I have been working on trying to get different ways to light passenger cars. After playing with wireless power realized it would be a good option. After a few successful tests decided to try it on something small like a car. Here are the results... This did teach me a new level of patience. Here is what is inside the car I used a spray can and painted the car, surprisingly it came out pretty good with a metallic shine but I had to handle the car for a week of tinkering and all the glossy shine wore off. Here is a video http://youtu.be/KouIPORtc50 Kim
Hi Kim, I love what you have done. Looks great. What's the practical benefit of wireless over simple battery power? Best, -Rob(A)
Rob, When I go to shows I see Rob and Jeff take the box of cars before the show and place it at different places and after the show pack it back. This would be a option not to glue and wire it in place and still have lights, gives you a chance to change the looks when you want it. You could also do it for lighted structures if you want to keep moving it. Going back to why I was thinking of this for lighted train cars compared to battery is because I did try a rechargeable battery operated passenger car and it was not exactly practical. Charging the battery needed a charging circuit inside the car and power pickup, then the maintenance and battery replacement. If you use a wireless type and a super cap, there is no wired connections to the wheels and a few seconds of charging will give you many minutes of light, so a few charging coils under the track is all needed and can be powered by the track. I am still playing with it but my thought is once it is made it does not need to be opened again for any service or maintenance. Kim
Hi Kim, Well, that all makes perfect sense. Will the inductive power coils work underneath powered DC or DCC rails? I'm a novice at this stuff. Best, -Rob
Rob, It will work under the track, it would not affect DC or DCC on the tracks either. The signal coupling to the tracks will be small because of its shape, area and material. Usually magnetic material either attenuate or make the signal couple better and the track is non magnetic. It is winding the first coils inside the train and tuning is going to be a challenge. Even If I can charge the caps for a minute outside the tracks and get a couple of hours of light that will be good enough. Thanks Kim
Kim, with low power LED's (many can now run with just 1 or so milliamps), you could place one or more coils under the layout. As the train rolls by, it could 'pulse' charge it with just enough juice, like a keep alive. This would eliminate the need to hack on wheel or axle wipers on rolling stock. .