:wave: Welcome to class!!! It has been requested that I start an open discussion on lighting with LEDs so here it is. All I have to offer here is my brief experience with these little electrical wonders, (mostly from trial and error) and if there is anyone out there in HT land who knows more please step foward!!! I for one would like to find out how I can make a flashing LED work correctly on a slotcar. I know the flashers are finicky about the milliamps and a simple resistor won't cut it. But I have also have found that you can run 4 LEDs on a slot car with decent results! My surfer van is still sitting as I haven't yet decided who the victim will be from my small collection to lose a chassis, so I'll be using it as a how to on this thread. Randy from hilltop is looking to put caution lights on his table and I have the ideas brewing for this project including a link for some cool stoplight poles!!! As I can't afford a membership to HT at this time, I will have to find another way to link photos to this thread or I will quickly use up my alotted photo space so any suggestions in this area will be appreciated!! One thing I haven't run into yet is how a "nutherized" chassis will react to a LED conversion. The funny thing with magnet motors is when you cut the power (brake) and the motor is free wheeling the motor actually produces electrical current in the opposite polarity!! My cars don't coast very much..due to their being fairly new, but I need them that way for R/R crossing purposes. To automate my crossing, the curve tracks on either end are insulated from the rest of the track by pushing in the tabs on one rail for each lane and further insulated with electrical tape. those rails at this time are powered by momentary on switches, and the rest of the track is controlled by either hand controllers or 100 ohm potentiometors( for solo operation). This is how a 9 year old can run one train and 3 slotcars at the same time..see the video.but turn down volume if you don't like heavy metal!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ys-koRpq10M Once the crossing gates are mounted I will be able to fully automate the crossing and won't have to sit there pushing buttons when the coast is clear. Anyway...free wheeling chassis would roll through the train crossing especially on the downhill side of the tracks. Sooo, I'm going to grab some info and start the class with Hilltop's caution lights!!

:wave: As I can't afford a membership to HT at this time, I will have to find another way to link photos to this thread or I will quickly use up my alotted photo space so any suggestions in this area will be appreciated!! !!

Go to Photobucket.com and join up for free. They give you 1000 images and that should last you for a little bit. I put up a thread on how to link the pictures here on another thread on HT...will find it and PM it to you soon.

Bob...pics are easy to do...zilla

Ok..I'll start with a link..I'm not sure this guy is still in business as the web page hasn't been updated since 2000, but here is a possible source for traffic lights. http://www.ironpeng.com/ipe/hokits.html Check out this guys custom lighted vehicles too!! These were part two of my inspiration for my fire truck ( see members customs for the pictures). The first chunk of inspiration came from Zachbuff on ebay). What's nice about this guys stoplights is they can be mounted by poles, or suspended by the wires, or be mounted (with a little creativity) to your track wall. Switching between green:D and yellow:freak: will be handled by slide momentary on switches at the 4 drivers stations hooked to an Atlas snap relay; and a single pole double throw switch at the main controller station for going "shut it down" red :mad:. Some time this weekend I'll head into the "cave" and dig up some switches and a relay and see how the wiring progresses, and snap a few pictures if I get it working. Please keep in mind I don't have the stoplights so mine will look a bit more "rustic" than the ones at the above site!!! One note on the relay...these have a tendancy to bake if the power is kept on..thus the momentary on switches..a quick push of the button is all you need to switch from yellow to green and back..leaning on the switch for much more than a second or two and you'll melt the relay!!

This was actually simple once I dug into the relay instructions. You need a decent train transformer to power this. The switches are wired to the A/C side. The switches can either be the slide type as shown or the push button momentary on style. If using the button type, the ground wire (center wire on the relay) can go directly to the transformer. The wiring for the LEDS is hooked to the D/C side of the transformer and need to be polarized..+/-. A cheapie volt/ohm meter will tell you which is positive. The LEDs are soldered to resistors and wired to the + screw on the transformer. The other legs of the LEDs are hooked to the relay A and B and the ground is the other screw, wired to the - on the transformer. Kick on the power, and viola!! A caution light circuit!! An easy to follow schematic to follow as soon as I draw it up. And the red light circuit will be on the schematic too.. Joe

Ok...Here's what I've managed to doodle up..Click it to enlarge it!! or get a microscope!!!:tongue:

OK.. Guess the first class was a bit boring.. And when you start thinking of all the wiring involved it's a big project for just some little lights scattered around the table... :confused: I agree.. But I had to do it anyway!!
Time for the real project... the one everyone was hoping to see!!!
http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/000_0018a.jpg
My little ambulance cruising the back street..
http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/100_0369modified.jpg
These are before and after images of 1.8mm LEDs. They will survive a little trimming from the dremel..A little buzz here, a little off the sides...just don't get too close to the internal organs and they'll be ok!!
http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/100_0370.jpg

It's very important to make and fit the holes for the LEDs before painting!! I drill them with a dremel way undersized, and work from there with a engraving bit until I can get a jewelers file in there to shape the holes.
http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/100_0371.jpg
You want the fit to be snug, but not too snug..Paint will add to the fit so plan accordingly..
http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/100_0372.jpg
The headlights on this model are 2mm warm white. This is the smallest size I've found so far in the "warm" variety..LEDs come as small as 1.6mm and are a blueish white..kinda like the new style halogens on 1:1 cars. I made a boo boo painting the headlight LEDs black. But that's easy enough to fix. White is a much better choice. Be sure to clean up the end before the paint dries!!
http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/100_0373.jpg
Ready to start bending leads and soldering.. Any questions yet???

Yes if you reverse the polarity do th eblow up or just wont light?

