FITTING LIGHTING TO MY OO GAUGE COACHES
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- Опубліковано 18 лип 2020
- FITTING LIGHTING TO MY OO GAUGE COACHES
Fancy having a go a fitting lighting to your coaches, as it makes such a difference bringing a whole new dimension to the layout. I look at a couple of solutions, but please understand there are many types of coaches by varying manufacturers and maybe lighting solutions Im not aware of, Im not able to show an exhaustive collection and its possible what I suggest may not fit your personal stock. Im concentrating on my two types of carriage and the Bachman auto coach.
In this video I:
- Look at off the shelf lighting solutions that Im aware of.
- Explain what you would need to make the battery style lighting circuit.
- Demonstrate how to wire this simple battery circuit.
- Demonstrate how to wire up the basic circuit using a lighting strip, bridge rectifier, resistor and a latching reed switch.
- Demonstrate my solution for dimming the lights
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A very nice solution to a tricky problem without having to spend a lot of money to re-bogey and rectify a lot of cars. I have seen the magnet wand a couple of times now, and the set-up is very clever. Excellent work, sir. I think someone below explained the magnet issue, so I won't. Hopefully you can sort that! Cheers.
Thanks Anthony I always appreciate you support. Yes I must investigate this magnet shielding foil
Excellent video John, well explained and clear video. A nice budget solution to coach lighting, nice work 👍All the best, Andy
I can tell you work in education John, it's the way you explain important information!!
Hi Steve, thank you, is that good or bad ha ha ha?
I don't know how you get such a great depth on this layout senicly in such a small space even though I really do know how as I've seen the videos you've done on how you created thx for the time you put into these videos and the way you do what you do so well thx again
Thank you fo4 your very kind words and YW.
I really love this channel what a great idea it was to post your hobby on this platform
Hi Thank you, so kind. I have another channel devoted to building Manchester Piccadilly in N gauge. Feel free to take a look.
ua-cam.com/channels/ygRpQ8YII92Mny-lQpG5oA.html
Hello John, nicely done. I noticed someone else made the suggestion to actually paint the led light out. I’ve seen it done. Just a simple yellow paint dot on the led will work. In the end your coaches look great. Pity about the engines turning your lights on and off with their magnets. But knowing this community, someone will come up with a solution. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday. See ya next time.
Thanks Norman, the cam does makes the light appear so much brighter, there is apparently a magnetic shielding foil, I need to investigate.
great video, thank you. ive just lookes at latching reed switches, they seem expensive
Hi Andy, yes they are, because they are very rare compared to the non latching relative, which are 10 a penny. Things may have changed now but when I made this video the only place they are found is Layouts 4u.
Having used them, I’ve found I don’t bother switching on the lights as you have to find the switching magnet and remember to turn them off again otherwise you return to yet another dead battery.
Brilliant. Nicely described and perfect for dc layouts too.
Hi Alan, thank you yes definitely both DC & DCC
Nice clip John and there is always a way round any think this looks very good when you have plastic wheels on a coach..........you save money on coach and still get effect within it with lights which work via a auto switch ....great project .......and well explained thank you
Thanks Paul glad you enjoyed it.
A great enlightening video John at a reasonable cost mate
Enjoyed this, thanks for the upload. Didn't even know reed switches were a thing for coach lighting but this battery system seems 10x easier than all the faff I've seen trying to get the bogies to pick up. Will defo consider this in due time. Looking forward to a possible update on the shielding solutions.
Thank you, very kind of you. The battery system is great as are layouts4u kits, but if youve got a lot to do you may consider buying separate components its so much cheaper. Although you would need to glue tiny magnets onto the reed switches to make them latch.
@@piccadillysidingsoogaugemo6445 - Ok, thanks for the heads up. Probs buy a couple kits to get a feel 1st.
Love your work
well explained video... i will have to give that a go on my D78... great work on the auto coach... ingenious
Ahhh thank you Neil, glad it was helpful to you
I really like that with OO that you can put the battery on the outside of the car. I really want to add lighting to my N scale passenger cars, but I do not have nearly enough room for it to be easy.
