Improving the Vitrains
NMBS 1607 (3)

Original page created on 21/12/2013.

Installation of LEDs for upper front lights

I have 2 mm diam “cannon” LEDs. I first thought of inserting them directly at the lamp location, but this is impossible because the hole is too close to the roof. We’ll therefore have to use the light guides provided, cutting their vertical part, removing as little material as possible from the horizontal part, and polishing the section as well as possible.

Then we prepare the LEDs by folding their wires as in the pictures. On the left side, there are two free holes on the PCB that will allow the LED to be soldered with its 4.7 kΩ resistor (this value depends on the type of LED used). On the other side, we’ll have to drill diam. 0.8 mm holes.

You may have noticed that the connection between LED and resistor is done to the original white LED terminals (between the blue and black wires). It is a solution that I chose, after checking nevertheless, considering that the new LED was a high luminosity one, and that it would not pose a problem of underpower. The more electrically correct solution was to connect this circuit before the 1 kΩ resistor, but it was materially more complicated.

Head light end 2

Be careful to calculate the bending length so that the LED barrel reaches about 1 mm from the light guide: neither too close nor too far.

Head light end 1

Notes

• The LED light under the cab “floor” is visible by transparency. Provide a piece of black electrician tape or paint under the cab.
• The driver, who is not yet installed on these photos, will be sitting on half a buttock, given the design of the seats!
• I use Patafix without restraint to hold and guide the wires, as well as to fix the decoder, visible on the penultimate picture above.