Please help a newbie noob!

[JR 500系]

Hi all! Sorry for being a newbie noob here and probably many of you have answered this very typical question, but i've been scrawling around the net (forum/ google/ youtube etc.) but i still cant get the answer i would need to solve this...

 

Installation of interior lights in Kato carriages. Yes there are many many threads and videos out there showing exactly how to install, and also the not-so-helpful Kato instructional sheet, but the problem lies here in the Kato E4, having recently bought my Kato 10-008 E4 starter set (ouch).

 

According to Kato's website on the E4 and also the Kato catalogue, the E4 can use both 11-204 and 11-209 interior lighting, so i went along to buy the 11-206 (6x 11-204 set), and tried to install them like this:

 

I guess it's correct, but i have yet to test it on a track...

 

Am i doing it correctly here? Looks like quite an ok fit to me...

 

So far so good, just that i wonder how both stories will get lighted up, but that can be solved easily tonight when i get time to test it on a track. The main problem is here:

 

The first/ last carriage of the E4

 

I can't seem to get the light tube in! The nose of the carriage is in the way!

 

Here's an attempt at a closer look. The nose cone bends down BEFORE the light tube hence there is no way to stuff the light tube in? Am i missing something here?

 

Here's a look from the side... You can see the light tube bending down due to the nose cone...

 

And finally a look at the length of the light tube and the length of the E4 body BEFORE the nose cone. It's almost impossible to stuff it in, unless of course one cuts the light tube.. Can that be done?

 

Assistance and advice most appreciated! Am i doing something wrong here? What can i do to make it work?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

*Please excuse the flowery background. It's my wife's favourite bedsheet*

[Guest Closed Account 1]

It's almost impossible to stuff it in, unless of course one cuts the light tube.. Can that be done?

 

Yes. Break the excess off at the thin spots.  Always buy these kits in 6-packs. Less expensive.

 

Lots of discussions of this popular interior lighting kit on this site.

 

Kato Interior Light Install Video: http://www.jnsforum.com/index.php/topic,4067.0.html

 

Lighting trains: http://www.jnsforum.com/index.php/topic,6629.0.html

[The_Ghan]

JR,

 

You're doing a great job.  Just snap off the last two segments - that's why they're divided into segments ... 

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[JR 500系]

Thank you Webskipper & The_Ghan for the advices!

 

Seems like i really suck at this... Tried snapping off up to 4 of the segments and still couldnt get the light tube to hold in the first car... Ended up fixing it up without the light tube... By far, the nicest installation is the last and motor carriage... The middle carriage looks so dim you can barely see and the first carriage has only lights at the rear end, probably because of the absence of the light tube...

 

Guess i thought too big of myself and decided to try my first hand at installing lights at something of more difficulty like the double-decker E4?

 

I'll be taking some photos & videos tomorrow night, together with my just arrived Tomix overhead track! Yeh!

[CaptOblivious]

You can use a little white/PVC/Elmer's glue to hold the light pipes in place in the roof. Be careful with the older Bulb sets like you purchased: they have a history of overheating on DCC, and melting the roofs off! But don't let that scare you from using them on straight DC, or even pulse power DC. If you continue to have issues, I have this set (albeit without the lighting), and might be able to crack mine open and help you out.

[KenS]

Sometimes the light pipe just won't stay up. I've had that problem.  However those tall posts (on the blue seating section) are there to hold it up, so you can just put it loosely in the top of the car, and assemble the car upside down and it will stay where it's put.

[Guest Closed Account 1]

The lens should fall into place in a perfect spot the roof as long as the lens' notches are facing the roof.

 

A little piece of clear tape will hold the lens to the Decoder.

[JR 500系]

Thanks guys for the advices! Will try some tape to try to hold it in place.

 

@ CatOblivious: I'm not skilled enough to go into DCC, so i think that's ok with me ~

 

Here are some videos illustrating the 'dim-ness' (cant exactly say the brightness as it's not bright...) for the E4.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOwga-H64cw&feature=plcp

First a day shot. Cant really see much...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6GaFsbAnVU&feature=plcp

Now a night shot. Now you can see, the best lighting is in the last carriage. The motor carriage is still ok, but the rest are like....

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcQDgdJ6v0c&feature=plcp

And now, a comparison with the factory fitted interior lighting Kato 10-912 Shikisai

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C65k_WUgIbs&feature=plcp

You can really see it's really bright! Factory fitted rocks!

 

I think i did something seriously wrong with it, in comparison to the factory fitted ones. Guess the Tomix one is easier to install as it is only a fit on type to the contact points at the base, rather than the Kato with more procedures...

 

Can anyone advice please? Thanks!

[KenS]

Factory-fitted lights are almost always "perfect" since they can control the placement of parts more directly.

 

Kato's do-it-yourself kits suffer from problems getting the LED (on the edge of the white lightboard) to properly shine into the end of the plastic light-pipe (I expect bulb kits such as you use are similar, but I haven't used them), and the symptoms in your video look like an alignment problem.  The circuit board doesn't always stand up straight, and the light pipe can slide away from it if there's any end-to-end play in the mounting.

 

Without the light-pipe, the light only shines on the part of the car nearest it. As Webskipper noted, you can fix that with some tape (assuming you don't mount the light-pipe to the car roof, but instead simply rest it atop the posts in the car, tape it into alignment, and then snap the roof down onto it).

 

Other problems could be mounting the light-pipe upside down or without the reflective tape.

 

But no matter what you do, the older kits are a bit erratic in function (those light-pipes just aren't very good). That's one thing Kato improved with the new "V2" LED design.  The redesigned light pipe (which should work in older cars suitable for the older LED sets) works much better.

 

However, your second video looks much worse than I'd expect for just normal misbehavior, although it can be deceptive to judge lighting in videos. That looks like a serious alignment problem, although perhaps the bulbs are even worse than the LEDs.

[JR 500系]

Thanks KenS for the advices!

 

Probably getting the newer versions Kato 10-209 to try it out... Or thinking of using third party LED strips too... Gotta experiment abit first.. More updates later ~

[JR 500系]

Hi decided to try something that i suddenly thought off. From my first 'fail' attempt of installing the interior lights in my E4, it suddenly occur to me, why dont i try using 3rd party LEDs instead? Hence i took out my Tomix 500 1st carriage and did a 'little' test:

 

Viola! It works beautifully! The LED light strip turns on the moment the train is switched to run, together with the front lighting!

 

As such, it turns off once it's switched off too

 

Here's a video to show how it looks like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHfyNMrvsgU&feature=youtu.be

 

However, here comes the problem: Polarity. It seems that i cant switch over from + to - and from - to + whenever the train switches directions. Here are some pictures:

 

Train set to reverse direction. Note the LED strip is now reversed.

 

Notice the red rear light of the train

 

Anyone has any experience using 3rd party LED lighting as interior lighting inside trains, instead of the factory recommended interior lightings? Is it safe? It may prove to be a cheaper and easier alternative to lighting up trains, especially long 16 car types. Anyone has tried to fix the polarity problem too?

Any advice and suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance! 

[sedril]

A bridge would help with your polarity issue. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diode_bridge )

... as long as you aren't planning to move to DCC anytime soon.