Athearn light globe replacements

[Teditor]

I realize this is probably an oft asked question, but I was unable to find info that explained things to me in a non-technical manner.

I have just fitted a Soundtraxx Tsunami 885013 EMD Sound decoder in an Athearn R-T-R SD45, my first go at one of these, went great until I connected the lights, obvious now, I sent twelve volts to the 1.5volt globes, what is recommended for these, I have read mention of LED's, can anyone point me in the right direction as to what I should do.

Worse part is its not my loco, so the choice of decoders was not really mine., any help appreciated.

I have fitted ESU Select decoders to Athearn SD70 Aces, but the were Plug and Play basically, these Soundtraxx are great, just a bit more installation complication than I expected.

Ted (Teditor) Freeman
From the Land Down Under.

[woodone]

Don't send 12 volts to the light bulbs- They will make a brief flash and be gone-  That could take out the decoder too.
If you want to retain the 1.5 volt bulbs one of the easiest ways it to us a 1.5 voltage regulator for the power to them.
Several of the different decoder manufacture make them. Next choice is to replace them with LED's. To use LED's you should use some type of light piping to make the LED's look like bulbs. Fiber optic cable is one way to do this.     

[peteski]

If you go with white LEDs, then install a 1kK ohm (1000 ohm) 1/8  Watt (or larger) in series with the LED.  That will give you plenty brightness and be safe for the LED.  If it is too bight, you can use larger value resistor (like 2.2, 3.9, 4.7, 5.6 or higher K ohms).

You can also use a resistor in series with the 1.5V bulb but to come up with a value I need to know what it its working amperage. Is it one of those tiny 1.2mm 1.5V 20mA bulbs?