Hi --
I am working on a smallish shelf around-the-walls layout in a 6 1/2 foot x 11 1/2 foot room. I have a bunch of questions about wiring for DCC - and quite a few givens and druthers. Hope I won't bore everybody to death with listing all my givens and druthers before you get to my actual questions.
Here is a drawing showing the layout track plan:
I am using DCC on the layout, using a inexpensive "oldish" command station - an MRC Prodigy, which possibly will be swapped for something with a better user interface at some later stage, but switching command stations isn't really in the cards in the short term for financial reasons.
Chosing wire sizes and IDCs
I can easily solder track feeders to the tracks by just moving the track sections over to the work bench in good light and soldering the feed to the underside of the rails there.
But I do not want to have to solder track feed wires to the bus - I unfortunately did not do what I should have done - making my layouts in sections I could have taken out, flipped over and worked on the wiring underside easily under good light conditions. Next layout I will definitely make the layout in sections!
I do not really enjoy trying to solder wires above my head while working from beneath the layout. So being able to use IDCs for hooking the feed wires to the track bus is a must for me.
I have already done a "quick and dirty" wiring job to wire up enough tracks to allow trains to run around the main loop around the room, plus the little three track yard, so I can run a few trains in between, but before I continue wiring up the rest, I'd like to see if anyone is spotting any really bad mistakes I am making in how I am going at this, so I won't have to do things over too many times
For the initial wiring I did to get some trains moving I used what I could easily obtain locally where I live - I soldered AWG 14 (2.5 mm2) stranded wire to the underside of the rails as track feeders and fastening them to a track bus also made of AWG 14 stranded wire with 3M Scotchlok 560 IDCs (Insulation Displacement Connectors).
AWG 14 wire is rated for up to 15 amps. My current DCC command station has an output of 3.5 amps, and I don't expect to ever need to pull more than 3.5 amps through the track bus, since I don't anticipate ever having more than a maximum of 3 or 4 H0 scale engines pulling power from the track bus at any given time - there isn't really room for more than two, perhaps in a pinch 3 operators at the same time in my tiny little train room.
I haven't tried to measure max current draw for my engines, but I have seen similar style engines listed as pulling a maximum current around .75 - 0.80 amps, so I think AWG 14 stranded wire should be more than ample for a track bus for my layout.
But AWG 14 seems way too coarse for track feeders. Takes too long to get a good soldered joint when soldering AWG 14 feeders to the rails. Even using pliers with rubber band on the handles as heat sinks, I am concerned about having to choose between getting bad joints or melting ties (I am using a 30W soldering iron).
So I should probably use a thinner wire for the track feeds - probably something like an AWG 18 (0.75 mm2), AWG 17 (1.0 mm2) or AWG 16 (1.5 mm2) wire. An AWG 16 wire is rated 10 amps, an AWG 18 wire is rated 7 amps - either should be plenty for my use.
I finally located (yesterday) a local source for 3M Scotchlok 567 IDCs, which according to its data sheet can be used to join together a track bus of 12-10 AWG (4 - 6 mm2) with feeders that are in the range 18-16 AWG (0,75-1.5 mm2). The same local source which can get me 567 IDCs can also provide AWG 12 (4.0 mm2) and AWG 18 (0.75 mm2) stranded wires.
What would you guys recommend ? Continuing to use AWG 14 track bus and feeders (and just continue to be very careful when soldering the feeder to the tracks), or unsolder the AWG 14 (2.5 mm2) track feed wires and replace with AWG 18 (0.75 mm2) or AWG 17 (1.0 mm2) feed wires, and replacing the AWG 14 bus wires with AWG 12 (4 mm2) bus wires (which is rated for 20 amps - way more than I ever will need).
Turnout wiring
I have been reading up on wiring turnouts for DCC, and frankly - I feel a little overwhelmed by all the steps some people seem to take to make turnouts "DCC friendly" or "DCC safe".
My turnouts are Peco Code 75 Electrofrog turnouts (ie - they have a live frog whose polarity change according to which way the points are thrown, with fairly good wheel flange clearance between the stock rail and the open point and springs holding the points tight to the stock rail for decent electrical contact between the stock rail and the points - see the description from Loy's toys).
