Each of the LED's is pre-wired with a nice 3" length from the leads and the resistor is already installed and protected with shrink tubing—ready to go, right out of the box.
I took one over to the power pack AC terminal and fired it up.
...
No popping. No shorting. No smell of ozone.
It lit with all the quiet fanfare as the LED on your TV remote. The lack of drama alone, put my heart at ease.
It is a 5mm "lamp" and quite powerful. However, unlike an incandescent bulb, this standard LED in its typical acrylic dome-shaped housing is quite directional. That meaning, the light is 90% shot out from the top of the dome. The light to the sides of the unit is minimal. This is great for a downward pool of light on a street lamp, but to light a structure from the inside I think I will have to devise a diffuser. Kind of like a paper chinese lantern within said structure so the light can bounce around and be seen. A little plain white paper box perhaps.
As for the "warm" white color, I would have to say "nnnnnnyeah i guess so" in a yellow-greenish-warm hue kinda way. Certainly the white is warm when compared to the other intense white LEDs which have a "blueish" cast; as in the headlamp of my Roundhouse 2-8-0. Perhaps I am being too critical, but Im going to order some plain whites to compare (I'm sure the manufacturer is loving this.) And why not... I only want to wire these things once.
I will post some comparative photos when the tests are ready.
More Steam!
Stupid Question
I'm relatively new here and to the whole lighting of buildings area but now have about five I want to light. Three engine sheds and a small work hut I built for a friend's OO layout and the DPM Book Shop which is the first for my planned n scale.
I've read a bit here now on the use of LEDs and fibre optic but know virtually nothing about the LEDs I should be buying other than 5mm seems a good size and I'll need some kind of resistor. Are there standard specs I should be looking at initially? I plan (for now) to run off the hornby DC controller.
There are many sources...
Greentowner
There are numerous sources for LEDs and optic fiber on the internet. I chose this company for the reasons I stated above: http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/ledlights1.html
Mod edit: Adjusted URL so it showed correctly as a link! - BDC
Sorry...
Here are a couple sites.......
......for basics on LEDs. There are many more out on the web, but this is a start.
http://www.theledlight.com/ledcircuits.html
http://ledcalc.com/
Moose
Note: to use with AC the
Note: to use with AC the LED needs protected from reverse voltage by a regular diode, which is part of the "universal input" LED's sold by the guys Mr. Mahoney referenced. Cool idea.
)
Cool sites from Mr. Moose too (getting kind-of formal here...
Charles