JackKynaston Posted June 16 Share Posted June 16 Hello guys, I have been using DC for all my life, and Have only recently invested in DCC as I wanted to try sound. I recently bought a Hornby King class, and was looking for coaches to go with it. I was preferably looking at coaches with interior lighting, however that's when it dawned on me that these coaches were wired for DC use. My question is, if I was to purchase a rake of coaches, would I have to tweak the wiring/ convert them to take AC to be able to run them with my DCC locomotives? For example, R4144 has interior lighting and is something I was looking at to purchase. Any help would be amazing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rog RJ Posted June 16 Share Posted June 16 No need for any concerns, they will be perfectly ok on DCC, bearing in mind the track is live all the time, so the lights will be on at all times unless you have a dead section where you can park them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntpntpntp Posted June 16 Share Posted June 16 Generally speaking they will work fine. Because you're running the lights continuously at full voltage some people change 12V bulbs for 15V or so. If they're LEDs then there'll already be a rectifier in the circuit within the coach, to cope with DC running in either direction. So no problem with the "pseudo AC" of the DCC power. With LEDS you may see a little flicker especially if filmed on a video camera if there isn't a smoothing capacitor in the circuit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted June 16 Share Posted June 16 DCC is not AC and these coaches have all the necessary components to use DCC or DC to light the lights. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted June 18 Share Posted June 18 If your coaches have leds then they must have a rectifier in them of sorts otherwise the lights wouldn't work when going backwards, although I did pick up some lighted carriages where the previous owner forgot to do that. As to the lighting I agree with everyone else they will work permanently, although they might be a bit brighter. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LesXRN Posted June 18 Share Posted June 18 DC/DCC never occured to me when I put a rake of lit Pullmans on my track. The lights worked on DCC so I'm pleased that I didn't fry them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted June 18 Share Posted June 18 For DCC, the same magic that powers the decoder is also used to power the lights - also known as a bridge rectifier, a smoothing capacitor and if necessary a current limiting resistor. And when the smoothing capacitor in the decoder is very large by way of adding an extra, it is called a stay alive. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackKynaston Posted June 26 Author Share Posted June 26 Thank you all for the copious amount of information on the subject, I very much appreciate it 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-1301567 Posted August 12 Share Posted August 12 Just a small question all I was after was to test if the lights work when run on the decoder testers now I was going to use the coach lights in which to try out now i know this maybe straight forward as there are only 2 wires coming of the lighting circuit but on the test unit there is a connection Marked Highlights and one for Rear Lights so do I just place one wire in each of the connections has it's just the connections sound like two different sets of lighting. Please Clarify? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTSR_NSE Posted August 12 Share Posted August 12 (edited) Just use the Headlights connection - when you enable lighting they should switch on & switch off when you disable lighting. The Rear lights will have an extra level of on/off complexity (since most locos only display rear lights if they are at the end of a train, or running by themselves.) Edited August 12 by LTSR_NSE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntpntpntp Posted August 12 Share Posted August 12 (edited) Testing coach lights? No need for or advantage in using a decoder tester unless the coaches have a function decoder fitted. Just place the coach on the DCC track. If you want to verify there's no wiring issues then use an old DC controller and turn up the power gently. The lights should come to life. Change the DC controller direction (or swap the wires or turn the coach round) and try again. Should light up no matter which was round the coach is on the track or the polarity of the DC power. Edited August 12 by ntpntpntp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-1301567 Posted August 13 Share Posted August 13 On 12/08/2024 at 14:19, ntpntpntp said: Testing coach lights? No need for or advantage in using a decoder tester unless the coaches have a function decoder fitted. Just place the coach on the DCC track. If you want to verify there's no wiring issues then use an old DC controller and turn up the power gently. The lights should come to life. Change the DC controller direction (or swap the wires or turn the coach round) and try again. Should light up no matter which was round the coach is on the track or the polarity of the DC power. Well my soul aim was to use the coach lights to test the decoder was working but with there being two wires + and - i could only see a connection on the LiasDCC Tester one connection for Headlights and another connection for Rear Lights so wasn't sure whether to connect one wire in the Headlight connection and the other in the Rear Light which sounded wrong and the other thought connecting both wires in one connection (ie Headlights) which also sounded wrong cause thinking that both wires would touch one another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntpntpntp Posted August 13 Share Posted August 13 So you have a decoder plugged in or wired into the Decoder tester? The tester already has LEDs onboard to test the decoder functions for front and rear lights and the first 6 functions. You don't need to use a coach at all 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-1301567 Posted August 13 Share Posted August 13 5 hours ago, ntpntpntp said: So you have a decoder plugged in or wired into the Decoder tester? The tester already has LEDs onboard to test the decoder functions for front and rear lights and the first 6 functions. You don't need to use a coach at all 🙂 Oh right I see so what's the idea with the connections below in green board with Headlights and Rear Lights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 The terminal strip is used to attach a hard wired decoder, i.e. one that has free wire tails not a plug. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntpntpntp Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 2 hours ago, 96RAF said: The terminal strip is used to attach a hard wired decoder, i.e. one that has free wire tails not a plug. I agree. Those terminals are inputs from a decoder, not outputs. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-1301567 Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 2 hours ago, ntpntpntp said: I agree. Those terminals are inputs from a decoder, not outputs. I see it's a good job i asked about this Decoder Testing device. As they say you learn something everyday. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntpntpntp Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 (edited) 1 hour ago, Ian-1301567 said: I see it's a good job i asked about this Decoder Testing device. As they say you learn something everyday. Does it not come with instructions? [edit] Hmmm... just an annotated diagram, but that explains the connectors https://laisdcc.com/860033_Manual_en.pdf Edited August 14 by ntpntpntp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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