Turnouts will be thrown manually (initially just by "big hand from the sky" reaching in to flick the turnout over, and later hopefully by using the piano-wire-in-sleeve fascia mounted type manual turnout controls from Hump Yard Purveyance, with the wire-in-sleeves just burried in in the foam from the facia to the turnouts.
I don't really want to have my turnouts electrically operated from a control panel, and I don't plan to add trackside signals lights or a dispatchers panel or anything like that to this layout.
I have also tested what happens when I run a train agains a turnout thrown the wrong way - my command station does what it is supposed to do - it shuts down track power when the wheels short out between the stock rail at one "polarity" and the frog at the other "polarity", and alerts me to the fact of what I have done by gently beeping reproachfully at me until I fix the condition by throwing the turnout the right way.
Also, when I deliberately create a short between the stock rail and the point having the opposite polarity (simulating a derailment in the turnout), the command station acts in the same way - shuts off track power and warns me of the condition.
I basically want to keep turnout wiring as straight forward as I can get away with.
I also have one double slip switch on my track plan - center of upper part of the layout. My initial thought on wiring this one without too many complications with electrical switches etc is to use insulation joiners on all 8 stock rails reading out of the double slip, wiring straight track power DCC1 or DCC2 to the outside stock rails, and then wire the two frogs by using a automatic polarity reverser - perhaps a Tony's Trains PS-Rev unit or a Lenz LK-100 automatic reverser.
Some questions about wiring turnouts:
1) Do you think I can actually get away from the hassle of cutting connections and soldering jumpers here and there on the turnouts to "DCC proof" them (which frankly looks like a nightmare for an inexperienced modeller) by just using insulation joiners on the Peco turnouts as indicated and otherwise trust my command station to cut the power when needed, or is that a fool's futile hope ?
2) For the double slip turnout, would you recommend the Lenz LK-100 or Tony's PS-rev or something else ? Simple wiring (and obviously - having the polarity reverser react faster than my 3.5 amp MRC Prodigy command station, so a brief short at the frogs of the double slip triggers a polarity reversal at that frog instead of a power shutdown for the whole layout ...) is the most important considerations for me.
Insulation joiners and track feeds
In the wiring diagram further down in this post, the pink lines across the tracks denotes insulated joiners. I already know that I have been using way too many insulated joiners relative to the minimum number I could get away with.
Mainly because it feels easier to use insulated rail joiners on all four stock rails out of diverging end of a turnout, rather than to just use insulated joiners on the two stock rails that connect to the frog, and then having to deal with the fact that the insulated joiners introduce a small plastic filled gap between the rails that are joined with insulated joiners, while there is no such gap between rails joined with normal joiners.
I would like to try to avoid joining up everything with normal (conducting) joiners, fasten down the tracks and then cut insulation gaps with a dremmel cutting disc or some such thing, before filling the gap with styrene.
I realize that cut and fill would look nicer, but that will have to wait for a sometime later, perhaps a later layout - priority for this layout is to make it work reasonably well without driving an inexperienced modeller too bonkers while wiring it
I have also tried to segment the tracks in independently powered "segments" in such a way that I won't leave an engine stalled on a dead piece of track if I throw a turnout the other way. I probably have overdone it quite a bit, but I would like to be able to leave an engine or two idling audibly on various siding when/if I get as far as going sound equiped engines.
In the diagram below red lines denote DCC track power bus 1 and feeders from that track power bus to the tracks, while brown lines denote DCC track power bus 2 and feeders from that track power bus to the tracks. Green lines denotes feeds from the polarity reverser to the frogs of the single double slip turnout.
Numbers denote segments having their own track feeds.
This is the way I was planning to wire up the layout:
Finally - my last question in this very long post (if anyone bothered to read this far ):
My initial wiring plan has a lot of insulation joiners and a lot of track feeders - 28 pairs of track feeders, which means 56 IDCs.
Would you recommend that I using more jumpers between the adjacent tracks (and/or fewer insulation joiners) instead of having every track segment fed by a drop wire from the DCC1 bus (and likewise for the DCC2 bus) ?
