Great video Larry, I like the idea of the decrease of the heat on the bulb with the resettable resistor. Thanks for sharing and stay safe. Ken

Thank you, I currently have two sections with 1156 bulbs on my layout. I'm going to change them out to the circuit in the video.

Excellent idea.

Wish i saw this months ago. I installed 16 1157 bulbs under my layout.

Great video!!! Thanks!

Thanks for the information on the updated circuit break protection using an auto bulb. I raced out and bought the bulb and resistor, came home and built it. Marvelous - It works perfectly. Can you go on to explain how to add a buzzer alarm in case you don't see the lamp? Many thanks from down under (Australia)!

Great video, thanks for posting. Question - does the use of taillight bulbs limit the number of locomotives you can run at once? For example, NCE website say to assume 0.5 amps per locomotive when sizing your system needs. If two consists of 3 locomotives were running up a grade for 3 amps (6 engines x 0.5A), would the block that is protected by a taillight bulb shut down?

Larry, that layout in the beginning of the video looks amazing, do you have any videos on it? Thanks.

Hi Larry, great informative video on the ballast lamp. I am going to look at fitting one to my layout . I a question regarding the DCC Alpha Meter which I have on my layout - do you fit the bulb on the input side or output side of the meter ?

Hi Larry, thanks for the info. I have four blocks set up on my layout using the 1156 bulbs. After viewing this I am going to change them out with this setup. Question though, since these are all installed under the layout, is there a way to add an LED light to this on the control panel to show a problem sooner? Chris

Larry, I have watched this video a couple of times now. I bought the bulbs and fuses and I built one put in series on my first block. Turned on my dcc system, shorted the track and the bulb didn't light. I thought maybe I had soldered the wire to the wrong filament with the fuse, so I changed the wire to the other terminal and tried again, same result, my nce booster shuts off quicker than the bulb has a chance to light. I read on wiring for dcc about using taillight bulbs and it indicated that this may happen. So I guess the bulbs won't work for me.

Great video Larry. I'm sorry to go "off topic" but do you know the ESU software I require to function map a V3.5 decoder? Clearly, the current version will not work with older decoders. Regards Charlie

Hi Larry. If a short occurs inside the locomotive, say at the motor, is it possible that the continued 2.5A current for 30 seconds could create enough heat to burn out the decoder? Or do decoders have some sort of built in current limiter?

Hi Larry thanks for the video great video wanted to know the part number for the correct PTC ? Thanks

In your recent videos you built a DCC control box and included 2x PSX electronic circuit breakers. How well do the Lamp Circuit Breakers work with the PSX electronic circuit breakers? When creating a dead short, using the screwdriver, will the bulb come on or will the PSX trip? What amperage have you set the PSX at to use in conjunction with the bulbs? The default is 3.81amps. Have you used the NCE CP6? I know they are only 1amp bulbs, not the 2.5amp bulbs you are using. The CP6 is $32, so you are paying $5.33 per bulb/block. Where I am confused with circuit breakers is whether redundancy is a good thing. If you are using a bulb and a PSX and a control system with overcurrent protection, you have three levels of circuit protection. Is this overkill, or is this exactly what you should be doing? Thanks for your videos.

Great video series Larry. With the 1156 bulbs it doesn't make any difference which wire is connected to the bus and which is connected to the sub-bus. In your video it appears that this is not the case. So does it matter now which wire is connected to which side of the bulb for this circuit?

What is the size or holding current of the PTC fuse that you used in your video?

How Do you determine the smaller filament they look alike?

I am running O Scale and am using 5-10 amps. My electrical knowledge is very limited but I am assuming this will not work for my number of amps. Will it work? If not, any way I can make my own circuit breaker? I am sorry if this question has already been answered somewhere else and I have overlooked it. I thoroughly enjoy your videos!

Once it trips, how long does it take for it to cool down so it works the same way again.

Morning Larry Just a thought from a novice modeller, could you just build these bulbs into your facer beside your power supply and in that way would be easy to see and could also be marked for what block the short is on ?? Cheers Mark

This seems like a solution, but what concerns me is the time it takes to react to a short. According to the spec sheets for these, the best is .5 seconds. Is that enough? Thanks.