Thank you, it just fitted well with that carriage / car. Strangely Ive literally just released an N gauge video which looks at similar but different ways of lighting N gauge stock.
ua-cam.com/video/Gu4OBEXMdVw/v-deo.html
Ahhh Maplins - was a great way to waste an hour or so.....Nice to see the use of the latching reed switch. Thanks.
Yes I did spend a fair while in maplins too. Such a crying shame theyve gone. If not then, they probably would have struggled to survive the COVID crisis now. Glad you liked the video. Thank you for taking the time to comment.
Very helpful video John. You have answered some of my lighting questions. I am not confident with electrics so you have de-mystified some of it for me. I just placed an order with layouts4u. We shall see......Lol.
Brilliant Gordon, thank you. The layouts4u kits are great and easy to assemble / fit kit as long as your ok with the soldering, no escape on that one Im afraid.
Do be aware you will have to find a way to check whether you’ve turned off the lights when you’re done with the layout for the day, as the batteries wont last that long if just left on. I used to run trains into the fiddle yard and couldn’t see the lights so I forgot them returned to dead battery.
Hi I've just subscribed
Another great video John. I need about 30 coaches doing lol think it'll be a slow job cheers Andy
Well, thats depends on how fast you work Andy lol, whether you hard wire each to coach pickups or whether you use the battery sustem it would certain keep you out of mischief ha ha ha.
Seriously though, I with that many to do I would be buying the components separately, even reed switches, make your own latching mechanism with magnets glued over the contact point on the reed switches. All components are sooooooo much cheaper. Its hard to remember but I think each coach came in around £2-3 as opposed to the £6.50, £9(N gauge dapol light bars) or the £25 for traintech version. Ill watch with interest to what you do.
i feel like ive learned more from you and this video with circuits than i did in school when i did it haha, they do look really good, i think the camera is doing alright i think they look good :), one advantage of modern n gauge coaches especially the mk3s they already have the plug ready fdor the lights haha
Hi thats very kind of you to say, I am a teacher as you probably know lol. I do feel the camera was struggling with white balance hayho, not important.
Yes certainly the dapol N gauge coaches have plug in lights. (Not graham farish though.) There N gauge lighting video is out on Wednesday on the main channel and it covers dapol light plugs, but I make my own, lol
Nice idea using the red switch. On the third coach maybe you could have run the wires under the floor as it looked to be a separate from the bottom of the car. I really like the idea of the battery as I have some Amtrak superliner and used the Kato lighing kits, the flicker and in some cases they don't work at all.as always thanks for sharing....Jack 👍👍👍
Hi Jack, thank you Jack, dont remember using a red switch but hayho. Yes you are right I could have mounted the wires under the floor of the autocoach, just didnt think of it. Im happy as it is, I did paint the red wire so you cannot see it now anyway. Forgive me Im not familiar with US kits, but the battery solution does stop flickering, but you do need a way to check if the lights are off at the end of a session, as I found out batteries dont last long if they are left on lol.
Nice one John, interesting way to do coach lighting, I'm a novice at all things electrical but I think they look great. Dunno if you could just use an acrylic paint on leds to change colour/brightness? Enjoying your uploads
Glad you enjoyed it. The light has dulled down by quite a bit and sadly looks very bright on cam, thinks its something to do with the white balance. The LED strip could be painted over I just chose to diffuse it ob this occasion. Great idea though.
Gas soldering irons are better than mains get up to temperature quicker and totally portable just need lighter gas best way to solder !
Thank you for your comment
Great job John, you always make it look so easy my friend...good job done. Could you not get the dull light effect by using a yellow ink.. All the best mate, Chris
Hi Chris thank you, I could use ink or paint but was trying to defuse the light. In reality the auto coach doe look much better. It’s the camera white balance settings
Hi John - I am finally catching up on videos and I do like the battery method and I think I will give it a go . I did use Train Tech for the EMUs but it would be too costly to do all stock but at £6-50 a coach then its a goer. And they do look good................Cheers Kev
Hi Kev, glad you liked it. The battery option does work well but you do need to find a way to remember to turn off the lights, so easy to leave them on a return to a dead battery.
Hi, great informative video and I will have a go on my coaches. Please can you tell me which Latched Reed Switch you used and where you bought them from.
