Model LED street lights - Detailed guide DIY

A video tutorial how to make a good looking, low cost street light in less than 5 minutes for your model railroad / Railway, tabletop fantasy or diorama scenery.

[@SuperLee47]

I had a friend way back in the 60's, and he used one light bulb under his layout. He ran plastic fibers all around the layout. He even lit his singles the same way.. Way ahead of his time...

[@marvinbanka7592]

I really liked this tutorial. It introduced me to sodering, and now I'll make more lights than I was going to do.

[@petersierksma5374]

I admire your ingenuity! It is very inspiring

[@datalasse]

Great tutorial! You should might mention that the voltage when you test the LED:s must be rather low or i series with that 1 kohm resistor mentioned later on.

[@rolandlong3870]

Thank you for all your brilliant vids I love them here in UK, the tissue water and the underfelt , I have already been to Ikea

[@bansurishankar]

Awesome tutorial...every year in india, we have a festival of dolls and I used to come up with my own version of SMD LED street lights...they used to break fairly easily and your version gives me a permanent fix for it....you have an ardent follower now :-)

[@marklinofsweden]

Shankar Srinivasan That's great! 👍 Wish you all the best for the festival! Please share the link to this video if you think more people would have use for it. Is there photos from the festival available on www? It would be interesting to see. We don't have that here in Sweden. Again, thank you for your comment!

[@strange-universe]

been watching your tutorials all afternoon, great stuff!

[@pcburner068]

Great tutorial I was looking how to build some street lights like this and I stumbled across this tutorial. Thanks so much for doing this.

[@Hroutland]

Awsome. I'll ordered some SMD LEDs from which an would also start in that light theme for my tabletop terrain. Your video is helping a lot

[@TheCoolsam8]

Good video, I am going to attempt make these, what size LED's are you using here?

[@fresnodan8367]

Hi. Novice question: Is the resistor also connected to the wire? Were you connecting the resistor to the lamp post so it is grounded? Thank you for your instructive and entertaining tutorials!

[@marklinofsweden]

Hi! No, I actually use the lamp post as ground conductor, so the resistor is soldered to the post (Brass tubing)

[@TGA2010000]

Excellent detail and patience sir!

[@CarlosGutierrez-id8vr]

Excelentes tutoriales!!! Saludos desde El Salvador

[@Erik_Hahn]

Usefull tutorial 👌🏼 Was the trainterminal on the background at Årsta Stockholm?

[@marklinofsweden]

Hello Erik! Exactly. Årsta it is! :)

[@gvet47]

You made us all see the light! 👍

[@franks.1454]

Ich möchte auch LED einbauen, habe aber nun gelesen, dass LED‘s keinen Wechselstrom vertragen und schnell altern. Als beste Lösung wird der Einbau von Brückengleichrichtern empfohlen. Dadurch flackert die LED nicht, beide Halbwellen werden zu + und laufen durch die LED. Doppelt positiver Effekt.! Aber wie immer top Video! Sehr gute Kamera und gutes Licht! Danke dafür!

[@marklinofsweden]

Vielen Dank Frank! Ja, ob mann nicht ein Kondensator hinten das Brückengleichrichtern koppeln, dann flackert die LED. Flackern ist kein problem ob mann ein Kamera mit Europäische standard (PAL 50 bildern/sekunde) braucht. Es gibt ein problem ob Mann ein Iphone haben, weil es hat das Amerikanische standard mit 60 bildern/sekunde.

[@taraxacum999]

A fantastic video! I've got to try this at home :) I'm just wondering if the product number 5517040 of that Distrelec copper wire was correct or suitable? According to the Distrelec online catalog, it has an outer diameter of 0.1 mm which is very thin. You mentioned in the video your cable was 0.5 mm?

[@francescod6494]

Very nice work but can you please tell me why are adding a diode even though we have the resistor? What type of diode are you using? Voltage matters for the diode? I understand that diode leave current go in one direction so again why you would add one? Please advise Thank you in advance!

[@marklinofsweden]

Hi! The diode protects the LED from reverse polarity. The max voltage in reverse for the LED is 5V. This means that the supply voltage of 19V will kill the LED. the max reverse for the diode is 24V.

[@francescod6494]

marklinofsweden excellent! Thank you so much for your prompt reply and for clarifying that for me. I really enjoy ALL your videos!

[@francescod6494]

@@marklinofsweden Sorry but I cannot find the Diode in your tutorial "Distralec 70-225-57" - can you, kindly, let me know what is an alternative diode I can buy and how many amps, voltage the diodes have to be? Also is a Schottky Diode better, worse, can I use? Please advise and thank you in advance!

[@kennmossman8701]

@@francescod6494 Any diode ought to work; 1N4148 or from the 1N400x family - i.e 1N4001. Schottky's have a lower voltage drop but are more expensive - the lower drop hardly matters if you are using 5Volts or more.

[@francescod6494]

@@kennmossman8701 Okay thank you Kenn, this was an unexpected reply as it has been a little while that I posted my question, Marklin of Sweden was too busy to follow up with a second reply, he left me hanging, so yours it's greatly appreciated at this point in time and for Xmas! I usually only use a resistor I have never had a need for a reverse polarity diode that's, I believe, an extra step to be safe but not really necessary in my opinion. I was surprised that the Host, sorry don't know his name, was using it. I am not going to bother with this addition also because in Canada, my city, they are not easy to find I would have to source them from eBay and shipping, these days, is pretty sketchy! Thanks again and Happy holidays to your and your Family!