They just won't light..Now hitting them with too much voltage is a different story.. I had one pop on me!!! Exploded the little sucker!!! :lol: Capacitors, on the other hand will blow up if exposed to a polarity switch. They also store up energy and can give ya quite the shock if they discharge on you. That was why I used precautions when I tried that circuit board I bought with the twin flashing LEDs. I had it shielded in case it blew!! Sadly,it didn't work at all when sharing the power with the chassis. And on track voltage it lit up but didn't flash. I'm quite puzzled as to how it still works hooked up to a 9 volt battery. It is...how would you say...illogical???? :tongue:

How about a flasher? How do they get the LEDs to flash on RC cars?

Rich

Ok...Here's what I've managed to doodle up..Click it to enlarge it!! or get a microscope!!!:tongue:

Thank you sir!!! I'll have to give this a try. This is a heck of a lot better than going to Radio Shack!!! "You've got questions, Hobby Talk has answers". Thanks a bunch slotman!!! Man, the lightbulb still amazes me...RM

Well Rich, I've had very little success with flashers in slots. I've been doing some research and have not as yet found anything I can decipher.. Trying to make out all those electrical symbols and calculations are like trying to read chinese..once I get past the pork fried rice, I'm lost! R/C vehicles are powered by a battery source so the voltage flow remains fairly consistant. It will drop over time during use, but it's a gradual drop. Also, I think..but not sure...there is a different frequency in the voltage. The word hertz comes to mind but I was either too drunk or too sober to comprehend what they were writing about. This would explain why that ole circuit board I experimented with worked with the battery but not with track voltage, even though the volts were the same, the circuit wouldn't work. As far as flashing LEDs are concerned, I have one in my first ambulance. It does flash dimly on a level run and going down hill, but climbing a grade won't flash at all. The problem is the amps with those. Flashing LEDs have a very tight mili-amp window where they'll function correctly. Too much, or not enough and they won't work right. And since there is a huge power curve to run a slot and keep it on the track, keeping the mili-amps right is darn near impossible. I have yet to get out to the R- Shack to test the techno dudes with this dilemma..

Hey Randy check out these guys lights!!! And they custom make them so you can get just the red/yellow/green. http://cgi.ebay.com/RAILROAD-SIGNALS-HO-BLOCK-SIGNALS-6_W0QQitemZ230297993181QQihZ013QQcategoryZ11646QQs sPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem If you don't want the poles these can be set right into the infield at the corners.. http://cgi.ebay.com/RAILROAD-SIGNALS-HO-SCALE-DWARF_W0QQitemZ230237581215QQihZ013QQcategoryZ1164 4QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262 At $15.00 a pair, and about $8-10.00 for a snap relay, momentary switches for $1.40 each you could get the whole thing done for about $75.00 with the wire. http://cgi.ebay.com/Min-SPST-Green-Push-Button-Switch-Normally-Open-PB01G_W0QQitemZ190258113182QQihZ009QQcategoryZ1164 4QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Let me know if you have any questions or run into any problems!! Joe

i notice on your video you use model railroad switches like the atlas track type for switching a sideing . A lot of things meant for model rairoads can be adapted for slot cars if you check out a good model railroad site you might get some ideas. From what my husband has taught me about leds the amperage from the power pack is higher than if you used a little battery and it blows them.the voltage is way to high also. He had traffic lights on his model railroad that changed just like a real traffic lights and it used a little printed circuit and a on and off toggle switch on the control panel it . and a couple of very tiny batteries like a hearing aid battery . 3 volts. It was not hooked up to the power packs , It was a homemade setup. you can buy a lot of this type of thing today like in the above link already made . Might need some adapting for your use.
Lights in a slot car could be the same.. independent of the power pack if you use , two very tiny batteries you dont need a resistor A micro switch to turn them on and off . My husband use to add lights to trucks and cars on the model railroad like that. a flasher circuit can be added say for a police car. plus he used fibre optics in a tractor trailer for the tiny lights . its a lot of very delicate work but they sure look neat all lit up at night. same thing for a movie theatre fiber optics and a chase circuit and the lights look like the real things . a lot of model railroad stuff can be used just need a imagination .. Check out the Faller videos on you tube the trucks and busses work on the same idea as slot cars . only the rail is imbedded in the road thats what my husband is playing with now a tractor trailer he is still working on getting the speed down a little more realistic . Faller even may have things you guys can adapt to the slot cars .
i dont understand most of this stuff but i do get stuck soldering tiny little resitors and other odd little things and wires for my husband his logic is i have tiny hands so its easier for me to play with micro parts l.o.l.
This will take you to one video you can check out the other s a lot are in German or French .. But the video might give you some ideas .
The trucks can be made to stop anywhere you want them to depends where you put sensors and that kind of thing it is a neat system slow compared to slot car tracks but i think you might find some ideas that could be converted to what you want.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s38UL2FDFDY

Here is another interesting place for LED help, as far as sizeing to your needs, be preparred, you have to do math, argh. http://linear1.org/1ledwiz
I believe jerry schmoyer at BRP w/t.bowman may be able to help as he has a kit for headlights for t-jets allready made, it would be a great headstart (i have a set in a nova that work and look great).

http://led.linear1.org/1led.wiz this should work.

