# LED, TSU1000 and early P2K E6, questions?



## 3.8TransAM (Jan 13, 2016)

Just what it says.

Early P2K E6, DCC ready with the large square board in rear(removed).

Engine moves(motor control), light on TSU1000 lit for showing power.

No headlight or mars light.

Ebay LEDs have caused no issue in anything else I've used them in(6 or more engines at this point).

What should be a good range for resistors, was using 1k and they were still very bright and was going to use 2 to get 2k resistance.

Pos. is wired to white(headlight) and pos. is wired to brown(mars) and neg. is to common(blue). I put the 2k resistor in the blue wire going back to decoder.

Might have answered my own question typing it thru w/ reading install guide...... Blue is common which means power and the white and brown are turned on and off by ground.

That would mean I need to swap my LED leads.

Anyhow, thrown me some input before I solder/desolder anything else. I need a cooling off period now anyhow


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## Brakeman Jake (Mar 8, 2009)

On TSU 1000,BLUE is common positive ++++


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## 3.8TransAM (Jan 13, 2016)

Brakeman Jake said:


> On TSU 1000,BLUE is common positive ++++


Thanks for the confirmation.

I rambled my way to it writing the post and checking out the install guide again.

Can I ask what you would use as far as resistance needed?

I was at 1k w/ the LED and they are too bright still so I was going to step to 2k.


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## Brakeman Jake (Mar 8, 2009)

Soundtraxx recommends using a 680 ohm resistor for each LED.TSU AT1000 installation instructions.


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## 3.8TransAM (Jan 13, 2016)

Brakeman Jake said:


> Soundtraxx recommends using a 680 ohm resistor for each LED.TSU AT1000 installation instructions.


Yeah I saw that.

My Erie built install had that recommended to(board style install). 1k and its still very bright.

I'll play with it a bit when I switch the leads tomorrow and set it up correctly.

Thanks for the feedback


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## Brakeman Jake (Mar 8, 2009)

I did some searching and Soundtraxx still recommend a 680 ohm resistor for each LED,installed on the return wire (-).You likely have bright LEDs on hand.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Some LEDs burn brighter than others. You might
get several resistors and experiment; usually the higher
resistance the dimmer the bulb. It does not matter
which LED lead has the resistor.

If all else fails, you can just use a daub of white
paint on the end of the LED, some types will permit
some light to show thru.

Don


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

Or activate the dimmer function CVs 49/52.


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## tkruger (Jan 18, 2009)

I buy bulk lots of leds on EBay cheep. When they are to bright I just do as Cyclops said an use the dimmer CVs. On the NCE decoders you can set a function to dim the light more when F8 (I think, I just hit it without thinking about it) is pressed.

I have also painted the LED or the lens it is shining through.


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

That's a subtle comment Cycleops, I never even looked to see if there was an LED dimmer function on the decoder. But then how would they do the mars thing is they didn't! Resistors are not the best for dimming LED's and a high frequency pulse width modulation works much better. I would keep the 1k resistor and follow up on what Cycleops says!


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## 3.8TransAM (Jan 13, 2016)

Did a quick google search.

Dimmer function is usually the headlight dimmer like when your on a siding.

Is there a way to tailor the actual headlite?

Or am I missing something?

I can do the basic decoder stuff, this one was going to be my test bed to tailor it exactly as I wanted.

Speakers should be in the mailbox, never got a chance to reverse LED wiring, my septic field thought it would be fun for me to play in at 4am yesterday.......................


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## Brakeman Jake (Mar 8, 2009)

What do you mean by "tailor the actual headlight"?What do you want it to do?


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## 3.8TransAM (Jan 13, 2016)

Ok, it is assembled and working with speaker at this point.

I used resistors totaling 2k on the common side.

Mars light comes on and does nothing else, assuming I need to switch the values to LED for that.

Then it will be clean up and fitting time to make sure the shell goes on nice and clean.


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## Brakeman Jake (Mar 8, 2009)

Didn't you want a regular headlight?With Tsunami you can have either headlight or Mars light (F5 or F6) or even both if you wish.Don't hesitate to ask if you need help programming.


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## 3.8TransAM (Jan 13, 2016)

Have headlight and MARS light.

Have the bright LEDs.

Believe at this point I need to program the MARS for LED.

Need to get to that point, need to tidy it up and make sure the shell fits without issues and work on programming from there.

Kids are not being daddy think time friendly this AM lol

I will see where I get on the rest of it today


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## Brakeman Jake (Mar 8, 2009)

Having both headlight and Mars light operating is great.My two BLI N scale E9s have these and I love them at night,after turning the room lighting off.


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## 3.8TransAM (Jan 13, 2016)

Scrapping the project temporarily......

Cut the frame down over the motor, but I need like 1 more mm of clearance for the damned Tsunami so I don't have to force the shell down...

So it will get desoldered. Find a new LED source that aren't so stupid bright and figure out where I can put the speaker so the TSU 1000 can ride in the rear.

I swear, I'm a "I can fix anything!" guy and lately everything has been nothing but a PIA

So time to sit back, find different LEDs and redesign for E6 2.0


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