help!!? wiring street lights.... - Model Railroader Magazine

Since you bought the streetlamps, there should be some information on the packaging on the best way to wire them up. They *should* it seems to me that they would have the resistor built in

The thing with LEDs is that the voltage is not as critical as the current: thus the need for a resistor.

I get LED's from Walmart, and they are marked as 3 volt, but I run them at 12 volts. The 3 volts is the minimum voltage that will light the circuit. More, as long as the current is not too high will work just fine.

Is your 16volt supply DC or AC. LEDs run on DC current (other threads hereabouts notwithstanding). Connect one to your variable DC out put and run it up to see what happens.If it does not light up, turn it around as LEDs act as rectifiers and will pass electricity in only one direction.

Since you are not buying LEDs in bulk it would be a shame to "waste" one just to see what happens. But LEDs are LEDs. 12 Volts with a 1000 Ω resistor will work just fine. As I say, I run 3v LEDs at 12 V without any problem, and onboard trains I run them at 5 volts.

ROAR