LED layout lighting

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josephbw

Active Member
Has anyone used LED's to light their layout? I bought a case of LED fixtures from China, but with a 60% failure rate, I'm not going to use them. Now I'm thinking about using the LED's that come on a reel with about 16' of adhesive backed strips per reel. My plan is to install metal corner beads on the ceiling tile framework and adhere the LED strips to the corner beads. I may have to use 2 parallel strips per corner bead to get the light intensity that I need.

What I'm curious about, have any of you used such a method for lighting your layout? And if you have, how has it worked out for you with my most interest in light intensity, coverage, and spacing. My layout room is about 62'x15', and a ceiling to layout height of 41".

Thanks for any input.
Joe
 

goscrewyourselves

I'm the one
Joseph,

I can't say for sure but with the size of your room (huge to say the least) have you considered using LED over the bench down lights? Not sure how many you would need but they would give you the "Light Intensity" that I think you are looking for, something that the LED Strips may well not provide.
 

logandsawman

Well-Known Member
I am using a LED type light right now, installing them on my backdrop so the lighting is from behind and over rather than in front of. The effect is pretty cool. The lights are 2' long and purchased from menards for about $19 each. The quality of the light is whiter than the incadescents down there now. They are 1000 lumens each and I have 4 of them for about 34' length of backdrop, placed above some of the key features.

The light does spread out a lot but does focus brightest directly under them. Here is a photo of the work in process:

backdrop13 003.jpg
 

josephbw

Active Member
Thanks guys. The LED lights that I bought are 8" square 18W and 8" square 23W daylight in ceiling mount. The astounding rate of failure of these brand new lights have kept me from considering any more light them. That's why I have been contemplating the reel of LEDs. If one doesn't work you can replace the individual LEDs.
 

Hawkesburytrain

Well-Known Member
Here's another question.

My goal or my objective is to have 3 separate LED light strips that go along the entire roof of the layout. One is Warm white for sunrise and sunset, white for day and blue for night as shown on the drawing. I could buy a LED strips with all the colors with a control, but I don't know if I would get the same results. Any suggestions on how I could accomplish this or any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

View attachment 54671

Thanks
 

josephbw

Active Member
If you are using the same amount of LEDs in one strip w/ those 3 colors, you are going to have 1/3 the amount of light. If you are talking 3 sets of tri colored LEDs, the output should be the same as long as the LEDs are the same output. I believe the 5050SMD's are the brightest.

Are you thinking of a controller that will gradually blend the colors over time? That would be unique.
[h=1][/h] [h=1][/h]
 

Hawkesburytrain

Well-Known Member
I would like it to be set on a systematic system, but being electronically illiterate, it might be tough. I'll need all the help I can get to achieve this, but I did see it somewhere, will have to search for it. The LED strip are RGB 5050 with a light 44 key remote and 12v power supply which is all colors or 3 separate SMD rolls of LED. To me it's all Chinese....lol
 

logandsawman

Well-Known Member
Hi Tony, here is the LED strip light that I used on my layout:

LED lights.jpg

I purchased it at Menards, I checked out their product web site and didn't see it there. It is about 1000 lumens and puts out plenty of light, I noticed they had some that put out 3000 lumens.

The really nice thing about LED is they generate almost no heat. That is part of why I selected them for a position in close proximity to the vinyl backdrop.
 

goscrewyourselves

I'm the one
LASM,

Thanks and yeah, I looked at the site as well and (to be honest) didn't see anything larger (Lumens wise) than 300. I'll have to have another look.

LED and their lack of heat is why I want to go that route as well.
 

Charles Smiley

cspmovies
I had 24 50-watt Halogen spot lights that I replaced with 1150-Lumen LED lamps by Sylvania. They are 3000 Kelvin color temperature. In these pots they are 'aim-able' They cut my power consumption from 1200-watts to 250-watts. The light is far better. They don't heat up the room like the halogens did. I don't need to run the AC any longer.

The other lights are new ones I made for the layout extension. I made them from 24x24 inch plexiglass squares that drop into the ceiling with holes for the LED lights. They can swivel a little.

I can't make sunsets but all my layout trains and buildings have hundreds of tiny LEDs and if you dim an LED the color does not shift.

DSC01691.jpg DSC01692.jpg

DSC01694.jpg


NIGHT SCENES



LIGHTS-CAL-PAK-1S.jpg
 
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OldGuyHO

Member
Hawks, I nominate you to do the experiment. :) I'm going to need some sort of "on layout" lighting, since I'm in a bedroom with existing walls/ceilings I can't tear out and rewire.
 

Hawkesburytrain

Well-Known Member
Hawks, I nominate you to do the experiment. :) I'm going to need some sort of "on layout" lighting, since I'm in a bedroom with existing walls/ceilings I can't tear out and rewire.

LOL OldGuyHO, it might take a while, but here`s an answer that I got from someone with a huge layout.

"We use the same colors for lighting but we use one RGB strip with a IR controller which lets you turn on white, blue, green, red and any shade in between that way you can play with the color that shows best! It`s easy to use the controller because they are so inexpensive you can have two or three around the layout and go from night to day and I set up one to flash white like a storm, I like the manual control of the light better!"
 