Many thanks
Hi I made my own latching reed switches, but you can get them from Layouts 4u. Best buy the coaching lighting kits from them otherwise it gets costly. Hoping that helps
Thanks for the info
Great video thanks. I’m afraid I am not that confident in soldiering to do the work myself so I have to buy ready made. I do have a question, when you showed the interior of the Bachmann coach there was a couple of screws. Now I am assuming that they hold the seats to the base. If you undid them could you not have put the wire underneath the seats? Thanks, Mel
Hi Melford, thank you for your kind words. I do understand what you are saying about soldering, however Im a believer in ‘have a go’, even on a practise joint soldering two wires together? Alternatively, if you didnt like it maybe as someone to solder the kit together on your behalf? The only ready to fit that Im aware of is the traintech one at £20-25 per coach, and its not DCC either. Brilliant none the same.
Yes the screws do remove the seating and yes that would have been a better solution in hindsight, I just didn’t think of it. However as its done now Ill leave it now. Thank you I do appreciate your contribution.
As informative and entertaining as ever, John. Is there any mileage in a video about the particular putting lighting into n gauge coaches? I was wondering if the Dapol magnets would affect the reed switches? Hope you're enjoying being back into work!
Hi David, funny you should say that there is a N gauge video already uploaded going live on Wednesday at 7.30am. ( this gives me time to do the fb advert being going to work). That video covers dapol coaches with the socket and stock with no electrical pickups.
Very nice informative video John, well put together. In my expensive coaches I put the ESU LED lighting strips, which are controllable from a DCC controller. (I did a video over 12 months ago) In other coaches I use a similar setup to yours, but I add a capacitor and bridge rectifier. Can I ask where you buy you Latching Read switches from? I bought some of the over 12 months ago, at the time they were very expensive…Simon
Hi Simon, thank you, the DCC control does sound good, maybe a video on such please? I made the latching part of the reed switch, by using NO reed switches and superglue a tiny magnet onto the connection. Piece of heatshrink to hold it on. You can buy them from Layouts 4u but thats the only place Ive found. Yes very expensive compared to the standard reed switch.
Is there any chance you could do a video on making the latching reed switches, and where you purchased the components from?
Hi, thanks for the question, Im not sure... as I dont know if Ive got all the stuff to do it atm. If it helps I experimented by getting 3x2mm magnets from ( or similar) placing the magnet where the two pieces of metal in the reed switch join. Hold it on with fingers or tweezers checking its location with another magnet. See if the metal strips behave how they should, fine adjustments left right up down etc maybe necessary. Mark the exactly position with a permanent pen and glue on with super glue hold and check before glue sets. Seal on with some tight fitting heat shrink, no need to heat if tight. Hoping that helps
Btw I just got reed switches and magnets from ebay. I know the magnet company was in Leicester, but its been quite a while now so my link in ebay ‘purchases’ has gone now being more than 6 months ago
Great video - does anyone know where to get the latching reed switches?
Hi, yes Trains4u. They are expensive, but work. You can make your own by gluing magnets near the join in the pieces of metal in the reed switch. Hoping that’s helpful.
can you please tell me which latching reed switch you used. and where you purchased your switches and magnet from. Your information would of course be appreciated
Hi I made my own. You glue a tiny magnet over the joint, but it is incredibly fiddly to get right before the glue sets. Otherwise Layouts4You sell them along with many bits and pieced. Hope that helps
As always great video also who makes the lighting kit that you have used in this video?
Hi I actually made it from separate components, but you can buy the battery kits from layouts4u. The autocoach was circuit was ‘scratch built’ Im afraid, but its just a case of soldering wires to the pick ups to a bridge rectifer and reed switch if desired to the LED strip
I cannot find the cable for this fine Job. Every else found on Ebay
Hi Sid, very fine wire can be bought from DCC Supplies, think they sell by the metre.