Thanks for throwing that link in Pearl!! I was planning on adding it in a later lesson, but why wait!! The Faller road system was a great inspiration to me and is what sparked the concept of more realistic lighting in my slotcars. When I opened my first Johnny Lightning/ AW flamethrower and set it on the track I was extremely disapointed with the results. :cry: The whole hood glowed like a nuclear meltdown was occuring!!! When I started searching alternate lighting methods I stumbled onto the Faller videos and it took days for me to get my jaw back :eek: where it was supposed to be. Sad to think that Aurora and Faller were corporate cousins at one time, and one survived and the other fell. As I progress with my projects, I hope to improve the quality of my work. I know I'll never match the level of craftmanship of Faller, or some of the masters here on HT like Bill Hall, Bob...spray gun in hand...Zilla and Randy at Hilltop, just to mention a few (I don't mean to single anyone out, I'd run out of room putting all your names in!!!!) but I'll keep trying. The bar set so high simply makes me want to try harder!! :thumbsup: The priority with this and every hobby is to have fun!! There's a great bunch of people here at HT, and I'm glad I found it! My only regret is I didn't find it sooner!!! Hobbytalk rocks!!! :woohoo:

Thanks for the link mex! :thumbsup: I tried looking at brp's web page and I didn't see anything for LEDs. Though that 69 trans am body looks mighty interesting!! The surfer van project is only my 3rd mini lindy conversion to date, and is number 6 in total for lighted vehicles, not counting the 3 Athearn fire trucks I butchered trying to copy what Zachbuff (ebay name) was selling last year. James, if you're reading this, thanks for the idea!! I don't think my conversions will never match your level of perfection, but then yours aren't lighted like mine!! :tongue: and the Torino convertible you sold me will always be one of my favorites!! :thumbsup: Remember, imitation is the highest form of flattery!! The hard part with any lighting project is getting the light where you want it, without having it go where you don't. As a group we can accomplish so much more.. This is as much a lesson for me as for everyone else. Where will this thread lead?? Who can tell?? With our collective IQ's there is no limit!! My personal goal is to be able to use a single LED with fiber optic head and tail lights, with decent results, and be able to do it repetitively . And my ultimate goal (now I'm really raising the bar) is to do a Model Motoring 66 GTO conversion with the head and tail lights. Now that's really going to be hard!!! :wave:

If the light is too bright and lights up the plastic body of the car could you not use a couple of coats of black primer inside the body .

I put lights in one of my buildings it has no detail inside and the whole building kind of glowed you could see the shadow of the light bulb shining through the wall .

It was a house with dark curtains on the windows and i just wanted to give the impression it had detail like a little person glued near the window and you could see the silhouette.

I gave the inside walls 3 coats of flat back primer and it solved the problem of the light lighting up the walls .
It was a light bulb not a led lite it run on the train power pack along with the street lights.

The Faller system i think is very neat i have been trying to talk my husband into building a model railroad again for about 5 years now with no luck .

I showed him a video of the Faller log trucks he ordered one the next day .He use to own a logging truck. l.o.l.

That would be just as good as trains to me , a giant diorama where i could display lots of little cars. And trucks that move around on a road would sure look neat.

But he is still playing around with it changing the gears and the power supply it has to run at a scale speed he got it slower now has to get the bugs out .fried a couple of motors so far. l.o.l.With his resistor ideas and adding weights l.o.l.

But because we are moving he is playing around now with 4 ft modules that can be joined together that way easy to move .My dioramas l.o.l. They are all able to interlock he aint throwing them out when we move i made them so they could be moved . 4ft 6ft and 8ft long. 2ft wide and everything can be taken off and boxed .

Do you guys ever check the dollar type stores i bought a dumb little fibre optic light it uses 3 leds because it changes colours .. i got it just for the fibre optics .it uses 2A.A. batteries They are about a foot long and lots of them . They would be good for glueing 4 to a led lite then add a couple of little tiny batteries and you would have headlights and tail ights. The diameter is close to the size of a 1/64 scale headlight. I guess if you just drilled a hole in the car and stuck them out the back add a dab of tail light paint it would work.

I have considered going the battery route, but only as a last resort. As it is, my conversions add weight and usually in the wrong place for cars that move as fast and corner as hard :roll: as these cars at times do. I have been meaning to do a search of wholesale lots of flashing LED buttons on epay...the kind they hand out at trade show,etc...but haven't done it yet. It's an interesting source for leds, and a lightweight flasher circuit. The only problem will be switching on and off the power. A DIY micro switch can handle that, but again I still want to try to do this completely off of track power. I realize I may never achieve this goal, but it's still early in the game, and I'm not a quitter :lol:

Never thought about the weight... the tiny led and tiny batteries and fibre optics i didnt think would be that heavy But they do weigh a little bit .

Track power ..I guess you would have to use a Micro light bulb not a led.Little trains have a very tiny light bulb i mean very tiny like a little led light. The train power packs are probably the same voltage as the slot car type.. just two wires and they go on the same place as the wires on the motor, dont know if you already tried that . You would have to figure a way to cover it so it would not light up the whole inside of the car perhaps a little tiny tube i dont think they get very hot but not sure. But i think they are impossible to fry. l.o.l. Even up to about 16 volts.and i think the amperage thing on slot cars would be less than the power a train uses to haul 50 cars. You could still add the fibre optics to the glass bulb . i dont know what voltage slot cars use but the old one we had it had only a tiny little power pack .So i figured it has a lot less power than a train power pack because we could even run a sound system off ours and light a whole town yet those little headlight bulbs never burned out . i dont know nothing about slot cars just that the motors are very tiny . If i driving you guys crazy just say so i dont really understand a lot of it just things that i seen work on a train. i just was thinking trains have lights and very seldom they burn out the olden day type did but the newer type dont . And flashing light bulbs can be bought in red for train crossings and they use a very tiny light bulb . And run off the power pack but off the accessory side so dont know if they would fry if you added more power.Ok im going back to the other side of town so i wont drive you crazy . l.o.l. No more ideas because maybe slot cars are not like little trains.

