REFURBISHING A MODEL TRACTION ENGINE - PART #3
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- čas přidán 7. 09. 2024
- Refurbishing A Model Traction Engine - Part #3 - Canopy Repairs and modification. I show the structure and repair to the twin LED support rails as I re-solder some of them. I also show the modification and repositioning of the the Chimney extension mounting..............................
/ keithappleton
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/ keithappleton
There has never been and will never be anything in the world of transportation, as wonderful looking as a showmans engine. Lovely.
I just watched a movie called “The Iron Maiden “ .its about a traction engine the looks just like your model. I hope the Iron Maiden still exists. I like seeing the traction engine steaming along the English countryside. The traction engine race with many entrants was most amusing...Paul
The traction engine in the film is indeed named The Iron Maiden and is preserved today.
Loving this series. And your methodology for design and installation of electronics is EXCELLENT.
Why would they gripe about you doing it that way? I do a ton of electrical work with LEDs for shows.... unless I using an RGB strip, that's exactly how I'd do it, and is the "right" way.... and very nicely done!
Old saying around here....some people would whine about the knot if they where hung with a new rope
LEDs can be run in parallel but with one potential problem. As a string on a certain power supply that limits current they will be ok. Should one or more fail however, more current will be shared among the remaining LEDs, which if high enough could cause further failures!
That can't happen anyway, as in the small Mahogany box is a proper regulator circuit that keeps the output at a constant level.
Keith Appleton If you do ever change your electronics (see my comment above/below), I’d love to contribute a period style regulator or buck-boost converter (to allow running at low engine speeds).
Not being a "keyboard warrior", myself, all I can say is…..I enjoy watching your videos.....and listening to your accent. :-)
How you've done your LED's is how I did the capacitors for my railgun. No complaint from me here.
Hello Mr. Appleton. I just found your videos at part 1 of this series and I am enjoying them immensely! I love model steam and I own a Willesco D18 stationary steam engine. ( not in the class of your engines I know but I am a senior with financial restrictions so the class of your steam collection is out of my reach sadly, however I enjoy my Willesco D18 very much anyway) Great videos! I subscribed and will be watching regularly from now on. Thank you from Nova Scotia Canada.
Yes, I am an electronic "wizard" and Yes my fingers were hovering over the keyboard. What I am intenting to say is that Keith is using the correct tool to solder those LED's. It is an Antex soldering station and if those are still available, I would recommend to get one unless You already have a temperature controlled soldering station.
And why is that the correct tool and what is an incorrect tool ?
An incorrect tool is a soldering iron that does not have means to control the temperature. Good examples of bad soldering irons are those available VERY cheaply and whose temperature is not controlled so their temperature goes up until power loss through radiation etc. is egual to the power input. That temperature is usually way too high to solder any kind of electronic components with a plastic body. The LED's for example, can have their leads slightly misplaced inside the plastic body resulting in a dead device.
The Antex soldering station is quite handy and it has multitude of different tips to attach to it. One can buy those tips separately. The soldering iron tip, I consider it being part that should be easy and cheap to replace. They go bad really easily and there is actually nothing much one can do to prevent that from happening.
I started my electronic "career" some 50 years ago with a 100W Barthel soldering iron. I was lucky as at that time the electronic components were a lot more durable than they are today. My next "iron" was a Weller WC60 that has a curie-point control system. After that came the Antex and now I am soldering with a Metcal soldering station. That tool can put 50 Watts into a tip measuring 5 x 5 x 2 millimeters. The tip is heated with radio frequency and it is ONLY the tip that heats up. Our fingers are not more that 3 centimeters away from the action. This is good for controlling the work.
Metal never cools quick enough & paint takes SOOOOO long to dry, but nothing hits the spot like a good cleaning......
*Unless the unpainting brush gets involved- always a grinner, that one!
Real tiny bulbs would have a better appearance than led's for period sake I would think? Could even frost them as well,
Nice job!
Yeay! Luckily Im up late to to c the new vids !
What would one of those cost?
about 6k or thereabouts . . . .
Electronics consultant here in keyboard warrior mode. Don’t bother looking at my videos, I don’t make them, and am very content to accept inferiority in that department.
What you have there is perfectly serviceable, and quite appropriate for a steam plant which is run infrequently. So keep it as it is and ignore the detractors. And that’s the first time that I’ve seen electronic circuits assembled onto mahogany, so thanks for that. 😊
For the purists, LEDs are far better driven at constant current than constant voltage, unless they’re voltage mode LEDs with internal resistors. Your parallel arrangement there will drive all the LEDs at the same voltage, and different LEDs with slightly different characteristics will have different brightness, especially LEDs of different colours. Some may even be overdriven at 3V and will have limited life.
The conventional solution is to wire them in series and feed them with a constant current from a boost converter. Then they will all run at the same current and drop whatever voltage they need to, at that current. But that would be overkill for your application.
If you did want to re-do your lighting, which I repeat is not necessary, then I’d do a few things differently.
First I’d rub down the LEDs with fine wire wool or abrasive paper. This will make the light diffuse better, rather than predominantly shine downwards, and better resemble the pearl bulbs often used on showmen’s engines.
Next, I’d choose a higher voltage to run the lighting, and either use a different regulator, or a buck-boost converter if you want to run the engine slowly.
Then I’d add a resistor in series with each LED, and power the LED-resistor combination from bus bars as you suggest. You could choose different resistor values for each LED colour to match the brightness, for best effect.
If you or your viewers are interested to take these ideas further, PM me or email msj dot beard at yahoo dot co dot uk.
Constant current sources are a lot cheaper and smaller today than they were a few years ago. I agree that just leaving the leds paralleled as they are is OK as long as the voltage supply is below the standard forward drop. There'll be some variations in brightness, but maybe there were on the original incandescent ones!
I used a commercial regulated power supply which is fitted inside the Mahogany box under the Canopy. It seems to work perfectly well and has never blown any LEDS . . . . . .
noice lights . . What, no Disco Ball!?
Do you look for projects to work on for your channel
Yes, I have customers all over the World {:-)))
@@keithappleton I have an 040 5 inch gauge doogle that requires the pipe work looking at and smoke box door machining and a shared off blowdown valve that needs removing and replacing then boiler test
What would you charge for this list of work as I don't have the time with work
Please send me some closeup digital photographs to sales@mainsteam.co.uk with a full list of the problems with it. Don't send too many at once otherwise my Email server will reject them.
@@keithappleton thank you I'll do that over the weekend
Can you build a steam bycijcle.
I suppose so, but I wouldn't want to build one .......
.....ANNND, it would then be called a motorcycle! :v ;)