[@crn_rc]

Har nyligen funnit din youtube kanal, då jag fastnat för 1/87 RC fordon. Försöker fixa ett landskap att köra på, men vad för temperatur har du när du löder? Jag lyckas inte få något att fästa.

[@ledlightingaccessories-led5160]

Nice work👍

[@joeviking61]

Very nice work ! Thanks for sharing your great idea !

[@marklinofsweden]

+joeviking61 Thank you for positive feedback!! :)

[@gouldianjunction6014]

Hey, you may have said this in the video not shore. What size did you cut each brass pieces too? Thinking of making some of them myself. great video.

[@marklinofsweden]

Gouldian Junction Hi! No, I don't think I did mentioned that. The streetlights really have different hight in different areas where I live, so I would think it's mote important it looks right together with what you're modelling, rather than using fixed measures. Make a prototype street light, compare with a figure and adjust hight for your production.

[@borisr7605]

gracias amigo me sirvieron de mucho tus tutoriales.un saludo desde Bolivia.

[@thomaswilson3437]

I live in Florida. What is that stuff flying around in the air during your intro?

[@smartfalcon8116]

Could someone please advice how I can make these type of model lamps free standing? I need a base for each individual one and not fixed to a board.

[@LOLISJM]

donde puedo ver estos tutoriales en español porfavoy, e encontrados algunos y me encanta su tecnica

[@adityanaiduvanam7334]

very nice tutorial it's very helpful too☺

[@trainhunter100]

Var skaffar du dina LED som du använder här i avsnittet, och vilket art.nr. har de?

[@T70MkIII]

Very nice tutorial, but why did you add a diode, given that is what a LED is?

[@marklinofsweden]

+T70MkIII Hi! Thank you for the positive feedback! 😊👍 The "extra" diode in series with the circuit protects the LED from reverse polarity and voltage spikes. The reverse voltage withstand of the LED is only about 5VDC, so if the supply of 15-24vDC is connected wrong the LED will burn. Further.. There are a lot of electrical interference introduced in the power cables, as well as possible ESD-sparks from hands or cloths. The extra diode will protect the LED from that too.

[@T70MkIII]

Thanks very much for explaining this - makes perfect sense.

[@kennmossman8701]

@@marklinofsweden I REALLY doubt the diode - in series- will reduce spikes. You can reduce spikes by using a capacitor, or PI filter, or MOV, or Zeners in parallel.

[@marklinofsweden]

@@kennmossman8701 It will prevent any voltage spikes in reverse polarity. Nothing else.

[@patrikwigert]

Superbra tutorial, vad använder du för testare när du kollar din lödning? Du har inspirerat mig att börja ge mig in på detta område. Med vänlig hälsning, //Patrik

[@marklinofsweden]

+Patrik Wigert Tack Patrik! Kul att du gillar filmerna. 👍😊 Testare? Jag använder en sån därn variabel "spänningkub" som man hade på fysiklektionerna i högstadiet. De kan också kallas "Laboratorie nätaggregat" alt "Powersupply med variabel spänning". Lysdioderna utan förkopplingsmotstånd drivs på typ 3Volt.. Conrad och Kjell o Co har sånna.

[@patrikwigert]

Ok, då vet jag, jag hittade en på elfa där du köpt dioderna. den fick det bli :)

[@jjab99]

Very good idea, well done.

[@marklinofsweden]

+jjab99 Thank you for positive feedback!! :)

[@martincsanadi747]

Klasse Tutorial, Martin.

[@nejcfludernik1997]

Love the tutorials that you make, I'm just wondering why you added the diode at the bottom?

[@donbriggs9128]

Reverse polarity protection.

[@marinozaforasdecabo8219]

Muchas gracias por tus consejos son realmente útiles

[@vslavle3029]

Спасибо Вам. Интересно.

[@bigdon1a1]

nice job

[@tollickd]

Would these be too large for z gauge?

[@marklinofsweden]

+NeoStuff Yes, in the dimensions used in this video would be too large. However, there are both smaller LEDs in the market, as well as brass tubes with smaller diameter, so I Think it could be adapted to Z-gauge. :)

[@tollickd]

+marklinofsweden ok thanks will take a look can you advise the best places buy the leds?

[@marklinofsweden]

+NeoStuff I don´t know about the best Place, but I got mine from Distralec. www.distrelec.com/global/

[@tollickd]

+marklinofsweden thank you so much please keep up the great work with these video.

[@marklinofsweden]

NeoStuff I will! I promise! There is a new layout video going live tomorrow Friday. It´s a great video. If have th chance, please support the channel by a small donation. All the best! :)

[@dipeshrana3021]

Love you

[@paddypolo46]

echt gute idee!!!!.

[@Romin.777]

Aliexpress 10 steel posts for 2,50 euro But making them yourself is way more fun. :))

[@marklinofsweden]

I´ve seen those.. Yeah.. I don´t know.. They weren´t around (I think) when I published this video..

[@RoaldvdM]

I see several questions about "the diode on the wire". For reverse polarity protection, that diode is soldered *anti* parallel to the led, ideally parallel to the led + resistor. In case of reverse polarity most current will flow through the diode, protecting the led. If you want to go overboard: add a second resistor in series before everything to limit the current with both normal and reverse polarity.

[@duly-duly2559]

How to mach volts DC

[@marklinofsweden]

DULY89 DULY The diode type 1N4148 shown in the video will make volts DC. The resistor of 1kOhm shown in the video will make LED usable for voltage between 5V to 24V

[@MsFred58]

too hard.

[@needhivlogs3910]

SO Bad

[@ProducerJakeyJam]

Why what's wrong with you?

[@sonnylatchstring]

SOB