Buss wiring under fascia

[RR_Mel]

eaglescout

 

Not this old boy.  Sitting in a chair with good lighting and not having to crawl out to go to the bathroom is the way to go.

 

 

 

Mel

 

 

 

My Model Railroad   

http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/

 

Bakersfield, California

 

I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

 

[eaglescout]

I don't see why you would be afraid to go underneath the layout.

My legs will be 5 feet apart, and rolling around on an inclined back creeper will be a piece of cake.

-Kevin

 

Not this old boy.  Sitting in a chair with good lighting and not having to crawl out to go to the bathroom is the way to go.

[rrinker]

 Mel's got a few years on us Kevin   I don't know if I will be able to crawl around underneath, creeper or not, in a bunch more years. For me, it's the getting down to that level in the first place, and back up - I already have really bad knees.

 Or did you mean the OP? Don't know what his situation is. Sure, when I was in my teens, and even my 20's, crawling around under a layout was no problem, in fact back in the day when we used to put this brick paper around the layout as a skirting, track level all the way to th floor, I used to like going in there, isolated from everything.

 SInce my new layout is mostly narrow, it's not so much going under, most places even wires towards the wall side will be reachable without actually crawling under. The problem then becomes one of looking out the wrong part of my glasses - unless I DO go low underneath, I'd be looking out the top of my glasses which is the far part, not near. So while I can reach everything simply by sitting in front of the layout, I might not be able to see anything. 

                                  --Randy

 

[SeeYou190]

I don't see why you would be afraid to go underneath the layout.

My legs will be 5 feet apart, and rolling around on an inclined back creeper will be a piece of cake.

-Kevin

[RR_Mel]

As for telephone wire I don’t see telephone wire mentioned in any of the above posts.  I did refer to telephone hangers for wire management.  Normal telephone wire is #22 or #24 AWG.  #24 is rated at a little over a half amp, #22 is close to one amp.

 

I use #19 AWG twisted solid Bell wire purchased at my local Home Depot.  #19 is rated at 1.8 amps with .1 volt drop at 20’.  My DCC and DC power Packs are rated at 5 amps and I’ve never had a problem with my wiring.  When I have had a short the internal breakers on both Power Packs (MRC) work very quickly even on the #19 wire.

 

I have been operating my 14 block 120’ mainline wired with #19 Bell wire for 31 years without any problems.  My longest run is about 17’, a 2 amp load on the 17’ run of #19 Bell wire the voltage drop is just under .1 volt.  My normal max load is about 1 amp per block so well under the #19 AWG rating.

 

For years I used current detection on my layouts.  Twin-T in the 60s, 70s and 80s.  Then Rob Paisley detectors in the 90s, 2000s up to 2015.  I cut over to IR optical detectors in 2016 and while it was labor intensive I felt it was worth the effort.  I operate dual mode, DC or DCC and my signaling system works in both modes with or without track power, anything on the track is detected by the IR sensors.

 

 

 

Mel

 

 

 

My Model Railroad   

http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/

 

Bakersfield, California

 

I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

 

[BigDaddy]

caldreamer

For DCC the load is either 5 or 8 amps.  Telephone wire is #28 wire and will not carry that amperage without a signifigant power drop.

My PowerCab is not 5 amps but, be that as it may, James Wright, early in his youtube career, showed the build of his layout using telephone wire.  If he ever had second thoughts or a bad outcome from doing that (and I don't see how he wouldn't have had problems) I never saw the video that corrected that.

[caldreamer]

For DCC the load is either 5 or 8 amps.  Telephone wire is #28 wire and will not carry that amperage without a signifigant power drop.

[Pruitt]

I do it the same as John wherever possible.

 

[RR_Mel]

My super heavy E7s draw 580ma at wheel slip with sound.  My passenger car lighting draws and additional 70ma for about 1.16 amps total.

 

My E7s seldom ever reach max (wheel slip) so my norm with sound and lights on is a bit under 1 amp, well within the #19 AWG rating or .1 volts drop at 1.8 amps.

 

No problems here with my wiring.

 

 

 

Mel

 

 

 

My Model Railroad   

http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/

 

Bakersfield, California

 

I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

 

[Santa Fe all the way!]

Less than 500ma per locomotive, no sound then? I thought sound locomotives took more power man that.

[RR_Mel]

eaglescout

RR Mel, Unless Im seeing your setup wrong doesn't running individual wires to a central location defeat the purpose of avoiding voltage drop by running shorter feeders to larger buss wires?

 

Not on my layout, as I mentioned I don’t use bus wiring.  Each of my blocks are home runs #19 AWG, .02 volts max drop at 1.8 amps.  My max load per block is three locomotives at less than 500ma per locomotive keeping the current within the ratings of #19 wire.  My norm is a pair of powered E-7s or less than 1 amp.

 

I originally built my layout as DC or analog back in 1988 and didn’t go with DCC until 2006.

 

When I originally went with DCC I rewired my layout per the DCC gurus (bus) and I lost all of my DC functions including my signal system.  After about a year of problems I couldn’t put up with I rewired my layout back to the original DC operation (no bus).  My layout works great in either DC or DCC mode, no bus wiring.  I run dual mode, DC or DCC.

 

 

 

 

Mel

 

 

 

My Model Railroad   

http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/

 

Bakersfield, California

 

I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

 

[eaglescout]

RR Mel, Unless Im seeing your setup wrong doesn't running individual wires to a central location defeat the purpose of avoiding voltage drop by running shorter feeders to larger buss wires?

[RR_Mel]

I use telephone wire hangers, easy to chase troubles and easy to install new wires and or remove old wires.  I have them mounted about 10” in from the outside of my layout.

 

 

I don’t use bus wiring, everything is a home run to my control panel to Euro Connectors.  Super simple as well as easy.

 

 

I use Bus Bars for power distribution.

 

 

I don’t get around very good now days and I can still work on my wiring without dinging myself.

 

 

 

Mel

 

 

 

My Model Railroad   

http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/

 

Bakersfield, California

 

I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

 

[TheWizard]

Yep, that about sums it up...

 

https://imgur.com/a/iLWuCL1

[BigDaddy]

Ken Patterson uses multiple layers of 2" foam and uses a router to form a channel in the foam.

[York1]

eaglescout

Does anyone have any pictures of how they do buss wiring underneath their fascia to avoid having to go under the layout.

 

My picture is not of the buss and connectors (on the other side of table), but this is the idea I worked with after getting advice from Lion.

I can just take off the fascia, and all the wiring is right there where I can access it while sitting in a chair.

 

[gregc]

our LION posted this a few years ago

[eaglescout]

Does anyone have any pictures of how they do buss wiring underneath their fascia to avoid having to go under the layout.  I have a general idea of how I think I would do it but would like to see how others have rather than reinvent the wheel.