Platform lights

I came home from work Friday night to discover my shipment of Brawa lights had arrived. I had ordered model #4643 and as it turns out, it was a good choice. I ordered ten lights on the premise that I would have ten sections that required lights. However, last night I re-configured the ground track again and shortened the platform. I will have a few extra lights in case I need replacements.

I'd like to mention that there are some imperfections with the lights. Most notable is how the hood is mounted. Some are crooked, but at N-scale, it's difficult to see. However, I do like the fact that the pole and hood is made of metal. As with all LEDs, there is a resistor attached to the light to limit the current. I'll have to find my electrical engineering book and check the ohm rating on the resistor because I don't think the reading on my circuit tester is reliable. However, I did use my circuit tester to perform a continuity check. I didn't on the first install and had to uninstall and check the light. After that, I checked all the lights before attaching the light to the platform.

I discovered that the LED bulb has a single wire connected to it with the resistor at the end. The single wire slides into the pole. The bulb rests in the cradle which is also metal and is soldered to the pole. Soldered at the bottom of the pole is the other wire for the opposite polarity. I'm not sure if this design is typical of all lights. I do know that the LED bulb is sensitive and I have to make sure that the bulb rests firmly in the metal cradle to get the proper contact.

Before I could attach the light, I had to prepare the platform. I had to drill a hole large enough for the resistor to fit through from the top to the underbelly of the platform structure. For this, I used a jeweler's hand drill. I picked up mine at Lee Valley. It's great for delicate work like this and cheaper than a drill press. With such a large hole I'm glad Brawa added such a large base. It covers the hole quite adequately.

Once the platform was prepared, I pulled the wires and resistor through the hole and proceeded to attach the base of the light to the platform using rubber cement. It does the job and allows me to remove the light in case I have to replace the LED. Hopefully I won't have to do that. I'll have to check if I can buy replacement bulbs. I have a feeling I'll burn out a few bulbs while wiring the lights to the power source. I connected the leads of one light to an AA battery, but it didn't light up. The little pamphlet that came with the product provides a brief description, but not for the 4643. Brawa definitely needs to improve their quality control. As far as I could make out, it appears that I'll need an A/C source. I'll have to ask Hans for some help. He wired all the lights in his passenger cars so that they don't flicker, which is no easy task.

Since it takes a few minutes for the rubber cement to dry I used my small clamps to hold the base of the light to the platform until the cement dried. The adhesive quality of the cement is not as strong as I would like. The slightest nudge will dislodge the light. I'll have to be careful when handling the platform. If left untouched, I think the rubber cement will be sufficient to keep the light in place.

There is a shallow cavity on the underbelly of the platform that allowed me to house the extra length of wires and resistor. I used rubber cement to adhere the wire to the underbelly. I think masking tape would have been better suited for this, but I didn't have any so I elected to go with the cement. It works, but it's messy.

I really like how the lights complement the rural platform, but they appear too tall next to the roof sections. Now I just have to wait for the remaining lights on back order to arrive. I was quite surprised how easy it was to mount the lights. I definitely found it meditative working on my platform after a long week at the office.