w/ the turnout, and a resistor attached to the led on your board.




Play-Doh said:
Hey Folks

Does anyone know how to wire an LED to indicate an open or closed atlas switch machine? I would like to create a board with my yard that can tell me at a glance if a switch is open or closed.

Im not sure if this had been discussed before....I ran a search with no luck.


Any help you can supply would be great!

Thanks!
TJ
Click to expand...
 
P

Play-Doh

Member
May 12, 2006
357
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Portland OR
Thanks for your help! That had all the info I would ever need and I know now what im going to do.

One more question though.

I know that Yellow LEDs that run on an average 1.0 to 2.5 volts. SO I have a two part question.

1) What type of resistors do I need? Where can I get them? Walthers?
2) When a resistor is listed as "5 volts" what does that mean. Does that mean 5 volts is all it can handle or that is what is resists the voltage to?

Thanks again!

TJ
 
T

thumsup

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Jun 14, 2005
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Hey Play-Doh and Triplex,

Regarding Play-Doh's question:

"When a resistor is listed as "5 volts" what does that mean. Does that mean 5 volts is all it can handle or that is what is resists the voltage to?"

:confused:If I'm thinking right, resistor's are rated in watts they can handle and in denoted by the 4th colored band on the resistor.

:thumb: Joe
 
T

thumsup

Member
Jun 14, 2005
252
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Anaheim, California
:cry: Opps, should have written resistors are rated in "ohms and watts" Ohms=resistance and watts=power (heat)

Btw, I'm not sure what walter's is listing, maybe one of the more electro members can shine some light on this subject.:cool:
 
YmeBP

YmeBP

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I had the same issue w/ resistors!!! There are a few resistor calculators on the internet i used this one to convert from colors to resistance readings:

Resistor Color Code Converter

and this one to calculate what the resistace i need for a particular circuit:

The Best Current Limiting Resistor Calculator for Led's

So when i started i knew nothing (don't know much more than that now but ...) what i did was use the calculator on quickar's page to calculate the type of resistor i needed for all my leds if i powered them off my toy transformer i have screwed under my table, i chose 12 to 14v as the input voltage the other values i guessed at.

This whole resistor thing is still not that solid in my head but i managed to get the right ratings and bought a bunch from mouser, and a bunch of led's from quickar and i've been able to get them all working :0.
 
T

thumsup

Member
Jun 14, 2005
252
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wall1 Sorry everyone. At dinner tonite I realized an earlier mistake I made. The 4th color of a resistor is the % of its value as stated by the color. The watts rating is determined by its phyiscal size.:p
So sorry, btw what do you use to remove the rust from the brain? :eek:

wall1 Joe
 
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