The Chronicles of Canary Sidings - the Tale of an Untidy Workbench

[Herb Garden]

More progress. None of it exciting but very nessecary


Led lighting has been installed on both boards




The control cranks are going in to run the pointwork and signals


And the lid of the power box is nearly complete


With most of the gubbins mounted on the inside

 

[Liver & Fry]

More progress. None of it exciting but very nessecary

View attachment 223335
Led lighting has been installed on both boards

View attachment 223336

View attachment 223337
The control cranks are going in to run the pointwork and signals

View attachment 223338
And the lid of the power box is nearly complete

View attachment 223339
With most of the gubbins mounted on the inside

Always impressed by how neat your work is. As a total novice with electronics, the implication of ease you give to this side of the hobby is mind boggling (yes, I know it's your day job, but all the same!)

- James

 

[Herb Garden]

So I'm starting to get the impression that apart from a few diehard control enthusiasts most of you don't enjoy the endless wiring posts.... Well for me it's a busman's holiday so today having to work off some TOIL I decided to do something a bit different than work/wiring

So you will have seen the current Skeetsmere wagon fleet in some of the earlier posts but as we are serious about our wagons here allow me to do some introductions

The finished 4 are as follows:


Bachman midland brake van (wrong region too modern a livery) and 1923 RCH 7 plank local livery just took modern a wagon


And two generic dapol wagons.... But at least 1 of them has a regionally correct livery. All four look nice and certainly will continue in service on the mere until further notice.

This will be bolstered by the following if I can get some couplings fitted before October.


Two Oxford vans.... One still needs finishing

A Herb Garden GER diag 17 open and Peter K GER 1881 van. Probably the most appropriate pair for the layout.


And some low sided opens. Two Hornby with refinements and a NER B15 from an unknown source.

Well that was the status until today....

I've taken the chance to convert a couple more to EM. The rapido 1907 PO wagon, as simple a conversion as they come and the Chatham kits parry open I built years ago which I've even fitted couplings too this evening. Both need some aesthetic work.


These two need the most work. A D&S GER IMP wagon that I was given and have today converted from P4 to EM (sacrilege!). And a slaters MR brake van I built when I knew nothing better with a warped underframe. The plan is to get it to represent MSLR brake van No2 .... But first I need to get all four wheels touching the rails!


And I couldn't finish this post without posing the three musketeers with Thier wagon fleet....

Lots of photos precious little modelling normal service will be resumed shortly

 

[Herb Garden]

A closer look this morning at the parry wagon


This morning I've rebuilt the couplings I added last night as they just weren't engaging properly with the other stock ... Really need to build a coupling assembly jig one of these days...


I've also started the clean up job on this one. The wagon was the last thing I built in my OO days and later was a victim of early experiments with varnish and weathering powders.... Both applied in excess. So I'm cleaning it up but lightly burnishing it with a fibreglass brush. The resulting effect is quite nice

 

[Herb Garden]

This week's work hasn't been that exciting but very nessecary


Building lots and lots of spray and winkle couplings

 

[timbowales]

This week's work hasn't been that exciting but very nessecary

View attachment 223875
Building lots and lots of spray and winkle couplings

You're further advanced than I am! All I've managed is to bend up some hooks and separate some mounting plates!
Now where did I put that soldering iron.........

 

[Herb Garden]

Repetition breeds muscle memory I find.... Although I can now knock up a consistent flat mount S&W in minutes purely due to the number of times I've done it it took me 30 mins this morning to knock up this stepped version using the 5522 mounts


But it twas the first I hath done....

 

[Herb Garden]

Well it's been a while.... I know you all dislike posts about wiring and prefer ones about actual railways but the progress here has been wiring


Namely a junction box for the fiddle yard


A junction box fir the lighting


Completion of the power box not yet the neatest thing in the universe


And wiring in of the lighting

 

[Osgood]

Catching up here - envious of your neat wiring skills (well, and everything else really - wagons looking delicious!).
Have you considered heat buildup / ventilation in the power box?
I ask because having recently built a lighting rig with two LED drivers of different makes, I discovered one was running very hot compared to the other - to the extent that as a precaution I swapped it out for another like the other.

 

[Herb Garden]

Catching up here - envious of your neat wiring skills (well, and everything else really - wagons looking delicious!).
Have you considered heat buildup / ventilation in the power box?
I ask because having recently built a lighting rig with two LED drivers of different makes, I discovered one was running very hot compared to the other - to the extent that as a precaution I swapped it out for another like the other.

Yeah heat build up is something on my radar but as yet I've not tested the box so I've no idea how bad the situation will be .... Plan is to do some controlled trials and then if it's a real issue add some fans into the system... I've got a 12v supply in the box so can just piggy back off that

 

[Herb Garden]

Ok so this is where I hope the western thunder community will hopefully have the answer to a problem....

So we have light!

Or at least on one board cost I might have warped a connector on the other harness with slightly too enthusiastic use of a soldering iron. But the lights have power and although it looks very blue in this image the actual effect is really nice.


And the lighting does really show off the models on the layout.

However there are some problems. The first is the noticeable headache inducing flicker. You can see in the photographs but the is a really loud buzzing coming from the drive and the dimmer switch doesn't seem to be doing much


So if anyone does have any experience with this hardware (see previous posts) or ideas of things to try and solve the issue please do share as apart from just ditching the driver and installing a 24v PSU I'm out of ideas

 

[timbowales]

Herbie, did you buy an LED Driver that was specifically stated to be dimmable? It sounds like yours isn't one. I would see if you get the flicker and humming without the dimmer in circuit. If you lose it there's your answer

 

[Richard Gawler]

A while ago I was perplexed by the choice between constant-current and constant-voltage drivers for LED strips. In the end I used a motor speed controller, this provided the power for the strip and let me adjust the brightness.

 

[Herb Garden]

Herbie, did you buy an LED Driver that was specifically stated to be dimmable? It sounds like yours isn't one. I would see if you get the flicker and humming without the dimmer in circuit. If you lose it there's your answer

Nope it's very much a dimmable device

 

[Osgood]

May be your dimmer switch. What make / part number are you using? Can't make it out from your picture.
I installed 6 x 600x600 LED panels with dimmer switches and got the hum and sluggish response.
I spoke direct with the manufacturers BG (British General) and their tech guy set me up with with the right ones.
Turned out my dimmer switches were more suited to trailing edge than leading edge - or was it the other way around?

 

[John57sharp]

Can somebody explain trailing and leading edge in this context please?
Bemused of Neston

 

[simond]

Hi John,

The diagrams here explain what leading and trailing edges are

LED dimmers-The difference between leading and trailing edge

This article will tell you the difference between leading and trailing edge

www.tsingko.com

and this gives some further explanation of why it matters

Dimmers – Trailing vs Leading Edge – Lyco

Dimmers allow you to achieve the exact light level that you desire in a room and consequently alter the mood. There are various types of dimming options available, but the most popular are ‘phase control’ (or phase-cut) dimmers.

www.lyco.co.uk

atb
Simon

 

[Herb Garden]

Well I'm glad someone was able to answer that one cos I was none the wiser. thanks @simond


In answer to @Osgood s question the dimmer is an ecopac power one. It was sold to me by the same company who sold me the driver as a paired set so I will be on the phone asking them what is causing this.

However it is very much the dimmer switch causing the issue as a test I removed it from the circuit and just kept the driver and the results are excellent.

Not even a hint of flicker. Given that the layout is meant to be working by the 26th of this month I'm going to leave it at that for now and focus on essentials as I'm really running out of time.


Yeah the to do list still feels massive

The good news is that I found an extra DIN connector this morning so I've been able to plug the whole lighting system in so that's ready for the show. The other benefit is I can now see to do the track repairs etc


Speaking of track repairs now I've assembled one of the cassettes I've realised I've made a major error in the alignment of the track leading to the fiddle yard. Oh **********

Right better had get on a fix it!

 

[Richard Gawler]

However it is very much the dimmer switch causing the issue as a test I removed it from the circuit and just kept the driver and the results are excellent.

George, I have seen LED strips advertised as being "non-dimmable". I've not understood what this really means, and it might be wrong copy put into eBay listings. But I do know, some strips will last longer when driven with a purpose-made LED driver rather than a DIY linear supply. You could try a LED strip from a different source, on your present driver and dimmer combination.

 

[Herb Garden]

You could try a LED strip from a different source, on your present driver and dimmer combination.

Possibly but the current setup all comes from. The same source (dimmable LEDs included). One for the back burner for now in any case as there is light and that's the main thing