can anyone help

[chris richards 1Participant @chrisrichards1]

hi

can anyone help iam trying to find how to use leds for lighting my tug ?

 

can they be wired the same as grian of wheat ?

 

are there any wiring diragrams i can ?

 

any help will be a great help

 

cheers chris  

[chris richards 1Participant @chrisrichards1]

l e d s

[60wattParticipant @60watt]

It could be a case of three leds,12 volts and one resistor or potentiometer(variable resistor or volume control) so can you say:

 

How many of what colours?

What voltage you want to use?
Are there any special needs like small or large size,constant brightness,high brightness,high power white searchlights?

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Yes, let us know what lighting you want to achieve and we will be able to advise you.

 

I bought some 12v LEDs today which don’t need resistors but I’m not sure whether to use them or GoW bulbs which look a bit more realistic, particularly the green ones. GoWs are less reliable in theory but you can improve this by running them under the nominal voltage (as you can with LEDs). In my case, running a 12v GoW or LED on 8 volts gives a perfectly good result.

 

I think a lot of people overdo the navigation lights on their models. If you look at a real ship at night the navigation lights are actually quite dim unlike the floating firework displays you see on some models!

 

Colin

[Paul FreshneyParticipant @paulfreshney24971]

Hi

October issue of MB has an article on LEDs by Guy Morgan, pages 35 to 37, that should answer most of your questions including wiring diagrams. There was one small error in that article with regard to the length of  the positive and negative  connections on an LED which has been corrected in November issue of MB that will be dropping on subscriber doorsteps later this week, but the article is essentially sound as it stands. October  MB is on retail newstrade sale until 1st October.

Paul Freshney

Editor 

[Chris RichardsParticipant @chrisrichards38427]

hi

sorry i havent got back to you all .went on a work jolly .

i would like to put leds on my brede class lifeboat i would like to use 3mm one green,one red ,three white (two for the mast and one for the serch light ) and one flashing blue .the power pack will be a 2100 ah 3 cell lipo at 11.1 volts.   

 

cheers

[60wattParticipant @60watt]

White leds (phosphor coated blue) conduct and light up at > 3 volt.

Green leds need 2 volt  –  Reds need between 1.2 and 2 volt

 

If you stack the diodes to no more than 7 volt,the resistor voltage is stable enough to keep the brightness when the battery is flat without using a “constant current” arrangement at the foot of this post.

150 ohm 1/4 or 1/2 watt resistors will set the current to (11.6 – 6.7)/150 =30mA which is as much as the whites will take.An additional 470 ohm variable resistor allows preset level in the range 8 – 30 mA.

A small 0.1 watt,470 ohm preset should be within its power rating at 6 volt.

 

Flashing should be possible by adding a couple of electrolytic capacitors into the constant current circuit.That circuit is useful where you stack leds to within 2 volts of the battery level but need constant brightness.I’ll get back when I work out how to macke a flasher without an integrated circuit

PS

The flasher needs a pnp and an npn transistor.

The mark:space ratio is set by varying the resistor and capacitor values and is probably a mirror image of one here. http://www.talkingelectronics.com.au/projects/FlasherCircuits/Page83FlasherCircuitsP1.html

 

Googling led flasher will get you veroboard circuits and all of the components mentioned are available from most electronic component suppliers.

 

 

Edited By 60watt on 10/10/2009 16:20:46

[chris richards 1Participant @chrisrichards1]

hi 60 watt

thanks for the help and the link now i can get on with the lighting

 

cheers chris

 

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