Trains and slots work on the same basic principle..provide power to a motor and it moves. But some light bulbs do get hot..very hot. I bought 40 street lights from an ebay seller in Hong Kong. They operate on 6 volts. Well, I took the basic principle that 3 lights connected end to end would = 18 volts and well, lets just say those lights droop a bit now!! It started cooking the "lead paint" off the top of the light pole and I burned my finger trying to get it back where it was supposed to be before it cooled!! :mad: As far as slots vs. trains, slots go way faster than trains run, and with the basic train curve minimum at 18" radius, and the slot car track standard radius is 9" things go way faster and the turns way tighter. Granted, I am always trying to slow down my cars as much as I can (boring for some slot enthusiasts) but my reasons and goals are different from theirs. My cars are rolling scenery for my trains. Others goals are racing their cars as fast as they can. And they look for as many weight losing and handling tricks as they can to get an edge, produce faster lap times and win competitions. Others sacrifice drivability for a certain look, adding stuff cut off die cast cars to enhance the appearance. We are all here for a common cause, but we're all looking for different effects. These in no way make ones contributions to the hobby any better than anothers.. It makes the hobby better and stronger by all of our work!! :thumbsup: By all means don't stop visiting or throwing ideas this way!! One never knows where an idea, or the inspiration to dig deeper into a possibility will come from!! My goal here is to make as pleasing effect as I can to satisfy all three of the above mentioned groups. The need for as lightweight lighting package as possible, with as much realism and detail as possible, without the ill effects of lighting such as heat. I am getting there...slowly....but I'm getting there!! :)

You didnt say what voltage the little slot cars use so i was thinking they must be at least 12 volt power packs so I would think they would burn out 6 volts bulbs if you put a lot together a certain way i guess they work but why wouldnt you have bought 12 to 16 volt bulbs for street lights .? That's the kind we use on our power pack for lighting buildings . The light bulbs i meant can take up to16 volts so it wouldnt burn out would it ? I dont know if they get hot .i guess i dont understand what you are trying to do but I'm one of those people that ask dumb questions thats how i learn things. l.o.l.

12 volt bulbs dont burn out even if you advance the throttle and put it at maximum power on a train ,and yes i know the motors go slower .

So do you mean because the little cars go faster and use less power than a train motor because the motor is tiny , thats what burns out the light bulbs the motor spins faster than a train motor. Just curious.l.o.l. i promise last question i will bug you with i just wonder why a 12 volt bulb would burn out.

Well Pearl, the majority of slot cars run anywhere for 18 to 22 volts or more. Mine are being fed 23 volts from train transformers. The motors do create heat when they're run, and suffer adverse performance effects when they heat up. To add anything that generates heat to that environment will only cause negative effects. Also keep in mind, we're talking about an area smaller than the size of 2 dimes stacked together to work with. The plastic they're making the newer cars out of are very different from the cars of say, the 60's and 70's. They have a lower threshold in the melting dept., but they are far less brittle than the cars of yesteryear. The reason I bought the streetlights that I did, well, I'm cheap....the price was way lower than the american counterparts, and I had not given it a thought until after I hooked them up and they started heating up. My lesson??? You get what you pay for!!! And as a bonus for getting them, 10 months later I'm still getting junk mail out of Hong Kong saying....(how should I word this???) ummm :rolleyes:.. "My package isn't big enough to deliver" ....if you get my drift!!! :eek: Any how, back on the proper subject.. LEDs do work in trains as well as slot cars. The videos I have on youtube show that. LEDs generate no heat. None whatsoever. The hard part is fitting them in the cramped space shared by the slotcar chassis and having them look as real as the 1:1 counterpart. You have some AFX cars..I saw them in your slide show. Look underneath one and see how little space is left with the chassis in place. That space between the front tires and the little bit of room at the tail is all I have to work with. I have most of the pieces of the puzzle..I just have to figure out how to put it together. I'm getting closer everyday!! :thumbsup:

Ok thank you for the information i checked the car and no not much space .seems to me a led with tiny fibre optics glued to it would take less space than 2 leds at the front for headlights and two tiny leds at the back for tailights would take . Ignore me i probably dont understand what it is your trying to do.
Your right about where you ordered your light bulbs from my husband ordered little 1/87 scale people from across the pond and they are so tiny and short but were cheap i put one beside a 1/64 scale car and the head dont come up even with the top of the hood so i put a few with their backs facing the camera here and there and they look like a 10 year old kid from behind l.o.l.

The light bleeding out is the worst, I have tried the black paint, inside and out with no success (It has to be perfect(it's just the way it has to be)). Thats when I used LED's on a chrome body and hey! no light bleeding out, or threw the plastic and paint. Next step was "Bare Metal Foil". you can get it in all kinds of trim colors :Alumin., Black Chrome, Chrome, Gold, and all kinds of anodized colors for model building, cost around $5.bucks you get a sheet that will last along time (Even if you are doing 1/24th scale). It is so thin and has an addhesive allready on it I'm sure others have it on the bench. But it is the only thing that has worked for me to keep light bleeding from the lights out every other opening and throuh the paint. It even works on the old light up cars were it was a bulb stuck in a chunk of clear plastic.. wrap the area around, or the light assy. its self and wHoaa LahH . Light is were you want, and not anywhere else.