John P

Active Member
Our club is building an upper level, which makes the existing lower level very dark. We needed lighting that would generate little heat and with hardware that wouldn't stick into the lower level's space, so LEDs were the answer. I decided to get 1-Watt "star" LEDs and mount them in groups of 4 on aluminum bars, wired in series. Pairs of these 4-light bars are then wired in series for a total of 8 LEDs, and each set gets its own constant-current power controller, running off a 30V supply. 8 LEds in a set means we use the fewest current controllers, while staying within their voltage limit.

Here are 3 of the bars on the bench:
http://tmrc.mit.edu/progress/reports/2012/08/IMG_2627.JPG

Here's a scene lit with the LEDs. They are "warm white" but we didn't make any effort to find a color that would be the best match for daylight. They seem OK for photography, and nobody has complained. The controllers are dimmable, but we haven't made use of this function, nor have we tried colored lights for dawn/dusk or night.
http://tmrc.mit.edu/progress/reports/2012/11/IMG_2915.JPG

I ordered all the electrical components direct from China via eBay. People say this is a terrible idea and you'll end up with trash, but so far everything has been fine.
 

Hawkesburytrain

Well-Known Member
Here's a question on RGB LED Strips
It comes in 5 meter rolls (16 feet) with 300 LED's size 5050 with an adapter 12V 5A and a remote control.
How many strips can you connect to one adapter, I would need about 10 rolls and would I be able to control all of them with one remote?

Thanks
 

beiland

Well-Known Member
Hi Tony, here is the LED strip light that I used on my layout:

View attachment 54677

I purchased it at Menards, I checked out their product web site and didn't see it there. It is about 1000 lumens and puts out plenty of light, I noticed they had some that put out 3000 lumens.

The really nice thing about LED is they generate almost no heat. That is part of why I selected them for a position in close proximity to the vinyl backdrop.

Was that 3000 or 300 that was mentioned before?

How long have you had your 1000 ones operating?
 

John P

Active Member
I'm happy to report that the LEDs that I mentioned in a previous posting (12-21-2015) are still working just fine.

Don't be too quick to say that LEDs "generate almost no heat". It seems that way because the ones we usually work with are small, but the 1-Watt units do definitely heat up, and mounting them on metal strips as I did is vital. The metal channels get warm, but you wouldn't say "ouch" and snatch your hand away. Of course doing it this way requires some engineering work, drilling screw holes in metal bars, but once that's done and wiring is installed, the bars themselves are easy to mount. The flexible strips are easier to work with, for sure.
 

beiland

Well-Known Member
John P,
I was reading thru this rather long, but interesting subject thread on LED's. I don't know how to find the specific discussion I wanted to reference to you, but it concerned some possible electrolysis problems that could arise with mounting on alum backing plates.

I think somewhere around page 4?
[url]http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/29429[/URL]
 

John P

Active Member
That is indeed an interesting (and very long!) thread. Page 4 is right--what someone said was "And by the way, aluminum wire is an excellent conductor, but combining aluminum and copper results in electrolysis which corrodes the connections. After numerous house fires due to that unfortunate situation, aluminum wiring was banned in the US." That followed from another point someone made about light sockets getting hot, possibly because of aluminum wire.

My mounting bars are essentially aluminum heat sinks, which are totally standard in the electronics industry. I don't think there's any need to worry about deterioration simply from dissimilar metals in contact, as long as there isn't any current flow between the two.

Edited to say that the "star LED" packaging is some kind of metallized circuit board with the LED soldered to it. You mount it via 2 screws that go into notches in the edge of the board, but current only flows across the surface of the board (via wires which you must solder to it). There isn't any current passing to or from the surface on which the unit is mounted.

http://www.futurlec.com/Star_LED.shtml
 
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beiland

Well-Known Member
LED shop lights

Just visited a Home Depot this evening and found these LED shop lights at a pretty good price.

Any one care to comment on the usability??



[url]https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lithonia-Lighting-2-8-ft-34-Watt-White-Integrated-LED-Shop-Light-SHLP-36IN-40K-80CRI-DNA/301158095[/URL]

Lithonia Lighting
Model # SHLP 36IN 40K 80CRI DNA
4.6304 (92)
2.8 ft. 34-Watt White Integrated LED Shop Light


The 2.8 ft. White Integrated LED Shoplight from Lithonia Lighting provides energy-efficient task lighting or general purpose lighting for utility applications like workshops, garages and basements. The integrated LEDs eliminate the need for light bulbs, and have a 35,000 hour average life span. Chain and "S" hooks are included for easy installation, and they allow you to adjust the direction of the light.

Energy efficient LED technology
3000 lumens and 34-Watt with cool white color temperature, 4000K
Polycarbonate construction in white finish
Designed for suspended installation via mounting chains
Fixture operates at 120-Volt
Starts reliably down to 0°F
CSA listed to US and Canadian safety standards


$14.97, 3 footer
$19.97, 4 footer


Brian
 




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