DIY LED Model Railroad Lighting. Affordable lighting basics, simple resistor selection. ACHB 1-50

[@garyoverton6222]

Very good info. It’s simply done even I with no electrical smarts can understand

[@achb-railway]

Good to hear, and thanks for watching! Have a Happy New Year!

[@charlie1872]

Thanks so much for putting this together. This is an area that I have little info/understanding of, this simplifies it for me although I thought I would need too use a 5vokt power source Cheers, Charlie

[@achb-railway]

Thanks for watching! You can use almost any low voltage DC power source - but the value of the resistors you would need would be different. There are charts available online to figure out the correct resistor. What I mentioned here was for 12V (although using them on a somewhat lower voltage would probably work as well).

[@Iconoclasher]

Back in the old analog days when using GOW incandescents, even though they were rated for 12v I ran them on 6v. The soft glow seemed to scale better.

[@achb-railway]

I’ve done similar things - run a couple in series, drop down with a resistor, etc.

[@rbingraham]

I just started to go back to some of your older videos showing the start of this layout. I'm kind of blown away by how much you've done in what seems like just 9 months or so.

[@achb-railway]

Thanks for watching! Yes - I think my first video for this layout was February 4 of this year. At the time, it was a freshly painted, empty room, and I had just finished the flooring when I posted the video. Doing this KZbin channel has actually provided me a lot of inspiration to keep going - although I did take a break for a couple of months over the summer as we went on a long vacation. I am now retired (as of July) so I have time to do this!

[@monsvillerailways5736]

Great explanation Rainer. It is easy to be unsure of adding lights at the beginning, but once you overcome your uncertainty the results are amazing. Happy modelling.

[@achb-railway]

@@monsvillerailways5736 It’s a lot simpler than a lot of people make it out to be.

[@FredE528]

Thank you for doing this video. Very helpful. 👍👍👍

[@achb-railway]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!

[@williamwatson9166]

Thank you for the info. I needed it my wiring looks like a bowel of spaghetti.

[@achb-railway]

Thanks for watching!

[@Quince828]

Thanks for the most straightforward explanation of how to wire LEDs Ive ever seen. I’ve been wanting to add lights to my layout and now I know how easy it is. As well as streetlights I’m hoping to use a ribbon strip in some buildings and I assume the principle is the same.

[@achb-railway]

LEDs are not complicated to work with, once you understand the basics. And considering how cheap they are, it’s not a huge loss if you blow one or two while experimenting on the workbench!

[@Quince828]

@ that’s good to know. I got some streetlights that came with resistors off Amazon and found a roll of led strip very cheap at Princess Auto to cut up and put in buildings

[@rickdee67]

THANK YOU! This explanation was exactly what I need!

[@achb-railway]

Glad it helped!

[@ScottRails]

Excellent video Rainer, very helpful to anyone looking to add light to their layout.

[@achb-railway]

Thanks Dave!

[@Hawaii_HO]

Excellent video. While I am comfortable working with LEDs, I watched the whole thing with great interest. It helped me to clarify how to wire them up correctly in a series. Thanks.

[@achb-railway]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!

[@thehouseofhorsepowerautobo4506]

Definitely helpful! Great explanation!

[@achb-railway]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!

[@keithludowitz9637]

Thanks for the video, Ranier

[@achb-railway]

Thanks for watching!

[@MRR_Shadowolf]

Great video, learned a lot, thank you for sharing!

[@achb-railway]

Thanks for watching!

[@Yaakhaaks]

This is a great channel. Loads of interesting content. 😎🚂🇺🇸

[@achb-railway]

Thanks! Always good to hear that my rambling videos are somehow appreciated! I really enjoy the videos you have on your channel. Always well done.

[@Yaakhaaks]

👍😎🚂🇺🇸

[@danielfantino1714]

Not available for all situations, why not try Christmas led. Right the good season for that. So many styles and colors. They don´t heat much, should last a long time....and just plug in wall outlet. By the way just in special right now and probably cheaper after hollidays. Install and plug. Unplug when not in use. No transformer and headaches. Can be use under your valence for layout lightning and controlled i Unwanted shade. Just an idea. Thanks for your good work😊😊

[@achb-railway]

I’ve seen people use Christmas lights on their layout. For white lighting I already have led bars, and I have some blue led strips on order - but they are stuck in the mail because of our postal strike…

[@danielfantino1714]

​@@achb-railway Have you been a good boy this year ? If so, Santa will take care of it. Postal strike or not..... On funnier note, Post Canada deliver each year tons of kids letters to Santa. Hope they will this year. A tradition is more important than a strike. Merry Chgistmas my friend. May your health and layout being always with you😊😊

[@achb-railway]

@@danielfantino1714 Thanks! I did get one eBay purchase today - that I THOUGHT was coming by mail. They used DHL instead. Another "used" (that looks brand new) Kato SD40-2.

[@danielfantino1714]

​@@achb-railway if you really want to be prototypical, since EMD doesn´t make SD40 anymore, you must buy used ones😅😅😅 Congrat ! I miss them...

[@jamesdavenport4583]

It would be helpful if you put links where you got your materials. Thank you for charging your video is very informative nonetheless.

[@achb-railway]

All of the LEDs and resistors are available on Amazon. I think I bought some of them from AliExpress, but they are the identical products.

[@johnbanicki7232]

Very good information. Where do you get your LED's from? Just off Amazon? Thanks for sharing.

[@achb-railway]

@@johnbanicki7232 most of them were from Amazon. Some from AliExpress

[@andydickson5400]

Great video, what wattage are those resistors?

[@achb-railway]

These are 1/4 watt resistors. Those street lights are well under that in current draw - and when connected in series, the current doesn't go over the rating of the resistor (I measured it).

[@giuseppe4909]

On those street lights that are too “white”…just paint the lamp glass with a thinned coat of tamiya transparent yellow… or whatever color you like.

[@achb-railway]

@@giuseppe4909 I might try something like that.

[@garyoverton6222]

If the lights were on a hwy on the layout how many would you hook together.

[@achb-railway]

I probably wouldn’t connect any more together in series than 3 or 4. If one light dies, everything in that series stops working. Having too many in series would make troubleshooting a pain… Also depends on how bright they need to be..

[@paulflak2823]

My up coming project swapping out my old lights for LED. So if I understand correctly if I buy the lights with a built in resistor the more I wire in a series the dimmer the light be emitted?

[@achb-railway]

Yes - although the dimming effect will be more pronounced with multiple resistors (one per LED). I have tried it with up to three LEDs in series (with built in resistors) and they do work, and get noticeably dimmer with each added resistor. The reality is that with 4 or more white LEDs in series - on a 12 volt supply - you don't even need a resistor. Each LED has a forward voltage of just over 3 volts, so with 4 together, that's already over 12 volts.

[@majortomtogc]

What are you using for the power supplies?

[@achb-railway]

@@majortomtogc Just some generic 12 VDC power supplies from Amazon.

[@larrybaughman618]

🤠👍

[@achb-railway]

@@larrybaughman618 Thanks Larry!

[@rb2268]

I was thinking of running my future leds direct on rechargeable AA batteries. For the amount of time they will actually be on seems well within the hours of run time per charge. Plus I like the idea of not relying on another device to run the lights. But this just an idea from an uninformed non train guy that owns model trains and plays with them, lol.

[@achb-railway]

You could do that, but I think it would end up being more expensive, and more of a hassle long term. There are plenty of 12V dc power supplies on Amazon for under $20.

[@rb2268]

@achb-railway Interesting. Thanks for your insight.