01-02-2011, 12:51 AM
As I recall, fibre optic strands pick-up and emit more light if you first form a lense on the end of the fibre. The easiest way to do this is to bring the end of the strand close to (but not touching) a hot soldering iron - the longer you hold it in place, the larger the lense becomes, although it will often deform or the strand behind the lense will "wilt". If this occurs, cut off the end and try again. The pick-up end of the strand should be perpendicular to the light source - this is probably more crucial with LEDs than with bulbs, as many LEDs emit very directional light. You may be able to drill some LEDs to accept the end of the strand - don't drill too deep and make the hole a tight fit for the size of strand you're using. A little ca will hold it in place. When installing the fibre optic strands in the locomotive or car, minimise the bends as much as possible and avoid sharp bends to cut down on light loss.
For bulb lighting, the usual practice was to place the bulb in a light-proof enclosure - a short length of brass tubing worked well. Holes were drilled in the tubing to accommodate multiple strands of fibre optic, then, when everything was properly positioned, the tube was filled with clear five minute epoxy. Of course, this was before DCC and multiple lighting functions were usually all "on" or all "off", and, at best, directional.
I eventually gave up on lighting in locomotives and switched to MV lenses, which never flicker.
If you want to light an MV lense using fibre optics or a bulb, simply drill a suitably-sized shallow hole in the rear face of the centre of the lense, and secure the light source with ca or clear epoxy.
I used non-illuminated fibre optic strands to create class lights for the locos shown below. The cast-in-place class light was drilled for the strand, then countersunk to accept the back surface of the heat-created lense. Before installing the lenses, the countersunk area was painted grey, which gives a decent representation of an unlit class light.
![[Image: Foe-toesfromTrainPhotos2007third-7.jpg]](http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/doctorwayne/locomotives/Foe-toesfromTrainPhotos2007third-7.jpg)
![[Image: otherlocos004.jpg]](http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/doctorwayne/locomotives/otherlocos004.jpg)
![[Image: 100_5608.jpg]](http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/doctorwayne/locomotives/100_5608.jpg)
![[Image: otherlocos013.jpg]](http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/doctorwayne/locomotives/otherlocos013.jpg)
![[Image: U-boatphotos005.jpg]](http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/doctorwayne/locomotives/U-boatphotos005.jpg)
![[Image: U-boatphotos003.jpg]](http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/doctorwayne/locomotives/U-boatphotos003.jpg)
Wayne
For bulb lighting, the usual practice was to place the bulb in a light-proof enclosure - a short length of brass tubing worked well. Holes were drilled in the tubing to accommodate multiple strands of fibre optic, then, when everything was properly positioned, the tube was filled with clear five minute epoxy. Of course, this was before DCC and multiple lighting functions were usually all "on" or all "off", and, at best, directional.
I eventually gave up on lighting in locomotives and switched to MV lenses, which never flicker.
If you want to light an MV lense using fibre optics or a bulb, simply drill a suitably-sized shallow hole in the rear face of the centre of the lense, and secure the light source with ca or clear epoxy. I used non-illuminated fibre optic strands to create class lights for the locos shown below. The cast-in-place class light was drilled for the strand, then countersunk to accept the back surface of the heat-created lense. Before installing the lenses, the countersunk area was painted grey, which gives a decent representation of an unlit class light.
Wayne