Interesting phenomenon as regards using an LED as a warning light?

[petercharlesfagg]

Friends,

My knowledge of electronic circuitry is, as you are aware, limited.

Not really a discussion but you might like to view it as such?

You may remember that I built in a warning light, in the shape of an LED, into the power supply (16 volt AC) to my controller? 

Well I connected up the power today to run a few trains as distraction from my hassles with LED lighting and using my Gaugemaster Controller (Panel mounted) there was insufficient power at the track to operate anything!

ONLY one LED was used in-line but it sapped enough energy to stop play!

Disconnecting the LED and everything worked fine?

Any ideas?  Peter.

[austinbob]

Friends,

My knowledge of electronic circuitry is, as you are aware, limited.

Not really a discussion but you might like to view it as such?

You may remember that I built in a warning light, in the shape of an LED, into the power supply (16 volt AC) to my controller? 

Well I connected up the power today to run a few trains as distraction from my hassles with LED lighting and using my Gaugemaster Controller (Panel mounted) there was insufficient power at the track to operate anything!

ONLY one LED was used in-line but it sapped enough energy to stop play!

Disconnecting the LED and everything worked fine?

Any ideas?  Peter.

Oh my God Peter.
Are you sure you haven't got a little electronic poltergeist floating around your layout.
The led will only consume about 30mA so is not likely to be the problem.
You need to learn how to use that multimeter of yours and look for shorts or bad connections.

[petercharlesfagg]

Oh my God Peter.
Are you sure you haven't got a little electronic poltergeist floating around your layout.
The led will only consume about 30mA so is not likely to be the problem.
You need to learn how to use that multimeter of yours and look for shorts or bad connections.

Not a poltergeist just a ham-fisted clod hopper!

Need a degree in understanding jargon for the instructions for the Multi-meter!

Peter.

[Newportnobby]

Need a degree in understanding jargon for the instructions for the Multi-meter!

Peter.

Likewise, Peter.
As a friend once said "All the gear and no idea"

[austinbob]

Couple of questions
Have you got a local Maplin or similar where you could look for a simple multimeter with simple instructions?
Have you got a mate nearby who could help you learn to use your meter or do some measurements for you?
Otherwise its gonna be another free for all guessing game.

[MalcolmInN]

run a few trains as distraction from my hassles with LED
,
one LED was used in-line

Good idea re. hassles
,
wow I am as surprised as Bob !

when you say "in-line" do you really mean in-line with one of the lines, that would reduce things dramatically !
or do you mean you have connected it across the lines, ie. the led and its resistor ACROSS (aka between) the + and - lines. In which case I am mystified

I hope the latter, not the former ? Just checking upon your polterwhatsit

[petercharlesfagg]

Couple of questions
Have you got a local Maplin or similar where you could look for a simple multimeter with simple instructions?
Have you got a mate nearby who could help you learn to use your meter or do some measurements for you?
Otherwise its gonna be another free for all guessing game.

Yes, we have a Maplin in Banbury, whether they have a "simple" multi-meter is another question?  (I will study their website for ideas)

No, no-one local, Malc has visited from Birmingham but I do not want to keep bothering him. 

There is Trevor (Chinahand) in Daventry but as yet we have only met at TINGS, not conducive to talking details! 

Needless to say I will have to write ALL instructions out in longhand if I am ever to remember anything and first and foremost where I put my own instructions!

Peter.

[petercharlesfagg]

run a few trains as distraction from my hassles with LED
,
one LED was used in-line

Good idea re. hassles
,
wow I am as surprised as Bob !

when you say "in-line" do you really mean in-line with one of the lines, that would reduce things dramatically !
or do you mean you have connected it across the lines, ie. the led and its resistor ACROSS (aka between) the + and - lines. In which case I am mystified

I hope the latter, not the former ? Just checking upon your polterwhatsit

My meaning of "in-line" is in the outgoing power line, not across between the negative and positive lines.
(I did the same for the out line for the console and all the LED's, I have since removed that warning LED too because it popped!)

Was that the wrong way to do it?  Peter.

[scotsoft]

Peter, have a look on You Tube.  There are a multitude of videos showing you how to use a multimeter for various purposes and as the old saying goes: a picture is worth a thousand words 

You might even find a video with your multimeter featured in it 

cheers John.

[petercharlesfagg]

Peter, have a look on You Tube.  There are a multitude of videos showing you how to use a multimeter for various purposes and as the old saying goes: a picture is worth a thousand words 

You might even find a video with your multimeter featured in it 

cheers John.

John, I am planning to do JUST THAT after the 12th of July when, hopefully, we will have a desktop PC that actually works!  Our laptop is SOOOOO SLOOOW that it will not play videos at all!

Thanks for the thought, Peter.

[austinbob]

Peter, have a look on You Tube.  There are a multitude of videos showing you how to use a multimeter for various purposes and as the old saying goes: a picture is worth a thousand words 

You might even find a video with your multimeter featured in it 

cheers John.

That's a great idea John. Do you know of any links you could give Peter?

[scotsoft]

That's a great idea John. Do you know of any links you could give Peter?

Just do a search for multimeter and many videos will appear 

cheers John.

[MikeDunn]

Peter,

You may want to buy a basic book on this stuff - I find Make: Electronics is a good starting point !

Mike

[austinbob]

Couple of questions
Have you got a local Maplin or similar where you could look for a simple multimeter with simple instructions?
Have you got a mate nearby who could help you learn to use your meter or do some measurements for you?
Otherwise its gonna be another free for all guessing game.

Yes, we have a Maplin in Banbury, whether they have a "simple" multi-meter is another question?  (I will study their website for ideas)

No, no-one local, Malc has visited from Birmingham but I do not want to keep bothering him. 

There is Trevor (Chinahand) in Daventry but as yet we have only met at TINGS, not conducive to talking details! 

Needless to say I will have to write ALL instructions out in longhand if I am ever to remember anything and first and foremost where I put my own instructions!

Peter.

It's possible the Maplin guys could talk you through how some of their multimeters work and show you the instructions. Might be worth a try next time you're in Banbury.

[Steve.T]

Peter,

If the LED was in line and on one of the wires from a 16 VAC power supply then only half of the AC current would pass through, at most.
Which is why it appeared to sap so much power.
The LED is a diode which is a sort of valve that only lets current pass in one direction. Thus for 1/2 the AC wave it would be blocked.
Also without a resistor then I would imagine after a short while the LED will blow.

The LED could have been used by putting it across the 2 wires from the power supply with an appropriate resistor to limit the current. In this configuration current would still pass in only one direction but the flickering would be so quick that you would still just see a lit led.

Steve