I tried the light trick with my flamethrowers too and still wasn't happy. The look I'm trying to create is what you see on the faller road system, only with slotcars. Here is my latest project. If I'm sucessful, I'll show it!! If not, I never tried!!! :rolleyes: Honest!!!:D http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/100_0391.jpg
We'll just have to wait and see. As it stands now, I only need to find a way to encase the LEDs in the corners. The fiber optics are in the body already. P.S. the next installment on the van will be up tonight. Please excuse my prehistoric chassis mounting methods!! They are all I have to work with at this time!! :( Joe

I used the bare metal foil on a green AW Camaro Flamethrower, Bulb inside the chunk of clear plastic, just like the one pictured. First I poped the "Lights" out of the body, and wraped them with the foil (that's right coach, puttin on the foil). and it worked great, no sunspot under the car or anything. Just light out the headlights.

the thing about these is the intesity of the light varies with the speed, thats what was great about the lights from BRP (they are no longer listed on the sight, try e-mailing Tom or Jerry) the constant white light is awesome. I also spied a butain lighter with red and blue strobe LED's in it that would be great on top of a cop car, when the wife isn't looking, it's mine, and then i can cut it up. Slotcarman, i hope you do well here with this thread, i hope to get some of my own R&D done here, (Without breaking a sweat). I all so have an extra set of the headlights, when I go home i will dig them out to see what they are made of.

Ok!!! Are we ready to get to work??? Not me!!! :tongue: After I have sized my LEDs to the holes in the body, I get to work on the the electrical end of the project. It pays off to have a handy selection of resistors and LEDs!!!

http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/100_0402.jpg

http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/100_0401.jpg[/IMG]

Here is a really handy link for a resistor calculator. http://www.quickar.com/noqbestledcalc.htm
This calculator gives you the options of multiple LED configurations and the two different methods of wiring. Simply enter your input volts, the voltage drop of the type of LED, and the miliamps (enter 20 for non flashers) and it'll give you the required resistor value.

Grab a chassis and lets begin. First off, we score up the area where we will be soldering the wires to. This helps the solder by having something there to grab onto. Also, a small drop of rosin solder flux will make the solder grab quicker. We don't want to risk melting the chassis in any way as performance issues will result.


http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/100_0376-1.jpg


http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/100_0387.jpg


Once we have the wires soldered in place, we can start experimenting with LEDs and different resistors. It helps to have an idea which ones you will use, and have the voltage drop (consumption of the LED) and the input voltage (the output of your power source) on hand. I took a few minutes to make a chart (pardon the sloppy hand writing..carpal tunnel has got the best of me)


http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/100_0395.jpg


and put together a quick light tree if you will. You should test this first without the chassis on your track. Keep in mind, the left pick-up of the car is positive, so what ever the direction the car would be traveling, the left rail is the hot one.




http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/100_0393.jpg


If it don't work, it's back to the drawing board. If it does, hook the tree to your wired chassis and run the motor free wheeling at first and then with some drive wheel resistance on the track. Try not to let the thing short out!!!! Here's a few tips for LEDs... The longer leg is positive, the shorter leg..well you know what it is now!! :lol: If it's a small one, like a 1.6mm, the negative end will be marked with a black line.

Hi Slotcarman
If the moderator wants to edit all my posts that have nothing to do with leds he can go ahead . Like you guys i kind of like to exchange ideas and learn but my posts are a little long anyways i got the idea a picture is worth a 1000 words as they say and your last post i kind of see now what you mean ..

Once we have a working light arrangement, and it has been tested, we can start assembly. We have proven our calculations as far as resistors now, and tested our trimmed LEDs to make sure we didn't trim too far!! Lets start by making our tail lights a bit more permanent. We also want to shore them up so when we bend the electrodes, we don't break the LED. Insert the LEDs into the body the same way, longer leads towards the top of the van.and mix up a small batch of JB Weld. Place a small blob on each LED. Let it set completely!!


http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/100_0405.jpg



You want the leads the same so you will know the positive from the negative!!! Since the positive is on the left side of the van, we'll bend the longer lead from the right van side to the left side. You will need to add a small bend towards the front as the lead is too long, and this will give you something to solder to. Solder the two positive leads together. Don't melt the van body!!! Do the same thing only opposite for the negative, or shorter lead.


http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/100_0405.jpg



As mentioned in part one of this lesson, I chose 2mm warm white LEDs for the head lights. The reason is the thickness on the mini lindy van grill. I did need to shave a tiny bit off the length. They received a quick coat of white paint to keep the under van glow factor down, and are inserted into the headlight holes. We're going to do the same bending trick with these. Remember to put these in longer legs towards the top!!! Nothing's worse than finding out after the fact you got these wired backwards!!! Trust me...I know first hand!! :tongue: Same thing, positive leads bent towards the left side...etc.



http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/100_0413.jpg




http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/100_0410.jpg



Here's the tricky part...Make two short jumper wires and solder them to the negative wire (right pick up). Solder your resistors to the wire from the positive side of the chassis. Make sure you remember which resistor is which!! Shorten the straight long positive leads from the LEDs and solder them to the resistors. (you can shorten the resistor leads to 1/2" +/-. Then solder the jumper wires to the negative leads on the LEDs. Time to test your electrical work. You'll notice I'm skipping around the chassis mounting method as I'm a bit embarrassed as to how I do it. :p We'll button it up in the final part of this lesson, or you're done if you have posts already installed! Push the wires and the resistors up into the body, and if you want, you can JB the resistors to the van side wall to keep stuff out of the gears. Oh yeah, I forgot, duh, now the price of mini lindy vans will go through the roof!!! &*%^^&