Hi John, I really like the reed switch idea. I think I'll be using it on my coaches in the fullness of time. You can't shield from a magnetic field in the same way that you can for an electric field. You have to use a magnetically permeable material (e.g Iron) to effectively short-circuit the magnetic field away from the object you're protecting. Steel sheet or mesh would work but the best stuff is probably magnetic shielding foil which used to shield speaker magnets. It may be more effective to put the shielding foil in the loco body in the area of the motor rather than the coach - you'd need to experiment. Hope this helps. ATB Paula
Great thank you Paula, glad it was helpful to you. Thank you also for the info on the magnetic shielding foil. I will certainly investigate this, as I know it will be annoying and I forget the 66 eg is ‘on scene’ and I want to film the autocoach passing.
Hi can you tell me what voltage strip light. Is the 5 volt there are so many different ones on the market.
Regards
Chris
Hi the LED strips I buy are 12v
Just noticed the strip light you are using is 3 volt DC can't find anyone that sells it can you help?
Regards
Chris
I did have some 3v from Layouts4u, but I’ve not seen this anywhere else. I bought it for coach lighting with 3v batteries.
You can use 12v if you connect a bridge rectifier then wire to any pickups. If you coaches don’t have pickups you will need full metal wheels. Dapol sell these 20 for around £15-18.
Then pickups are available from DCC Concepts wiper pickups and spring pickups are available, but you will need to fit these yourself. Hoping that helps
Hola estimado muy interesante tu video, pero me gustaría saber donde se puede comprar ese Kit, yo compre el switch, magnético pero no encontré uno que permanezca encendido o apagado cuando retiro el imán, solo encontré contacto cerrado y al acercar el imán se apaga (Abre), o bien contacto abierto y al acercar el imán se cierra, para cualquiera de las dos acciones el imán debe estar cerca..
Hi the lighting kit is from ‘layouts4u’. I did say this in the video. Don’t know exactly where they are in UK.
Where did you buy the Latching Reed Switch
Hi I made them by gluing a tiny magnet to the overlap of the metal strips in the reed switch. Not gonna lie it was unbelievably fiddly and frustrating, as the magnet kept moving.
Hi John. Would you mind saying where you sourced the latching reed switches from. I cant find them on Ebay or anywhere else for that matter. Many thanks.
Hi, I actually made my own but you can get them from ‘Layouts4u’
@@piccadillysidingsoogaugemo6445 hi John thanks. How do you make your own? Layouts 4u ones are very pricey
Hi, They are made from tiny magnets 3x2mm superglued to the joint part in the reed switch, the covered in heat shrink tubing. TBH though its a VERY fiddly process, you have to work extremely quickly not only gluing but checking the switch while you do it. Easier to buy them ready made, although making them was a HUGE saving.
In hindsight I will be removing the reed switches as the magnets in the OO gauge sound fitted models (in the speakers) activates the lighting reed switches. So I turn the lights on only to find they are turned off if the train passes the 66s or the 33 and alike. Hope that helps
@@piccadillysidingsoogaugemo6445 Hi John. Yes it helps a lot. I saw that you were having issues with magnets in other locos turning them on and off . I might think again about this. Have you a view on the ones Hornby plan to introduce and will they have the same issues I wonder.
Sorry for delay. I MAY buy some of the hornby 4-6 coaches, but want the Hattons ones as they are more detailed. The same issue applies that a sound fitted loco with a huge speaker fitted will be powerful enough to activate / deactivate the hornby lighting too. It’s still a latching reed switch after all
Have you tried a Fridge magnet on the inside of the tunnel?
Hi, I did think of it, and will probably try that, just don’t have any available. Thank you for taking time to comment.
@@piccadillysidingsoogaugemo6445 No worries, I seem to have dozens of them floating around as they are given out as advertising by all and sundry. I would be happy to organise some for you if I didn't live on the other side of the world. I am loving both your channels. I have some old N gauge rolling stock and one of these days I will get to building a simple layout possibly along the lines of Piccadilly Sidings.
The bridge rectifier needs to be a fast recovery "schottky" type if used on DCC!
Ive used these for years Tim and had no issues what so ever.
@@piccadillysidingsoogaugemo6445 I don't know what type you have! It's a "best practice" thing, standard diodes are not fast enough for the DCC frequency and will cause a small spike on each cycle, this may interfere/damage the command station or decoders (or may not!)
On the N gauge layout most trains are fitted with lighting, the z21 doesn’t even blink at it. If there was any sign of an issues it cuts out at lightning speed.