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Model Forum / General / Railroads / August 2010Wiring Questions:
Okay, so I've got the last of the track laid on the industrial section of my switching layout, and am ready to start wiring. What gauge of wire would youse guys recommend for the main busses that run from the transformer to the individual feeder wires, and would you prefer solid or stranded wire for same? Despite the fact that solid-conductor wire is a bit more difficult to thread through the layout's underpinnings, I tend to prefer it because I find it's easier to strip and solder the feeder wires to. The length of the main busses won't exceed 25', and I'm using single- strand #22 copper wire for the feeders. Yay and nays, thoughtfully reasoned opinions, and frothing "Real model railroaders always do it *THIS* way" type replies will all be considered after approprate sorting. ~Pete Now *that's* interesting: I only pushed the "send" button once. Let's see if it'll do it again... (pushes button) > Now *that's* interesting: I only pushed the "send" button once. > > Let's see if it'll do it again... (pushes button) Hi Twibil So rule of thumb has been 14 to 16ga wire, solid or stranded. I have run 12ga stranded as my mains run. If you go on line, Apex Junior here in Los Angeles sells 12ga Teflon covered stranded wire. Cheap and good. What I realized a few months ago was that DCC is no different than Audio signals. It's subject to the same noise and garbage issues that audio enthusiasts have fought so hard to eliminate. Once I realized this and started to treat all my DCC as an audio signal almost all my problems have cleared up. I audio, stranded wire is used. Skin effect. More surface to carry the DCC signal. In audio solid only gives you the outer circumference of the wire. Multi-strand is more surface. The scientific community rebuts all this, but In blind testing, I can hear the difference in wires as well as a few Audio Engineers I'm friends with. So I suggest 12gauge stranded and 22 gauge drops every 3 feet, or between fish plates. No signal loss around loose fish plates that way. I also wired up not only the frogs but the 3" sections before and after all my switch frogs. A lot of wiring I know, but I no longer have a stalling problem. As a matter of fact I have a small Fly Zoo motor car that I just ran this weekend and it crawled all around the layout and never once stalled. Until I changed my train of thought this was an impossible task. Good Luck Mike M >enthusiasts have fought so hard to eliminate. Once I realized this and >started to treat all my DCC as an audio signal almost all my problems >have cleared up. I audio, stranded wire is used. Skin effect. More >surface to carry the DCC signal. In audio solid only gives you the outer Skin effect is not a significant factor at the frequencies DCC uses. You MIGHT have more issues with really thick solid wire on a super-long run, but it's not likely. The major reason not to use solid wire is that it tends to be awkward to handle, and won't take bending as well as stranded wire does. *  Signature* PV Something like badgers, something like lizards, and something like corkscrews. > Okay, so I've got the last of the track laid on the industrial section > of my switching layout, and am ready to start wiring. [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > ~Pete Your control method will determine what electrical rules you must observe, but aside from them there are only two rules I would recommend that you follow: a) colour code all wiring, no compromises; b) label and document everything. People make too much of a fuss about wire sizes. Use whatever you have on hand. 22 or 24 gauge feeders are OK. I use scrounged 4-wire phone cable, that's #24, still good enough. It's good enough for short power runs, too, up to about 6ft. For your 25 ft busses, anything #18 gauge or larger will do. Buy the cheapest available, if you can scrounge it, so much the better. Stranded or solid, as you wish. Also, I suggest you get a good wire stripper, not one of those 98 cent ones. HTH wolf k. Twibil <nowayjose6@gmail.com> wrote in news:c5020380-59c6-47b5-9b71- a3e26acd9390@p11g2000prf.googlegroups.com: > Okay, so I've got the last of the track laid on the industrial section > of my switching layout, and am ready to start wiring. [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > ~Pete The club layout is all 12 or 14 gauge main bus wire. But since you're only going 25', you're not likely to be subjected to the same voltage drop issues that we'd experience. It's pretty much all solid wire, but some sections (and many of the feeders) are stranded. It all solders together the same. My suggestion is to use the largest wire your terminal blocks will support. Too many autoreversers or circuit breakers require a short "leader" to be connected to the larger bus wire. Puckdropper SignatureNever teach your apprentice everything you know. |
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