Hello Everyone:
Last week I baught a Golden Glow White LED. There is a warning and fix I must tell you. If you use DCC, you can skip it.
I burned out the LED after 10 runs on the layout. Here is the problem I have found. I wanted to solved it before my shippment of new ones comes in!
I used a 1K (1000 Ohm) resistor to drop the voltage. According to my DVM set on DC voltage, it read 1.5v. Which is in the safe rang of operating. Checks out ok!!!
Then I switched the DVM to AC. It read 4.5vac and climbing. The LED started to smoke (used a cheap red LED for the test)! Not GOOD!!!
SOLUTION:
I added a 100pF cermic disc capacitor across the terminals. The DC stayed the same. The AC however never changed! No matter what the throttle was, it stayed at .05vac with the cap installed! This was within range of the LED!
It's a cheap investment. The caps are $0.99 at Radio Shack. The catalog number is 272-123. I baught out the entire stock of them. I may also try replacing the resistor with a 1.5k.
I understand alot of people are going to LED's on their locomotives. They are suppose to last forever! If you are having burnout problems, try this solution. Even if you don't. This is still a good and cheap investment!
Andy
Last week I baught a Golden Glow White LED. There is a warning and fix I must tell you. If you use DCC, you can skip it.
I burned out the LED after 10 runs on the layout. Here is the problem I have found. I wanted to solved it before my shippment of new ones comes in!
I used a 1K (1000 Ohm) resistor to drop the voltage. According to my DVM set on DC voltage, it read 1.5v. Which is in the safe rang of operating. Checks out ok!!!
Then I switched the DVM to AC. It read 4.5vac and climbing. The LED started to smoke (used a cheap red LED for the test)! Not GOOD!!!
SOLUTION:
I added a 100pF cermic disc capacitor across the terminals. The DC stayed the same. The AC however never changed! No matter what the throttle was, it stayed at .05vac with the cap installed! This was within range of the LED!
It's a cheap investment. The caps are $0.99 at Radio Shack. The catalog number is 272-123. I baught out the entire stock of them. I may also try replacing the resistor with a 1.5k.
I understand alot of people are going to LED's on their locomotives. They are suppose to last forever! If you are having burnout problems, try this solution. Even if you don't. This is still a good and cheap investment!
Andy