Rallymatt Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 Everything is better with sparkly lights and brake vans are no exception! After illuminating coaches with magic lights I found a really inexpensive way to create a system for the Brake Vans and have an illuminating tail lamp. A few tweaks if I can to reduce light bleed on the lamp, it’s a WHWW 3D print and quite brittle to drill. Light is fed by a Fibre Optic Filament, the light unit is a natty item from TramFabrique, combined battery, holder, battery, subface mount latching switch and single led. Really compact and neat and of course works with my super dooper uncoupling, load lifter, lighting wand 😁 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Fox 17 Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 (edited) Very effective Matt Edited July 18 by Silver Fox 17 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuLarge Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 What are your thoughts on Fiber Optic Vs those tiny 0.5mm LED's ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted July 18 Author Share Posted July 18 First time using the fibre optic filament in this setting. Works well here. It’s quite simple to work with. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 Fibre optic cable is dirt cheap and can easily be attached to an led using heat shrink tube. By selectively cutting back the external sheath you can also port light to other areas such as lighting the 'cabin' in Matt's image. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJBDoug Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 That’s an 0603 and led in a peco buffer. I looked at Whww tail lamps and I think they are smaller again. I need to see these fibre optics 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 I used side looking twin leds for my Hornby buffers. These are 00. The led will fit in the buffer beam slot and the resistor will hide in the leg especially if painted black. As the leds are back to back they can be wired direct to a DCC track (both leds light) as here, or a DC track, in which case only one led will light according to selected direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie 66 Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 18 hours ago, Rallymatt said: A few tweaks if I can to reduce light bleed on the lamp, Maybe some enamel paint on the outside of the lamp to block light? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted July 19 Author Share Posted July 19 (edited) I’m looking into some better lamps. WWHW are hard to drill out and not shatter and offen most of mine come with the top miss-printed. The front ones they have just launched are way better quality. When I have time I will pop a video up on how I did this and hopefully some other projects using the same components. The ultra small LEDs work really well where the bend in finer optic is just too tight, like the buffer. The the brake van you can just see I drilled a tiny hole through back board of van and the cabin and the FOF is straight through into the lamp. I let some light leak into the cabin of brake van to illuminate it. These tiny light units are very useful 😁 Edited July 19 by Rallymatt 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntpntpntp Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 5 hours ago, DJBDoug said: That’s an 0603 and led in a peco buffer. with a resistor I hope, as it's connected to a 9V battery 🙂 I use mostly 0402 LEDs for N gauge vehicle lights etc. Yes I did try soldering to them my self but the easy available of pre-wired items is a no-brainer tbh 🙂 I added the lighting and built the controller board for these N scale heavy haulage units originally made by a friend some 20 years ago. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted July 19 Author Share Posted July 19 Very nice job Nick 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJBDoug Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 4 hours ago, ntpntpntp said: with a resistor I hope, as it's connected to a 9V battery 🙂 Yes a 15k in heat shrink that will connect through a small rectifier chip to the DCC power eventually Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted July 22 Author Share Posted July 22 I have put together a short video on the early version of the Brake Van lights and also using the TramFabriek lighting units in Stanier Full Brakes. I have also included some details on how to get the bodies off these and what they are like inside for anyone curious but not going in 😁 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skelton Junction Posted July 22 Share Posted July 22 I’ve ordered the starter pack so I can have a play. https://tramfabriek.nl/lighting.html 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted July 22 Author Share Posted July 22 I look forward to seeing what you come up with 😁 these are really useful little lighting modules, they would work well in buildings too for those not confident with soldering . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobby11 Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 Just don't make them too bright, chaps, the oil lights were very, very, dim and even the modern electric ones aren't very bright! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dBerriff Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 The MagnoLEDs are an interesting solution but there is a warning on the website that the batteries do drain over time and will need replacing after a few weeks. I do not know what "few" means here - can anyone enlighten us? There are some interesting lighting products so thank you for the link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted July 23 Author Share Posted July 23 The ones from TramFabriek have a suggested life of 40 hours continuous use, that’s longer than the motors last in TT:120 locos! 🤣 The lighting units I made for the MK1s that have many more LEDs but two larger 1.5v cells have been in 12months plus. I did leave one on just to see and it went about 48 hours before being visibly depleted. Swapping batteries is a really simple job though. On the brightness of the oil lamps, it’s one of the areas where in modelling a compromise helps, light doesn’t scale well, like water. I still have a bit of work to do on the tail lamp idea and using the fibre optic filament 😉 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dBerriff Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 (edited) I saw the 40hr figure but I think the point that the website makes is that there is a small but constant drain on the battery. Even if you do not use the wand to switch the lighting on, the battery will drain over a "few" weeks. If "few" is, say, 52 then I don't see it as a problem, but more a matter of awareness. I presume the unit remains on standby, waiting for the magnetic signal. A hard switch would not drain the battery. You would instead be left with typical shelf life. Edited July 23 by dBerriff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les-345151 Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 28 minutes ago, Rallymatt said: On the brightness of the oil lamps, it’s one of the areas where in modelling a compromise helps, light doesn’t scale well, like water. I still have a bit of work to do on the tail lamp idea and using the fibre optic filament An easy solution for brightness is to paint over the exterior 'bulb' with a translucent colour in sufficient layers to suit ones taste- this works for both led sources and the ends of optical fibres. Such colours can range from dedicated modelling paints to handy bottles of nail varnish. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted July 23 Author Share Posted July 23 (edited) I see what you mean @dBerriff, I can’t imagine the draw is very much compared to a watch for example. I will keep one with battery in but not working as a light and see how it fares. 👍 Edited July 23 by Rallymatt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dBerriff Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 The comment was also aimed at newcomers so they do not make battery access difficult, for example by super-gluing the top back on. I have heard tales of that being done to locomotives! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted July 23 Author Share Posted July 23 In the video I show how I black tac to fix the unit in and I don’t even bother with the screws on the brake van, it clips together sufficiently without. On the coaches they clip back but once the bodies have been off a couple of times they are easier but still secure when refitted. It’s a good point that at some time that battery will need replacing! 😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dBerriff Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 Yes and I found it a very helpful video. What I am trying to say is: "do what Rallymatt does". 😀👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen-1260829 Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 28 minutes ago, Rallymatt said: In the video I show how I black tac to fix the unit in and I don’t even bother with the screws on the brake van, it clips together sufficiently without. On the coaches they clip back but once the bodies have been off a couple of times they are easier but still secure when refitted. It’s a good point that at some time that battery will need replacing! 😁 Is black tack similar or equivalent to tacky wax?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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