Illuminating a model ship

[Gryd3]

Yes. But it is not as simple as giving you a number.
Bigger wire can carry more current than smaller wire. In theory, you could have 100s of wires connected to a single wire just as long as the single wire is big enough to handle the amps required.

Example.
22 Gauge wire can carry up to 1Amp, and if each bulb requires 150mA... then you can connect up to 6 bulbs and wires together in parallel to a single 22 gauge wire.
Each bulb can use thinner wire, just so long as the 'trunk' that all the wires connect to can take care of the sum of all of them.

I am not sure what your bulbs are pulling though, so I can't give you a ballpark figure to work with.

 

[james.50cal]

Ok thanks for the help. Heres another terrible picture for you to lagh at lol

the s is the marked wire. Any ideas if it will work? I intend to add about 11 lights all together

 

[james.50cal]

I think the bulbs are 50ma if that means anything to you? The cable is 0.1mm CABLE
Rated: 1.5amp @ 1200v Max

 

[Gryd3]

Better than the phone drawing

That circuit will work yes.
If the bulbs are all 50mA, the together they will all draw a little over half an Amp.
If you funnel all of the lights through a single wire, I'd use 22 gauge or larger wire.
Stranded wire can carry less, and solid core wire can carry more so this is a loose recommendation.

With all your lights on, rechargeable batteries will last no longer than an hour or two.
Alkaline will last up to 3 times longer than that. If this becomes an issue, you can always use a 12V wall adaptor.

 

[james.50cal]

Cool thanks for the help i dont intend to leave the lights on its only for display. You are a legend i was starting to get quite angry with this bloody lighting and was close to giving up lol

 

[Gryd3]

Cool thanks for the help i dont intend to leave the lights on its only for display. You are a legend i was starting to get quite angry with this bloody lighting and was close to giving up lol

Not a problem.
Have fun, and before you do all that work getting it in your boat, test the full circuit first.
Then as you put in your circuit, test, test, test. If you put in one switch and lights, make sure they work before adding the others

It's a pain when you realize that one wire was misplaced and you've completed all of the wiring.

I want to see a complete picture as well when you're done please!
Sounds like something fun to mess with...

 

[james.50cal]

Sure ill upload a few pics when its done. It may take a while thogh as its taken me 4 days just to sand the hull lol

i was thinking of making the circuit before putting it in the boat then take it apart and put it back together bit by bit as and when i need to

 

[james.50cal]

 

[Gryd3]

very nice. thank you

 

[(*steve*)]

One last question. Is there a limit as to how many wires i can connect to a single wire

Yes. The total current required for all bulbs must be not so great that the wire from any join back to the battery cannot carry it, or the battery cannot supply that current.

For these small bulbs, you may find that you would find the first is a very large number, and the second will really just impact on the life f the batteries (obviously the more bulbs, the shorter the working life).

A couple of things you might try:

1. Try connecting two bulbs in series and powering this from 12V. You may find the dimmer yellow glow to be more suitable, and it will reduce the power required.
2. Try removing one or more batteries and replacing them with a link. Thus will achieve a similar effect to (1) above, but with more control. You might find that 5, 6, or 7 batteries gives a better appearance than the 8 required for 12V.

 

[james.50cal]

Thats sounds good

thanks for all the help!! Its paid off. Ive got a bit of the wiring done and it works

 

[james.50cal]

Ill try running it on less batteries once its inside the ship as that soinds good

 

[james.50cal]

Started putting the wiring in the corvette today thought i would upload a pic

 

[james.50cal]

thanks again for all the help.

 

[Gryd3]

Looks good so far. Your testing your wiring as you go right
I'm looking forward to seeing it finished.

Thank you for keeping us updated

 

[james.50cal]

Got a few more lights wired up. Just starting work on the nav lights. Ordered a custom built base so i can start installing switches

 

[james.50cal]

Still got a long way to go and a few more lights to put in but i tested the ones ive already fitted.

 

[james.50cal]

 

[james.50cal]

Any ideas how i can make the lights inside the hull more visible?

 

[Gryd3]

Any ideas how i can make the lights inside the hull more visible?

Add more to brighten the entire inside of the hull more, or put them closer to the ports...
Currently, the only light that will be seen, is a tiny amount of light that manages to shine on the inside edge of the windows, or the light that reflects from the inside of the hull. It will appear much brighter if you look at your ship just right to look at a light bulb through a window. Without adding more lights, the only other solution I have is experimenting to manipulate the light that is in there already. If you have one light per window already installed, you can try to reposition the lights right behind each window, but the ideas below may help.
Things to try: (If you have more windows than lights)
-Painting the interior a bright white. (This will help brighten the interior which will help the light bounce around a little more to escape through the windows. If you attempt to 'look' into those windows, anything that can be seen should be painted)
-Putting something behind the window that will light up instead. Try anything semi-transparent or translucent like tracing paper. (This technique is used on TV/Computer/Cell phone screens with plastic sheets to spread out the light.)