Just Plug Lighting ... worth it?

[northmill]

Hello.
Curious about the the Woodland Scenics Just Plug lighting system. Looks pretty neat I guess, but seems pretty expensive for what you get. I really hate having to buy a special wall-wart.

My gut tells me to just buy a bunch of pre-wired LEDs with resistors, a few street lights, some wire, a few wire buses do it all meself. Maybe some Wago connectors if I am lazy. Perhaps a variable resistor knob for dimming. Besides the light sequenced feature, what am I missing?

There is probably a significant consideration that I am not taking into account.. If so, please clue me in!

I assume this is for folks who would rather buy than build. (And there is nothing wrong with that! I did that with my benchwork.)

EDIT: Nevermind request for suggestions on DIY solutions. There is a gracious quantity of videos from cheapos like me. Alternatively, anyone know of a good DIY lighting planning approach, template, tutorial, would appreciate a link.

Thank you.

[ChicagoNW]

The sequencer is the special part, but there are plenty of ways out on the web if you look. People who are afraid of soldering will appreciate the plug and play.

You might consider the MRC Genie, if you want remote control https://www.modelrectifier.com/lightgenie-s/124.htm,
Tomix offers a similar system for their TomyTec/Tetsudo line of structures. https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/m/search?...mytec+lighting
Kato has some lighted platforms and Cosmic makes many lighting accessories compatible with both. https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/m/search?...g+light&sold=1

I’ve also adapted battery powered wreath lighting strings.

While you can find some nice cheap stuff on eBay and Etsy order way more than you think you need. Quality can be iffy and the stuff is batch-made in microscopic workshops. What you want may not be there tomorrow when you need more of them. They may also change specs between batches. Many of us bought beautiful old incandescent streetlights that used 12v. Then bought another batch that blew up when connected to the older ones. They used 6v lamps, but looked identical.

The key to exploiting the premade stuff is matching the connections they use.

Tomix turnouts connected to standard circuitboard to circuitboard jumper plug.
To connect to the control panel…


You can find many of the various connectors in electronics suppliers catalogs like Digi-Key and others. We have several electronics experts to guide you in choosing parts.

In my opinion you don’t need to use SMDs everywhere. While they mimic the size of some lighting fixtures, their size can be difficult to work with. When you need hundreds of the pre-wired versions, it can be expensive. Also some of the wires work against you. A thin hairlike wire cannot mimic the conduit many fixtures are mounted on. Other brands use wires or insulation that are too thick to hide or use.

Larger LEDs come in many shapes as well as colors. Some even include internal circuitry, eliminating external control boards. Such as blinking, twinkling and fire. Rainbow LEDs change color are great for special situations like discos, Christmas lighting and structure beacons.


These inverted cone LEDs are designed to spread light out to the side. The dome shaped ones form a lens that focuses the light to a point in front of the dome.

This Top Hat design works great in many places. I’ve used them as lens lightbulb replacements in Fs, Es BL2s and even streetcars.

Literally stuck through a hole in the roof and painted.
Again through the roof but with a bit of Bare Metal foil to make the gumball machine base.



The big LEDs are easy to modify. That clear case is just plastic. It can be shaped, as long as you avoid the metal parts inside.


Fiber optics can multiply a single LED or be used to make it smaller. The end of a plastic optic fiber can be polished with heat after cutting to increase light output. By flattening that heated end a mushroom like lens can form. Heating the fiber allowing it to melt form a glob which is about the correct size for a lightbulb.

The optical fibers were gathered to each LED using heat-shrink tube. Commercial Fiber Optical cables can be purchased with different numbers of fiber in clear or opaque jackets. Some are perfect fits for T5 and T3 LEDs.

For more tips on lighting do a search on “lighting structures or layout” I have tirades on LED color selection and some opinions on how to power and control them. Using many different types of LEDs for lighting adds interest and improves the realism of your layout.

