where to buy led for lighting à layout

[collectormania]

hi everyone, i'm planning to add light on my layout ,but i Don't know which company where i can buy them

i found 2 different companies :

Bricks Delight

https://bricksdelight.com/

the prices are good, the shipping cost is offered for 50$, but they send from China, is anyone already bought some of their stuff?

i found some of their links going to old lepin pages, so not sure if they are serious and if orders are safe...

and i found Brickstuff

https://www.brickstuff.com/

and their european reseller :

https://www.sunnysavers.co.uk/brickstuff/

prices are more expensive, shipping cost is expensive

but i read that they are the original designers of the leds

i Don't know what to do, i need help, thanks

[BrickMusher]

Hi,

 can't really help you with these kits, but is DIY an option for you?

I did all my lighting from LED and wires from ebay. If you just need permanent light, this might be by far cheaper than any of these kits.

"Layout" sounds like plenty of stuff is needed, so the less you have to spent for each light , the more you can afford.....

[Pdaitabird]

I second what @BrickMusher said...common hobby LEDs are widely available and cheaper than those meant for use with Lego. 3mm LEDs will fit in a hollow stud, 5mm will fit in a Technic hole. If you have some basic circuit knowledge and a soldering iron, you can make it work.

[LegoDW]

Question, what gauge wiring are you using in your DIY LED lighting?  

[BrickMusher]

I use miniatur litz wire, LIVY type. Typical wire cross section is 0,04 mm². Outer diameter including insulation <0,5mm.

You find it usually in specialized modelltrain-shops or similar shops for electronic components. Sometimes even on ebay.

 

I use them mostly in combination with smd led type 2832, 5050 or sometimes 0603 (last one is very difficult to solder)

Edited March 7, 2020 by BrickMusher
Added info

[LegoDW]

5 hours ago, BrickMusher said:

I use miniatur litz wire, LIVY type. Typical wire cross section is 0,04 mm². Outer diameter including insulation <0,5mm.

You find it usually in specialized modelltrain-shops or similar shops for electronic components. Sometimes even on ebay.

 

I use them mostly in combination with smd led type 2832, 5050 or sometimes 0603 (last one is very difficult to solder)

Two questions.

1) How hard is it to work this size wire between bricks?  Or do you have to take bricks out.  Seen some really small stuff that will go between bricks and is not too noticeable.  

2) How far can you run this wire without voltage drop concerns?  Assuming the more Led's you have connected to a wire the shorter you can run it.  One of my typically buildings will need around 6 to 8 LEDs.  I would have a few feet of wiring in the building and then maybe 5' getting under the table and connecting to a larger gauge wire.  

[BrickMusher]

The wire is small enough to route it between plates when not fully pressed down. If you e.g. place two tiles with groove side by side, there is enough space between the tiles to hide that wire.

In other cases I use light grey wire to "camouflage" it in an LBG environment.

 

I equip each light with a 560 Ohm resistor to operate it directly connected to 12V. In that configuration, voltage drop is nothing I had to worry about so far.

On exhibition, I operated up to 16 lamppost, each 32 studs from another, without any hassle.

[LegoDW]

This is great starting point for my DIY lighting upgrade.  Follow up question.

I have messed around with some color pixel LED's for a holiday display.  Both 12V and 5 V.  12V can run these displays at much greater distances.  Was their a reason you went with a 12V power supply vs 5V?. My layout is 6' by 12', was thinking one power supply should be good for my lighting needs.  Will run some sorta electrical bus system under my table, either 14 or 12 AWG (have some left over from a wiring project) and just tap in the smaller wiring. 

Thank you for sharing how you designed your lighting..    

[BrickMusher]

21 minutes ago, LegoDW said:

Was their a reason you went with a 12V power supply vs 5V?

Yes. 9V trains to be operated with the same power source. So minimum 10V was required. 12V power-supplies are widely available, so I chose one of these.

Pimped one of the original Lego 9V train regulators somewhat, so I can run trains with 9V up to 5 Amp. Also enough current for some LED.

 

But I don't see any point NOT to use 5V if that accommodates more with your demands.

[LegoDW]

All my trains run on battery PF, lighting will be on its own power supply/circuit. I do have some stand alone TLG motors running a few amusement park rides.  Was planning on getting separate power supply for them, but might be able to use a common one. Maybe 12 V is the way to go for my application too.

Looks like I have a 300W 5VDC and 350W 12VDC power supplies already.  

 

 

[collectormania]

hi, thanks for replies, i don't want to go on DIY solution because i can' use a soldering iron, last time use one i was 15 and it was ....30 years ago

not sure i'm still able to use this, so i preffer precable options

i find some leds in China from the company vonado, the price is a lot more interesting and no need of soldering iron...

i made an order and i may get them this week, i will let you know if quality is good enough for the price...

[collectormania]

hello, finally i bought some leds from China seller, the leds are great, very small and fit in lego pieces (i made adjustments and cute some lego studs to fit perfectly)

i really love them

i made 2 gas sphere for my future petrochemical factory, and i put the leds on them, it is great

i will try to take pictures this afternoon

 

[patje]

bit late to reply,

we build with a group ... mils layouts
and don't buy the leds
we use broken Christmas lights
the LEDs themselves can still be used

see result

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=578837

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=578836

Edited March 28, 2020 by patje