Joe

No problem Pearl..I'm not going to mess with that!! It's listed as an open discussion and I want to keep it that way. I really wasn't too keen on sharing this information as I wanted to "corner the market on totally lighted HO slots", but sooner or later someone would have come up with it. Bill Hall was so close to doing it last year but suffered a setback with CA (crazy glue) making the fiber optics brittle and when he went to assemble the body on the chassis, they shattered. I drove a yard jockey truck for 2 years, and between yard moves I had been brainstorming ideas in this area for 10 months or so, and have the concept down, but I lack the specific materials to test my theory. Just when I was getting close to being able to afford the last piece of the puzzle, things slowed down at work and they let me go. Unemployment doesn't leave me much room for extras like silicone molding compound, and the other molding stuff I need to see this project through, so I'm kind of up against a wall. I want to see if my ideas work, and my "Type A" personality prevents me from keeping it a secret because I want to know soooo bad!! I am a little disapointed I'm not getting much in the line of comments on this thread. I know it is being read, because the number of views keeps escalating, but the feedback end of it is kinda quiet. Granted, this idea is not everyone's cup of tea, but it's the only contribution I can come up with that's worth mentioning. My carpal tunnel isn't improving being out of work, it's only getting worse. My hands are too shaky to do the stuff I could do easily two years ago. It's getting to the point that I have a hard time typing at times. And some of the pieces I'm messing with are so small I can barely see them. But at least there's a written record of it, so if I fail my objective, maybe someone else can pick up the torch and carry it for me.


Joe

Joe... everybody gets the days when our aches and pains tick us off.. i am having one of those bad hair days still up ..Cant sleep ..
Sugar level is out of whack again diabetes is a pain .Something ticks you off and you let it and the damn numbers change .

So im painting a bunch of little people to relax tiny and a bit hard to see l.o.l.

i have posted pictures that had 700 views and 2 comments a lot of people lurk. look. but no comment. Thats life.

I seen another topic on our side of town about led lights on the diecast custom board check it out if you have not seen it already maybe something of interest i dont understand 90 per cent of this topic but find it interesting because i might learn something.

When those days we have... that we wonder if its worth it in our heads .

There are so many people on the internet that have problems .. It is sites like this where they can drop by read topics look at pictures they may have the same hobby but lurk never join .

I lurked on here from when the site opened then joined in 2003 got ticked off left had my own site , in fact just started another .
i gave up on the first site because i let people and the ignorant ones get to me..

i hate being the only female on this whole site that posts things .

And no female i showed this site to are interested the wife's of you guys and girl friends none join . no wonder no real girl topics
sure odds and ends collect ables family site it is not .

But there are things on here that interest me and i cant ask questions if i am a lurker and dont join.
We post things on here and i think in a small way it makes some peoples day a little better a guy who cant get out lives in a wheel chair dont want to join but lurks , why, he dont type much not a computer person but liked the ideas , buy the way the guy is real he lives right across the street from me .

. He collects little cars . i tried to talk him into joining my site i can show him how to take pictures and post them but no hes 60 and set in his ways.He lurks so a guy like that may hit the topic a dozen times the views go up but no comments .

How many thousands more are like him .I been thinking of just tossing our computer out the door .what if we all did that life goes on but what about the people like my neighbour its entertainment for him. Some day am going to get angry and walk over to his place and refuse to leave unless he joins He has got the nicest collection of junk l.o.l. i have ever seen and know one knows about what a waste so many people who could share ideas and they think they might look dumb .

My guy is the opposite has to keep up with everything new .
So i think your topic is a must have cars have lights period so now all you got to do is make them work.l.o.l.

I'm tryin' Pearl, I'm tryin'!! Thanks for the pep rally!! :thumbsup:

great info thanks guys!

Hey Slotcarman, you do know you can "Shape" and LED, you can use your hobby file or nail file and make them square. also, they look better for headlights if you file the top flat, rather than having a "Bulb" sticking out of the front. Didn't know if you were aware of that schtuff. I did not get a chance to dig my BRP headlights out last night, will try again tonight. I was also looking at a few 1/32nd cars lights, they are Micro LEDs with even tinier resistors, they also hold a bit of charge so there is a capacitor in there somewhere to. Great work so far, hope you are able to continue, i hear you about the dollors, and how hard it is to stretch em these days, many projects on my bench are waiting additional hobby funding before they can continue on. It's hard for me to get motivated knowing I am only going to get so far, and not done with out throwing funds at it.

[QUOTE=Mexkilbee;2546019]the thing about these is the intesity of the light varies with the speed, thats what was great about the lights from BRP (they are no longer listed on the sight, try e-mailing Tom or Jerry) the constant white light is awesome.



This is very true and a definate plus!! Thanks Mex! With regular light bulbs the light varies with the voltage. As I stated earlier in this thread the flasher LED is very fussy about amperage and will only work within a very small miliamp window. But the plain old nonflashing variety work through a big volt/amp curve and are almost a constant light source as long as there's power available. I was going to try looking into a constant light source like a small capacitor in line with the lights. Capacitors are like little batteries storing up power and then releasing it only under certain conditions. The problem with them is they do not like a polarity switch and can explode under that condition. Also as stated earlier when a slotcar motor is freewheeling (let off the controller and the car keeps rolling) the motor actually produces a small amount of power in the opposite polarity. This can be solved with a rectifier and this is where my limited electrical knowledge dead ends me. The escalated number of parts you need to make something like this work with the limited space to put it kills the constant lighting project. Plenty of room in a HO scale train engine, not in a HO scale slot. For now I'll just have to live with my lil HO scale drivers shutting their lights off at the railroad crossing while they're waiting for that train to pass. :thumbsup:


Joe

Joe
Sent you a pm
Take care .

Yes if you reverse the polarity do th eblow up or just wont light?

I have been busy checking on this question...I have read recently that there is a possibility of damaging the LEDs with the polarity reversed..I have not noticed any ill effects from reversing the polarity as yet. It may depend on the brand or type of LED, or the voltage being applied to it may be a factor. Unless you are using two pins on a car, you aren't going to go backwards very far anyway. If you would like, T Jet, I'll do a test with my Tyco dump truck in reverse to see if there is any negative effects to the LEDs.. I realize some of us do use the back pin..and back the cars up on service road turn-offs and such..I was planning on doing so myself....ie.. fire truck into the fire house, police car speed trap...etc. I gave up on the idea because the service road turn offs are about 4 1/2 inches...This ruins a 4 lane because you are forced to use them in pairs to equal a 9 inch straight. If Aurora had only made a 4 1/2 inch straight track...That would have been a solution.. Anyway, the resistor is not polarized..It works both ways.. the cap on reverse voltage that I've seen is between 4 to 5 volts. Since the resistor works both ways, the peak voltage should be well under the limit anyway..at least from my limited knowledge on the subject...


Joe

To quote myself...ahem..."Nothing's worse than finding out after the fact you got these wired backwards!!! Trust me...I know first hand!!" Well...after getting the surfer van together I put it on the track and found my tail lights twinkling like a xmas tree.. :freak: ..Hmmmm...what did I do now???? Sure enough genius here :hat: wired the tail lights backwards... A bit of de-soldering..a bit more soldering..Thank goodness!!! I was worried I messed up the red ones when I ground them or when I bent the leads... All is well on the surfer van now other than the RRR wheels doing the normal skitter at medium speed.. :woohoo: Last bit should be up tonight...and please...I know my mounting methods are awful!!! I am making do with what I have on hand... :rolleyes:

The van is up and running!!!! :woohoo: Took me long enough..I do need to repaint the front LEDs, as there is still a bit of glow in the interior..


http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/100_0420.jpg


http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/100_0421.jpg


She don't look that bad from a distance..sadly there was alot of handling during the lighting process and she got a bit dirty.. Most of it cleaned up but now the body feels just a touch "tacky" again. Dang spray bombs!!! I'm gonna let her sit for a day or two and try a coat or two of future and see how that goes.. Ok.. don't laugh too hard.. This is a quick nuts and bolts of makin a model into a slot without posts..


http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/100_0422.jpg


On the left, the original lindy seat part, the right one modified to clear the chassis. The half that was hacked off is used for the rear screw. I has been notched to clear the taillights and sanded to a solid fit. It's tight enough that no glue is needed. If you're using this method please note!!! It is imperitive that you have enough material behind the seats to sit on the shelf inside the body..I'm talking the section where the weights were. Without that, the seats will sink up into the body and the whole mounting process will fall apart.


http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/100_0424.jpg


There is a bit of grinding to do. Also, I didn't shim this one so the front end is a "floater". I guess I could do some surgery on an old ink pen and come up with a spacer.


http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/100_0429.jpg


All in all, a solid fit. She did a few test laps to make sure all was ok. She's a bit top heavy with the surf boards, but negotiated my track fine once she warmed up. I still need to make a back bumper and figure out how I can attach it better..The one on the ambulance lasted 3 laps before it fell off. I'm still rethinking the process there.. I am trying to avoid the stock lindy back bumper as it has a tendancy to hook guard rails and break.


http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/100_0430.jpg


Thanks for looking and some more feedback would be appreciated..

Joe

Ok.. Now that the van is behind me, I teased you with the camaro so I guess I can go out on a limb with it... I don't know if this will work or not. Plain and simple...First off, I was going to use red 1.6 mm LEDs for the tail lights.. That would make a 6 LED car. I drilled the holes for them, but in the long run decided the bump on the LED just wasn't long enough. So I enlarged the holes to accomodate the red fiber optic cable I have on hand. I simply flared the end with a lighter (heat it up and squash it) and cut off a 1/4" section. I don't think I need to tell you how much of a pain in the arse it was to get in the body. Did it 3 more times and tried to get the squashed parts as close to one another as possible. This is how they look in the body...


http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/100_0432.jpg


Then I did the same drill and sand technique to the head lights. Same thing with the 2.0 mm fiber optic cable only clear this time.....


http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/100_0431.jpg


Then I started making the LEDs for the tail lights. I grabbed a few rolls of 28 gauge stranded wire on feepay a few months ago for use in limited space wiring situations like the fire truck. It's great stuff..very flexible..but hard to strip without losing the wires in the process...


http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/100_0414.jpg


I am currently looking for a clear two part acrylic I can use to mount the LEDs to the body. I bought some, but I lost my "slotcave" when we took in my sister in law's grand kids (he needed a bedroom) and when I moved out, things disappeared.. when I locate something the lesson will continue (for better or worse) :rolleyes:


Joe

SCJoe!
Nice conversion to start with. Then the lighting is the icing on the cake.

How about something tubular for a bumper ....plastruct or evergreen models styrene stock is cheaper than dirt. A little chop chop on some tube then cap the ends. Drill some holes for some rods or brackets for mounting. Hose it with alclad or duplicolor aluminum and ya got a period correct after market bumper. Naturally without wrap around ends for the no "snagitizations".

Great fun and inspring stuff Joe. I'd seen that Faller stuff a coupla years ago and it had been nagging at me for some time. I'd done tons of static acrylic and FO stuff for my model railroading jones back in the 80's and 90's. I bought that hippie lamp at least two years ago just to have cheap FO to play with thinking that there had to be a way to tune up or over haul the "Lamethrower" concept. Now you've opened a whole new can of really cool worms to play with. I can now see the light on a plethora of uther projects like AFX vans and semis lit up like Xmas trees with the full marker package. The semis allow enough room to execute your constant lighting project; and while not exactly what you may be after it would be A: cool, and B: establish the initial learning curve.

Lets face it, if we can cram optics in a slammed Lincoln the sky is pretty much the limit whether one goes single LED with optic whips or the Blue Oyster Cult dammage yer retina light show with multiple LEDS. As if my build time isnt slow enough already ....now thanks to you I'm gonna want to light them all ...and maybe go back and light some that missed the boat. I'm seeing full instrumentation/dashlights on hot rod roadsters and a big ole juke box of a "Wonder Bar" for my red Willys speedster.