[Ender]

I did a lot of buying various lights and experimenting to try to get realistically scaled lights for building and streetlights in my town. I had great success making my own cheap streetlights on telephone poles and making lights for signs and building exteriors using a few different types of prewired LEDs along with the right finishing touches.

Then the Just Plug system came out. While most of the streetlights and building lights didn't seem worth it to me, knowing what I know about making them myself, I did decide to try out the Just Plug vehicles, and found them to be pretty awesome. And you don't need a ton of them to get the feel for a night scene.

You can check out some of my lighting work here: https://www.nscale.net/forums/showth...g-up-the-town/




I've also been working on my own versions of lit up CMW vehicles using 0402 LEDs and it's quite tedious, so I appreciate what the Just Plug vehicles give you.




I should warn you though, once you start lighting things up, it's hard to stop!

[OTFan]

Curious about the the Woodland Scenics Just Plug lighting system. Looks pretty neat I guess, but seems pretty expensive for what you get. I really hate having to buy a special wall-wart.

I think you pretty much nailed it. I used some of the WS Just Plug internal lights and street lamps on a layout I built with my young son and they were quite good for that purpose. It simplified things and kept more of the focus on things we could do together, plus I don't enjoy soldering tiny things. That layout is just a little bigger than 2' x 4' so while the Just Plug stuff is expensive, at least the small size kept the cost sort of contained.

Outside of a situation like that I might still use some of their lamps and light fixtures for the ease of having something ready to go in N scale. The vehicles look neat too, as Ender pointed out. Not sure I'd go all in on their system though if you're willing to solder small things.

[MRLdave]

It's possible to mix non-WS lights into the system...........so my plan is to use the WS controllers and some of the specialty lights (like gooseneck lights, traffic lights, vehicles) and buy street lights and LEDs for the buildings from another source. My downtown is 12 feet long with 60 buildings so WS street lights and building LEDs are not very cost effective.......and that still doesn't cover the other 70 buildings on the layout. The WS stuff is very nice, but as everyone said, expensive. Use what you NEED from them and get the rest elsewhere.........unless your layout is small enough to make the WS stuff affordable.

[Jimbo]

Whether it’s worth it is dependent on the individual. Some people value other parts of the hobby more than wiring etc. For those folks, I’d say theJust Plug system is a good value.

While I don’t personally have this system, I know others who do; the quality is very good and it’s very flexible. One thing I don’t appreciate, though, is that it’s “closed source” - they don’t publish technical (electrical) details about the system to discourage third parties or electronic hobbyists from offering other accessories that might compete with theirs.

I purchased a light distribution board from a Chinese company off eBay that works very nicely with some LEDs I scavenged off of a string of Christmas lights I bought for a buck, so my cost per LED is ~$0.02 each. The distribution board can be set up to output 3v, so I didn’t bother with current limiting resistors. (So far no problems but really not a good practice.). I’ve been very happy with the results; had I used Just Plug components, the cost would have been significantly greater.

Hopefully by now you have sufficient information to make a decision on what will work best for you.

Jim

[Sumner]

The distribution board can be set up to output 3v, so I didn’t bother with current limiting resistors. (So far no problems but really not a good practice.)

Will probably work fine with white or maybe blue as they work in the 2.5-4 volt range (from some sources) so your voltage is near or under that so they probably are going to last for a long time. Red, green and yellow work in the 1.6 to 2.2 volt range so if one uses those with a 3 volt supply and no current limiting resistors their life is going to probably be short to very short.

I personally don't like to run any of the LEDs at maximum rated current as I find that is usually too bright so drop the current a lot normally. Sometimes by 30% to 50% depending on the application. Lots of info on wiring LEDs on the internet with interactive formulas to use. Once one has wired a few they usually find it is quite cheap and easy to do.

Sumner

[ChicagoNW]

Here’s a couple other discussions on lighting in general…
https://www.nscale.net/forums/showth...uildings/page3

https://www.nscale.net/forums/showth...cture-Lighting

https://www.nscale.net/forums/showth...es-to-Lighting

[CallumSmith]

Yes lights are awsome nice night view look so real. love it