Lighting in double decker shinkansen sets

[The_Ghan]

Hi Folks,

I'm wondering if anyone has installed lighting into Kato 10-292 E4 or 10-354 100 series double decker cars? 

If so, do these cars take 2 x 11-209 or only one? 

As they're rated at 65mA, am I right in thinking that a single Digitrax TL1 will handle 2 x 11-209?

While I'm on the subject, does 11-209 come with any bits that aren't included in 11-210 or is 11-210 exactly 6 x 11-209?

I've also read a thread about how to stop the flicker.  I wonder if this is a problem for anyone else?  It's not something I'd want to see in a contemporary train, but I think a bit of flicker would add to the effect in steam (I don't have steam).

I'm doing the math now on the total cost.  Stand by for a separate thread on that.  In the meantime, I'd appreciate some advice on the above.

Cheers

The_Ghan

[Martijn Meerts]

The manual should mention whether the cars need 1 or 2 light boards. I can't check it right now as I'm at work. You would expect they need 2 per car though considering internally there are 2 separate floors.

Flickering is always going to be problem. Adding a capacitor and resistor will help, but it won't get rid of it completely. Clean wheels and track obviously helps as well :)

[CaptOblivious]

I have the Kato E4, but I have not yet installed lighting. Each car takes just one lighting kit: There are slits in the upper level for light to reach the lower level. I imagine it looks quite good, but as I said I haven't tried it.

That said, there's no real reason why I couldn't pull one of the lights from another train, install it in an E4 car, and shoot some photos for you if you are on the fence.


The 6x kit is just 6 lights, nothing extra (although less packaging!)

The flickering is a huge issue for me. I have to keep my wheels sparkling clean, and make sure that the lighting unit is seated just so. I'm tempted to try soldering the lighting units in place, although at the quantity you are thinking about that's not gonna work. But then neither is cleaning all those wheels regularly! Not sure what to suggest in your case :(

[David]

For the double decker cars in the E531 only one lighting kit is used. I actually have a hard time believing any require two - unless there is a spot to install the LED component upside down you just can't fit two lighting elements in a car at different levels (you'd have to cut the legs).

Further when I did the E531 I found out the double decker cars, having non-standard roofs, already had their own custom prism and reflector tape installed. Only the LED and pickup strips where needed from the kit.

[foxhsu]

So far I have not see any car require 2 lighting kits. My Kato E4(16 cars) had installed the light, very nice especially with the different colored seat.

[The_Ghan]

Thanks folks,

As you can see from my other thread, I'm up for a lot of money to do my whole roster.  It looks like its going to be a long, long road.

Cheers

The_Ghan

[KenS]

I'm tempted to try soldering the lighting units in place, although at the quantity you are thinking about that's not gonna work.

I'm not sure that would help.  The contact from the truck to the brass strips that run the length of the train acts like a leaf spring above the truck to allow it to follow track irregularities.  The truck/spring joint is the first problem area, and since the truck has to pivot, you can't solder it (short of soldering wires directly to the truck).  Then there's the L-shaped bit of brass that rests atop the spring strip.  You probably couldn't solder it because it's located inside the floor, but if you could it might prevent the spring strip from flexing as the truck moves, which would be a problem.  Finally there's the connection from the L-shaped strip to the lightboard. You can solder that, and I did on one car, but it didn't help.

Wires direct from the truck to the lightboard could work, but would require a bit of surgery on the floor to allow them into the car with enough extra length to allow the truck to pivot.  That wouldn't be my first choice for a solution.

A capacitor will solve the problem, although you probably need to add a few other bits.  The attached circuit diagram shows a circuit that worked for me.  However, I've only built one so far (still working out a good way to put the bits together that I can do quickly). I wrote this up on my site if you'd like more details.

I've never installed lighting in a double-decker, to get back to the original question.  However I do have a few E231 double-deckers, and just opened one.  I don't know if the 100-series is built similarly, but I expect it would be.  In mine, the diffuser strip is built into the roof, rather than being added using the part in the kit, which allows it to follow the curve from the end (where the lightboard is) to the middle.  And the floor of the top section has most of the aisle between the seats cut away.  The light reaching the lower part will be a bit dimmer, but since the LED shines down the middle of the diffuser, it may work fairly well.