I think incandescent bulbs almost always burn out when they are first turning on. You can greatly reduce that if you use an adjustable voltage regulator and add a capacitor and a diode to the standard two resistors that set the voltage. The voltage and current ramp up instead of switching on. This has several advantages: you can set the voltage lower (which might give you a better color as well as extend the bulb life), you nearly eliminate inrush current (which is demanding on the DCC output). I'm not sure what voltage spikes Ed is referring to, but voltage regulators don't do much to filter out quick spikes. I think inrush current into a cold filament is the main culprit here.
-Michael Eldridge --- In [email protected], "Ed" <Loizeaux@...> wrote: > > > I am searching for ways to improve bulb life, > > I added 22 ohm resistors on the E6 lighting circuits to hopefully improve > > the life, but I'm always interested in other ideas. > > Jim...You might find a small voltage regulator a better method for keeping > bulbs exposed only to a constant pre-set voltage (regardless of track > voltage) and safely protected from voltage spikes which do occur with both DC > and DCC. ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
