Kato Lighting Kits - Upgrade to LED v2.0?

[C855B]

The only difference I can see between the first version of the LED kit and "2.0" is the diffuser. The upgrade is a good thing, the first LED kit was very uneven, so something had to be done. Has anybody had any luck obtaining just the newer diffuser to upgrade an earlier kit? I just checked and Kato doesn't list the diffuser as a separate part; I don't know whether they ever did or it's part of the problem with their being out-of-stock with the full kit.

I've got a bunch of cars with the original LED kit and it seems silly (and costly) to buy full kits just for the diffusers.

[peteski]

Not just the diffuser - the LED used in v2.0 is much brighter.

But the more I look at kits with a single LED and diffuser and compare them to the lighting boards with multiple SMD LEDs and no diffusers, the more I like the multi-LED ones.  The single-LED kits always have a hot spot cloes to the LED (which is glowing like a nuclear furnace).  With multi-LED kits  the light is more evenly distributed and the brightness can be adjusted to something that looks realistic.

[C855B]

OK, then the LED board + diffuser as an upgrade kit would make some sense, although for guys like us swapping the LED on the existing board would be easy enough.

Multi-LED makes a lot more sense, of course, but who offers that? The Rapido kit is just two, one at each end, and I'm not all that fond of the battery idea and the requirement to switch on/off. I'm not up for fabricating my own in a fleet of about 35 cars, I've got way too much other stuff on the roundtuit list.

[mmagliaro]

The newer Rapido kit uses 6 SMD LEDs.

[Jbub]

Are they still using LEDs in the 5k range that make it look like a blue light in the car?

[peteski]

Yes, new rapido boards have 6 SMD LEDs. Nice warm  white color.  BTW, the original Rapido boards used what they touted as LEDs which had the same color as fluorescent lights viewed through tinted windows in 1:1 cars.  They were actually a bit on the green side (not blue).

I'm also not a fan of battery operated lights and am partially through writing a magazine article on how to convert them to track power and also include a flicker-free circuit (and adjustable brightness).  But with all the projects I currently have, it will take a while.

A much cheaper alternative would be to pick up an LED strip from eBay then power it up from the track (using my deflicker circuit).  Craig is using the circuit I posted in https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=29654.0 . He loves it.  That is a lengthy thread - for the schematic and technical stuff start here

[glakedylan]

thanks, Peteski, for posting


i could not, however, find the schematic or instructions in that thread?


am i missing something?


thanks again
Gary

[peteski]

thanks, Peteski, for posting
i could not, however, find the schematic or instructions in that thread?

am i missing something?

thanks again
Gary

It is there, the first post on the 2nd page of the thread. More technical details follow that post, along with Craig's photo of the assembled circuit.
The sentence "That is a lengthy thread - for the schematic and technical stuff start here" in my post above yours has a direct link to that post (the word "here" is the link - just click on it).

[mighalpern]

Peteski:

I am following the links and am not seeing the diagram or any photos.
could this be due to the "wire" going down the other day.
Could you post it once more??
thanks
Miguel

[Point353]

It is there, the first post on the 2nd page of the thread. More technical details follow that post, along with Craig's photo of the assembled circuit.
The sentence "That is a lengthy thread - for the schematic and technical stuff start here" in my post above yours has a direct link to that post (the word "here" is the link - just click on it).

The image in that post isn't visible (to me, either).
Trying to open it in a new tab/window results in a "This site can’t be reached - s1068.photobucket.com took too long to respond. - ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT" message from Chrome and an "Unable to connect - Firefox can’t establish a connection to the server at s1068.photobucket.com." message from Firefox.

[peteski]

Oops!  Sorry guys.
I viewed that post twice yesterday and the image was visible.  I didn't realize it was still hosted on Photobucket.  For some reason it was still showing up for me (and I'm not even logged into Photobucket).  I have uploaded it to TRW - should be visible now.  I have been slowly going through my old posts and replacing the Photobucket-hosted photos with ones locally hosted, but it looks like I still have few to go.

[mighalpern]

yup got it,
many thanks

[greenwizard88]

Are they still using LEDs in the 5k range that make it look like a blue light in the car?

Kato 11-214 is a warmer LED, but it's not readily available in the states.