Will this work for a DC bus? I have an accessory bus for my Tortoise switch machines powered from a 3 Amp brick power supply. Somewhere there is a short that stops power to all switch machines. The power supply is putting out 12 VDC based on multimeter readings. The phenomenon seems to be intermittent and I’m trying to isolate the problem. Thanks, Kennedy

Tom 1 second ago @Model Railroading If I have multiple drops in a block, can I just use one lamp, and what is best placement in the block?

Larry, I have tried the 1156 & 2057. When I short the track the command station opens the circuit every time and the bulbs never come on. So of course the whole layout shuts down. Wired per D. Bronson's diagram. My system is the MRC wireless, 3.5 amp rating. Looks like I won't be able to use this. What say you? Thanks. Tom

5:21 Will circuit breaker inside the booster trip in this case?

Question won't the auto bulb's amperage restriction reduce the amperage to a block even though there's no shorts?

what rating does the ptc have to have ? cheers Alan Christchurch New Zealand.

Hi Larry, Don't know if you will see this question but going to ask anyway. Can you provide an additional circuit diagram using a LED to this Short Circuit 2057 Bulb and Trip Fuse that could be seen on a Control Panel.

Larry, We run 12 or 14 gauge buss wires to 18 or 20 gauge drop down feeders, now I install this bulb in series with the drop wire and run power through this tiny, tiny filament in the bulb. How does this affect power to the rail. I am thinking resistance must be great.??

How do you determine the 0.4A terminal on the bulb from the 2.1A terminal?

Well I finally took some time to see if it could be done. Bingo, it took me a while, but with a friend got a circuit to work. And, it wound-up not being all that difficult. If you see this message how can I send it to you.

So an 1156 won’t work with a power cab 1.8 amp system

I truly do not understand why you would even need this bulb-contraption with a DCC command station set up. All the systems I know detect a short and immediately switch off the power to the track. Seems to me by far the safest way of operating, remove the short and then switch it on again. If your command station doesn’t do that would seriously suggest to switch to a more modern one.

can you please have a listing of your parts you use. eBay and others have a mess of different PTC Fuses.

I watched this video carefully but still fail to see the perceived value of a dual filament bulb system. I've been using lightbulbs to protect against short circuits for years and it has never been a concern to maintain current to unaffected blocks while a short was happening in a specific block. The only concern is to find and eliminate the short as quickly as possible. If you don't want the bulb to draw large amounts of current, just use a bulb that draws less. No need to have one that starts off drawing 2.5 amps only to drop to 0.4 amps. Long before that happens, hopefully, the short has already been eliminated. I'm not saying this is a bad idea. I'm just saying I don't see any value in using it. A single filament bulb located in an area that will draw your attention ASAP. is all that is needed. While on this topic, I will add a little something that I like to do along with the using lightbulbs as short protection. In addition to the bulb, I also add a SPDT switch with a neutral center. ON/OFF/ON In the first on position, it is simply wired in series with the bulb. In the off position, it does exactly that. It shuts down power to that block without affecting the rest of the layout. This allows some minor maintenance to be carried out while the layout is still functioning. And lastly, the second "ON" position creates a short to test the bulb itself (without sending any power to the track). It can happen that a block is getting no power simply because the bulb has burnt out. The switch has one more feature that is very important. I've heard of people who test the short protection of their layout by purposefully shorting the tracks with a metal object. This can cause voltage and/or current spikes that can destroy the decoders of any loco sitting on the track. Without going into details, many people don't realize that in the short time you place an object across the rails, it is not a clean short. In that fraction of a second it takes, you can actually short and un-short the track hundreds of times. The term is called "switch bounce". Therefore, use of an actual switch makes testing safer. (Even a switch suffers from "switch bounce" but much less than creating a manual short) Just my two cents worth. You make wonderful videos. I enjoy watching them. Keep up the good work.

I'm just getting into dcc so naturally I'm getting quite a bit of conflicting information, especially on bus wiring. Some videos leave fuses out completely and say "use as short a feeder wire as is practical and solder to the bus," never mentioning a fuse/circuit breaker. Clearly bad advice. Thanks for the help!

I personally would not use this solution, feel that there is a risk of damage to the model's wheels. In Sweden, it is recommended not to use this solution. Can you afford to buy a model locomotive, then you can also afford to buy a real protection for your model locomotive. And that protection is no harder to install than the bulb solution.

Tried to find Dick Brondson Railroad Circuit as your Transcripts said and there is no such person. Your Transcripts needs to be corrected.