Hobby Lighting

[Mike]

To All,



My son built a replica of an arena (about 2' x 3'). We wanted to add lights
to it and really couldn't find anything small and that would work so I took
a strand of Christmas lights and since there were too many, I cut it to get
about 20 lights and rewired it. They worked but then the next day they didn't.
It looked like many had burnt out. Is it because there were less lights
that the power was then too strong? Any ideas if I can get around this or
better, does anyone know of any lighting that has small bulbs (kind of for
hobbies) that I could use?


Thanks,
Mike

 

[Beachcomber]

I am not sure what an "arena" is, in this context.

However, if it is not too girly for the purpose, there is a wide range
of light fixtures and fittings available for dolls' houses.

You are quite correct about having too few lights will cause premature
failure of a string of conventional Christmas lights. Each lamp is
specially designed to short itself out when it fails - reducing the
string still further and shortening the life of the remaining lamps. But
meaning that the string will be tolerant to one or two failed lamps.
Normally there is a special "fuse lamp" that protects what remains when
the remaining number of working lamps has fallen too low. You may have
chopped this one out as well - so be glad that your arena didn't turn
into a recreation of Towering Inferno.

However, you can get low voltage (sometimes, in the UK anyway, referred
to as outdoor) Christmas tree light sets. These have a transformer and
sometimes even an electronic controller to change the lights in purty
patterns. You can also get LED Christmas lights. Which do much the same
thing, but the LEDs should last longer. They may be a better bet for
pruning down to the number of lights that you want.

Now is a good time to buy. My local shop has a box of 480 LED lamps and
controller on sale, reduced to 9.99GBP.. Quite a cheap way of buying LEDs..

--

Last time I was in a hobby shop (which I admit was a long time ago)
they use to sell "pea" lamps for model railroaders. At the time, it
was the smallest light you could get and they were pretty bright too.

Rather than cut up a Christmas Tree light string, if you have just a
bit of soldering skill I would recommend purchasing individual LED's.
Radio Shack has them fairly cheap. Companies like Jameco Electronics
and MCM Electronics have them for even cheaper.

You can run them off of standard DC voltages (from a plug in DC power
adapter) like 12 Volts, 9 volts, or 6 volts, but you do need to put a
dropping resistor in series with the LED to keep it from getting too
high a voltage and burning out.

The value of this resistor is fairly easy to calculate. Maybe someone
here can show you how to do it.

The advantage of LED's is that they run cool, last for tens of
thousands of hours (if you limit the current properly), come in just
about every color available, use very little current, and are
available in high-brightness versions, if desired.

Beachcomber

 

[ehsjr]

Last time I was in a hobby shop (which I admit was a long time ago)
they use to sell "pea" lamps for model railroaders. At the time, it
was the smallest light you could get and they were pretty bright too.

Rather than cut up a Christmas Tree light string, if you have just a
bit of soldering skill I would recommend purchasing individual LED's.
Radio Shack has them fairly cheap. Companies like Jameco Electronics
and MCM Electronics have them for even cheaper.

You can run them off of standard DC voltages (from a plug in DC power
adapter) like 12 Volts, 9 volts, or 6 volts, but you do need to put a
dropping resistor in series with the LED to keep it from getting too
high a voltage and burning out.

The value of this resistor is fairly easy to calculate. Maybe someone
here can show you how to do it.

The advantage of LED's is that they run cool, last for tens of
thousands of hours (if you limit the current properly), come in just
about every color available, use very little current, and are
available in high-brightness versions, if desired.

Beachcomber

Take a look at this: stock # 15101 OP at MPJA
http://www.mpja.com/

100 LEDs for $1.95

Ed

 

[Pop]

Check for lighting at doll house sites and stores; lots of them
around. I was amazed at what I found - even working light
switches!

Unfortunately I can only send yuou to Google though; can't find
the darned links!

Caution: Getting too realistic and "authentic" can be addicting
AND expensive!

Pop


: On Mon, 16 Jan 2006 14:36:44 +0000,
=?UTF-8?B?UGFsaW5kcuKYu21l?=
:
: >Mike wrote:
: >> To All,
: >>
: >>
: >>
: >> My son built a replica of an arena (about 2' x 3'). We
wanted to add lights
: >> to it and really couldn't find anything small and that would
work so I took
: >> a strand of Christmas lights and since there were too many,
I cut it to get
: >> about 20 lights and rewired it. They worked but then the
next day they didn't.
: >> It looked like many had burnt out. Is it because there were
less lights
: >> that the power was then too strong? Any ideas if I can get
around this or
: >> better, does anyone know of any lighting that has small
bulbs (kind of for
: >> hobbies) that I could use?
: >>
: >>
: >I am not sure what an "arena" is, in this context.
: >
: >However, if it is not too girly for the purpose, there is a
wide range
: >of light fixtures and fittings available for dolls' houses.
: >
: >You are quite correct about having too few lights will cause
premature
: >failure of a string of conventional Christmas lights. Each
lamp is
: >specially designed to short itself out when it fails -
reducing the
: >string still further and shortening the life of the remaining
lamps. But
: >meaning that the string will be tolerant to one or two failed
lamps.
: >Normally there is a special "fuse lamp" that protects what
remains when
: >the remaining number of working lamps has fallen too low. You
may have
: >chopped this one out as well - so be glad that your arena
didn't turn
: >into a recreation of Towering Inferno.
: >
: >However, you can get low voltage (sometimes, in the UK anyway,
referred
: >to as outdoor) Christmas tree light sets. These have a
transformer and
: >sometimes even an electronic controller to change the lights
in purty
: >patterns. You can also get LED Christmas lights. Which do much
the same
: >thing, but the LEDs should last longer. They may be a better
bet for
: >pruning down to the number of lights that you want.
: >
: >Now is a good time to buy. My local shop has a box of 480 LED
lamps and
: >controller on sale, reduced to 9.99GBP.. Quite a cheap way of
buying LEDs..
: >
: >--
:
: Last time I was in a hobby shop (which I admit was a long time
ago)
: they use to sell "pea" lamps for model railroaders. At the
time, it
: was the smallest light you could get and they were pretty
bright too.
:
: Rather than cut up a Christmas Tree light string, if you have
just a
: bit of soldering skill I would recommend purchasing individual
LED's.
: Radio Shack has them fairly cheap. Companies like Jameco
Electronics
: and MCM Electronics have them for even cheaper.
:
: You can run them off of standard DC voltages (from a plug in DC
power
: adapter) like 12 Volts, 9 volts, or 6 volts, but you do need to
put a
: dropping resistor in series with the LED to keep it from
getting too
: high a voltage and burning out.
:
: The value of this resistor is fairly easy to calculate. Maybe
someone
: here can show you how to do it.
:
: The advantage of LED's is that they run cool, last for tens of
: thousands of hours (if you limit the current properly), come in
just
: about every color available, use very little current, and are
: available in high-brightness versions, if desired.
:
: Beachcomber
:
: