Part 2 -- Where to begin

What none of the guides tell me is where to begin. I need to know what I am starting with before choosing any of the rest of the wiring diagram, resistors, fixtures and those other  thingies that determine the direction of the flow of electricity if there aren't any DC transformers.

You can see by these questions just how little I know. When I asked people this question, I got back the following information, mostly from Shelly at Evan Design. [By the way, I have no financial connection or interest in any of the companies mentioned in these pages.]

"Your first choice," my new mentor, Shelly, at Evan Design wrote, "is between wall adapter and battery. There are advantages to both."

To plug into ordinary 110 volt outlets found in most houses, you need an adapter. The advantage of this set up is that it is permanent with no need to change batteries ever. You can leave your miniature house’s lights on as long as you like. The lights never get hot and never burn out, at least not for 10 years in most cases. The down side of the adapter is that you need to be near a wall outlet. The cord on the adapter is only 5 feet long.

Choosing the battery option means you will need to change the battery from time to time, but you have mobility with no need to be near a wall outlet. A nine-volt battery can run 50 LED lights for 4 hours, or 10 lights for 12 hours.

If you start with 9 volt and later decide to move to a 12 volt wall adapter you can keep the exact same lights. There is also a 3 volt adapter which I will discuss later.

Wall adapter info or how to plug your wiring into a house wall socket:

http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/12vdcadapter.html

In this picture, the power jack (1) receives the end plug (2) in the power adapter. At the other end of the power jack, you will see a 6 or 7 inch piece of red wire and the same length of black wire.

        Here's how to use it: (numbers refer to above photo)

·                  Mount this small power jack (1) inside of your model. (see photo at the end of this part marked *)

·                  Connect the red power lead to one or more of the red leads (3) on your LEDs, use shrink tube** or electrical tape to protect the connection.

·                  Connect the black power lead (4) to the black lead of the on/off switch.

·                  Connect the switch’s out lead (5) to one or all of the black leads on your LEDs, again using tape or shrink tube to protect the connection.

·                  Make your connections on the inside of the model (in a hidden place)

When you are finished, plug in the adapter and enjoy your LEDs for years and years!

Here is the battery info or how to make your scene portable:

http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/snco.html

•                          Twist the red leads on your lights with the red lead on this 12 inch strap. (Note: The switch works on either the red or the black side of the circuit.)

•                          Protect the connection with tape or shrink tube.**

•                          Then twist the black leads on your LEDs to the black lead on this strap. Again protect the connection.

•                          Optional: to make your connections even stronger you can use solder on the connection joints.

•                          Snap on the strap to any 9V DC battery.

•                          Press the switch and have a light show!

•                          Press again to turn off.

** Shrink tube works easily. Before making the twists to connect the wires, slide the shrink tube over the lead from the battery. After twisting all wires together, slide the tube over the connection. Then use a heat gun or match to heat it, and it will shrink around your connection.

Added notes:

You can connect a LOT of LEDs to this sturdy system. In tests at the modeltrainsoftware site, 50 flashing LEDs shone nice and bright on a 9V battery for 4 1/2 hours. 3 LEDs were bright for 36 hours. Less than 50 and more than 3 LEDs running will run somewhere between those times per battery.

The battery snap/switch can handle solid and flashing LEDs. There is no carryover flash. Up to 50 LEDs can run on one 9 volt battery. You can combine flashing and solid with no problem.

Lights that will work on EITHER system:

The links below will give lots more information about the lights, the system, and you can always ask Shelly or Dave questions.

http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/bl-214f.html

You can order the lights with 14" wires attached.

If 14" is not long enough to reach the power, some like to buy 25 ft wire spools as shown here:

http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/kynarwire.html

View the video on that page to see how they suggest stripping the wire. It is fine wire with a tough jacket.

http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/leds-for-minis-tips.html

And this is the link to frequently asked questions.

After looking at the above mentioned links, I chose the 12 volt DC power jack and adapter for this project. I do not envision moving this project often nor in having it displayed where there is no power source.

Below is the photo I took after drilling a hole in one side of the base of the building. The jack is not fully inserted into the hole so you can see it. When inserted, it nearly disappears. And if you look closely at the underside of the building, you can see the red and black wires of the jack.


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