Hi All, I'm new to the board, model railroading, and Z, but have already learned a lot from you all. I hail from Atlanta and am interested in Southern Rail and other southern railroads. I recently bought a Noch Christmas tree, 43810, to add to my little Christmas layout I've been working on. http://www.noch.com/en/product-cate.../white-christmas-tree-illluminated-43810.html I also bought a Rokuhan COO4 accessory switch and an extension feeder cable, AOO3. The plan to light the tree was to attach the COO4 to my Rokuhan RC-02 controller, Hook up the feeder cable to the ROO4 with the opposite end striped to connect to the tree. When I flipped the power switch on only half of the tree lights illuminated. If I flip flop the wires the other half illuminates, but the previous half that was lit does not. I would appreciate any feedback on what you think may be causing the issue and how to solve the problem. I am mechanically inclined, but my electrical knowledge is lacking. Indeed, if anyone has a good book recommendation on that subject, I'm all ears. Thanks in advance for the help!!
Welcome to Z and welcome to the group. Noch doesn't seem to publish much on this tree, but from your description it sounds like the tree wants AC power and the Rokuhan unit supplies only DC. The original Märklin throttles supplied AC for the accessories and makes sense from you description in that half the tree would light on the positive portion of the AC cycle and the other half on the negative. I would suggest a 12VAC wall wart, although somewhere on the packaging I would hope Noch tells you. Hope this helps, Mark
This sounds like it is up my alley ... Noch's instructions for the Noch 43810 white (and 43811 green) lighted trees: Please carefully pull the wire off this box and plug it into the accessories terminal of the transformer (10 - 16V). Connection to alternating current (AC) polarity does not matter. In AC operation, a very slight 50Hz flicker is noticeable. When connected to direct current (DC) the longer end is positive (+). The Shorter end is negative (-). If you are not sure of the orientation, you can swap the cable as it will not harm the tree or the controller power. Several lights can be hooked up in parallel. It may be that since the C004 is intended to power the A016 lighting strip, it may not have enough power to support the tree. Note that Rokuhan shows 10 LED's being powered by the C004/RC-02 combination (Link to C004 page). The Noch lighted trees have at least 15 LEDs on them. I will send an email to Rokuhan to see if they can specify how many LED's these C004's can power. Frank Daniels Owner - z.scale.hobo, A Noch Top Dealer Irvine, California USA www.zscalehobo.com
Hi Mark, Thanks for the help! I couldn't find anything on the package, but will double check. And to your point, there is basically nothing online that I could find. I did find one message board that mentioned 14 VAC. I may get both wall warts and see which one works. I assume trying the 12VAC first wouldn't hurt anything if it was not enough voltage? Thanks again, I'll post the results - hopefully a picture of a fully lit tree! Best, Ray
Hi Frank, I really appreciate the instructions. Indeed, it looks like only 10 LEDs are lit, so it may be a lack of power. I am looking forward hearing Rokuhan's reply. As I am browsing wall warts I'm curious how many amps would be too much. Any thoughts? Thanks again! Ray
Ray, The tree probably requires only 20-30mA for full brightness and if there are 10 LEDs in a string, at about 12-16V. Since most LED lighting uses a resistor to set the current from a voltage, using a low voltage will only dim the LEDs. I'm guessing that they will probably light with as little as 5V across them. Mark
If all the LED's are in a single string, it has to be all light or none. Not just 10. Once you exceed the voltage drop for ALL the LED's combined, then current will flow. It may be as Frank says, just needs AC power. However, if the LED's could be split into 2 strings with a common, you could have fun with this. A simple 555 timer circuit could flip the polarity with an input that makes the colors appear to change. Sort of a color wheel. Programming a PIC Controller, Arduino or Pi would make for a cool project. Happy Ho-Ho's !
Jeff: It can use AC or DC. Raytl: I just tried the same setup (RC-02, A011U adapter, C004 switch + 43810 Noch tree) and it works fine. Check with the person who sold you the Noch tree, as it should work fine as you indicated in the beginning WITHOUT any additional power supply.
Thank you, Frank! Hmmm, I was sidetracked earlier and didn't make it out for the adaptor. I'm stumped. The only difference I see is that you listed Aoo11U, but my power supply just says A0011, so no U. The other thing that I noticed is that the actual adapter I have lists 12V output versus the 10V described on the box. It is branded Rokuhan. I bought the tree on eBay, so I don't think there's much hope there, but I will try to contact the seller. Did you also just use an Aoo3 feeder? I just cut off the end and spliced the tree wires on to the Aoo3. I planned on cleaning it up once I tested everything and got it running. The wires don't touch each other anywhere except the connections. Below are a few photos of the tree. I flipped the wire in the second photo so everyone could see what I was describing. Thanks again for all the help and feedback. Hope the family appreciates he final product after all the hardwork for this one piece. Best, Ray
Ray, Regarding your comments about the Rokuhan controller, the 12V wall wart indicates you have an old, original throttle. While a number of Z scale locomotives will run up to 12V, the Z scale "standard" is 10V. If you plan on running the MTL or Märklin locomotives, or the older AZL you may want to replace the wall wart you have with a 10V (standard, off-the-shelf Rokuhan item). I hope you were able to get the Christmas tree working. The 10V/12V difference at the throttle really can't cause the problem with the tree you've reported. I have one of these trees I purchased in the 90s that I can look at next this coming week if you still have problems. I know it is (was) fully functional using the Märklin 12V Accessory AC. Mark
Hi Mark, thank you for checking back in, actually, I haven't been able to get it to work yet with the current configuration. I'm wondering if the tree is just old stock and needs the ac current like you've mentioned. Unfortunately, I've not really been able to find the right ac adapter, would you mind posting a link or sending me a private message with a link as to what exactly I need to buy? I do see the MRC controller that has AC power, but I don't really want to buy a new controller. I'm just kind of lost and it's probably a simple fix. I sure appreciate it. Best, Ray
Ray, My thought for the simplest solution would be an AC wall wart. I checked and I'm afraid the new Radio Shack doesn't seem to carry them, but they are common and most electronics supplier will have them. A company I've done business with: Jameco, has one that I think would be appropriate: http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10001_10001_101258_-1 Mark
Mark, this is great, thank you! Radio Shack is the first place I looked and, sadly, it isn't the store I grew up with anymore. I remember going there with my granddad (who was into CB radio) and being surrounded by all kinds of electronic gadgets, etc. and always finding some little part that we needed. I'll let you know once I receive it. Best, Ray
Hi All, Just wanted to say thank you for all the responses! I finally got the whole tree lit with AC wall wart. Special thanks to Mark for his help and introducing me to Jameco! Best, Ray