BTW: RE: Your "reverse polarity blowing up capacitor syndrome" for your constant lighting project? Couldnt one just add a couple of regular diodes to the caps and gate them off in the event of the polar ice caps shifting or a spin out? Adds some cost but it beats having to repair intricate stuff ya already built. The latter being a pet peeve of mine.

Might actually work; but hopefully one of our electronic experts will pipe up and give it the thumbs up or tell me I'm a re-todd for even thinking it and there's an easier or right way to do it.

Thanx for lighting a fire under me and getting me off the Schneide!

No problem Bill!! I'm still psyched up on the Lincoln!! I need to stay away from feepay for a couple weeks and try to scrape up some $$ for another fiber optic order. I bought some yellow 1.5mm F.O. for parking lights but I'll need somewheres around .50 - .75 mm for trailer marker lights. That wire I have doesn't hold the shape I was hoping for, but I was going to run a pair from tractor to trailer disguised as airlines and just blob a bunch of whips and a clear LED together and try lighting one.. At least I got some good news today!! Those cigar box cars I grabbed last week all had decent SR chassis...a quick pick up cleaning and an oiling and they were cruising.. I forgot how bad stock old aurora tires are.. Like driving on ice!! :lol: BTW, the vette is red, the J car turquoise, and the willys is...blech white. Also appears one of the chassis has a mean green arm in it!!

Joe,

Try dotting the fiber's end with paint. The tail lights for the Lincoln are a regular fiber dotted with Testor's insignia red. Would imagine that any glossy enamel paint, say like "signal yellow" will do the trick.

As for the wiggly fibers and nailing them down I believe the dude on the Faller thingy used a hot melt glue gun. If ya look at the Lincoln I used black mylar film/tape to adhere the fibers to the body's internal contours.

For your T-jet skinny tire blues try a light truing on 220 paper to open the hardened contact patch. Then a good soak in Wintergreen oil. Then give them another light cut to make sure they stayed round. They will still suck, but only half as bad and ya should be able to get around the track. Be sure to check all those lil t-jet rims to ensure they are round. It doesnt take much to disrupt a t-jets handling. Often a rim change and tire truing will take an unrully turd and turn it into a smooth running swiss watch.

The reason I'm going with the clear acrylic is the LEDs are just going to be "plopped" in the corners and I'm hoping the clear will hold them in place, and carry the light to the fiber. I'm trying to limit the number of LEDs to two in the back so the fiber has to share the light. Once they are in place, I'll JB over the clear. The chrome body blocks a 60 watt bulb so the glow factor is nil. Think of the clear as a binding tack coat that will transmit the light, and the JB as the encapsulating shroud. I also need to get my hands on some casting resin, and some clear 3mm LEDS. I'm thinking I can hit the dome of the LED with a drill and put my own inverted cone in it. It should then reflect the light out the sides of the LED, even if I have to foil it. My design concept for the light manifold has the fiber entering from the sides instead of the top. This will free up a ton of room for the fibers to enter the manifold. Then the possibilities are almost endless.. depends on how crazy you want to get...This will allow fiber for your dash lights, parking lights, side marker lights... There's about 11mm from the base of a chassis to the bottom of the hood on a JL challenger. There's about 4mm from the top of the chassis to the underside of the hood.. If the casting is thin wall there's room for 2mm fiber for headlights and all the extras you want. And that's without shaving the top of the chassis.. I'm gonna plant another idea in yer head... Lets see where this goes.. With a little gentle heating, I think you can shape them red fibers I sent you. Bend them into lake pipes, chrome foil them, and with a flasher led you'll have "flames coming from outta the sides"!!!! Ya gotta make that Cadillac sedan now!!! Hehehehehe!!! Oh, I was using red nail polish.. but don't let my TM find out!!

Joe

I may as well spill the rest of the beans since I've gone this far... :eek: Let me know if this sounds cool or totally foolish... :thumbsup: OR :freak: Fiber optic cable (at least the only stuff I've seen) only comes in one shape.. round extruded. It works great for head lights as Bill has shown us, but when it comes to tail lights, unless the car came with round ones we are kinda left out in the cold... My idea is this. If you flare the end of a small optic cable, it acts as an anchor. If you make a mold of the tail lights of a car, say a 59 chevy, and pour red tinted clear resin in and insert 2 or 3 fine optic cables in they will harden in place in the lenses. Flaring the ends of the cable makes the emitted light seem bigger. The catches would be 1. finding a way to suspend the cables over the mold. 2. keeping the fibers in the resin until it cures. And 3. Having a cast body sans tail lights to mount your newly cast lenses onto. The lenses can be trimmed in silver paint, and carefully CA'd onto the painted body. Mind you this is still in the "what if" stage, but this is the direction I am ultimately trying to go with these. For something like an 67-69 firebird or a 66-67 GTO, the taillights would be milled out (I wish I had a bridgeport..an unbelieveable milling machine..digital accuracy to 100th of an inch!! Can use milling bits as small as a human hair!! I used to play with one in the model shop at Wiremold in W Hartford, CT 20 years ago) and with a few partial molds a tail light lens mold could be made to fit inside the body. Even round tail lights could be done this way, allowing the use of smaller optic cable which leads to even more optic possibilities.. Like side marker lights..How detailed can we go??? Coming from someone like me who can screw up a simple spray bomb paint job.. :rolleyes: Who knows???


Joe

Here is an HO LED headlight kit for sale:

http://www.bat-jet.com/hl.html

Thanks for the link!!! I believe those are the ones Mex was talking about! :thumbsup: