Page 37 - 39. MRH13-05-May2013

DCC Impulses Column - 7
In a recent post, my friend Marcus Aumann talked about using
a dome light bulb for HO track testing. It is designed for 13.8
volt auto systems and the contacts are just perfect to pick up
HO (or On30) track (9).
I thought about
this for a bit. I
see good and
bad things with
this approach.
It draws about
one amp, which
can be good or
bad, depending upon what sort of testing you are doing. If you
are looking to verify voltage on the rails, it is a bit much. If you
are looking to see that the system can handle the load of a lo-
comotive, it is beneficial.
The current it draws makes it get hot quickly: burned fingers.
So, I looked online and found the LED replacement bulbs. They
don’t draw a lot of current, but stay cool. They are intrinsically
more rugged than a filament bulb. And, I found a package of 10
on eBay for $9.99 with free postage.
Anybody want to buy a few LED bulbs? I have about 8 more
than I’ll probably ever use!
From Mr. DCC’s workbench
– Another DCC Tester
9
9: Dome light bulb.
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MRH-May 2013