Grin, Stein
I'm not an expert on this topic, but I'll throw out a few things.
1. I don't see a reversing section anywhere, so I'm not sure why you'd need an electronic reverser.
2. I don't know why you'd need two buss wires running around the railroad. Never mind this comment. When you said buss, I initially though you meant a pair of wires in each buss. I realized you meant just two wires total.
3. Make sure that the buss wire is not connected to itself. It should have a beginning at the command station end and an end that just ends.
4. For the size of your railroad and the number of engines you think you'll be running, in my opinion #14 wire should be just fine.
5. At first glance, some may say that you used too many insulators, but they look okay to me where you put them.
6. You don't need to use so many of the "suitcase" connectors. What I'd do is install a number of terminal (barrier) strips at locations around the layout where you'd have a number of track feeders dropping through the benchwork. Then you can have one pair of wires going from the buss to the terminal strip, and then run wires from the terminal strip up to the track. The wire from the buss can be #14. From the terminal strip up to the track can be #20 in my opinion.
I'm sure you'll get some other advice shortly.
Stein,
I just wired my first layout "legitimately" for the first time last month so I'll share with you what I did:
Wiring - I used 14ga solid for my track bus and 20ga for my track feeders. I also used IDCs and terminal strips as the go between my track bus and track feeders. The IDCs accommodate 12-14ga and 18-22ga. I picked them up at Home Depot.
Here's my wiring sequence goes:
I found the IDCs very easy to use and they have worked great so far.
Turnout wiring - I switched over to Fast Track (FT) turnouts with live frogs and use Caboose Industries (CI) 220S ground throws to switch the polarity of my frogs. The CI ground throws are also connected to the terminal strips. The frog wire and the center pin wire coming off the ground throw are connected to an isolated pad on the terminal strip. It works very well this way and everything can be connected/disconnected via the terminal strip. I would HIGHLY recommend terminal strips as they would come in handy troubleshooting your layout for shorts later on.
Insulation joiners - I don't use any insulation joiners on my 4 x 8 layout. Because my FT turnouts have live frogs, the rail is already isolated before and after the frog. I tacked my track down with DAP latex caulk and only use rail joiners to maintain alignment and some electrical connection.
Stein, I hope that helps. I like your layout design.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Leave the 14 gauge feeders alone. They are in, and won't hurt anything. Make the new feeders smaller gauge, 18-20 works fine. I have one of the automatic type one-handed wire strippers, which also can be used for tapping into the bus very nicely. Just put it on the wire, at the appropriate gauge size, and squeeze. I then wrap the feeder wire around, and test. Many times I have the track power on, the system will let me know if I have made an error. Soldering the wires together usually goes pretty quick with a hot iron. When I did a bunch of wiring on the club layout, I would figure out which wires went where, tap the busses, and hook everything up. After testing, soldered up 6-8 at a time. Wasn't too bad.
All the insulated joiners won't hurt anything. I might suggest adding a few more in the 3-track yard, and feeders to the tracks. The contacts on the Peco switches do wear out after time, and powering a track off them may hasten their demise. It probably is just as easy to hook all the feeds to the bus as making jumpers.
I think you shouldn't have to modify the turnouts so much. Just put the insulated joiners in and you should be fine.
Is the auto-reverser really needed with the double-slip? Try hooking it up without, and see what happens. Digtrax makes a decent auto-reverser as well, just track power in and auto-switched out, with adjustment for trip current. Installed one on a Lenz system on Sunday.
Mike WSOR engineer | HO scale since 1988 | Visit our club www.WCGandyDancers.com
Hi Maxman --
Wow - weird with the new user interface for the forums - I am still a little uncertain about whether it is an improvement on the old - guess we'll get used to it in a few days.
maxmanI'm not an expert on this topic, but I'll throw out a few things.1. I don't see a reversing section anywhere, so I'm not sure why you'd need an electronic reverser.
Here is an explanation, from Loy's toys: http://www.loystoys.com/peco/about-slips.html
maxman 3. Make sure that the buss wire is not connected to itself. It should have a beginning at the command station end and an end that just ends.
I can't have the command station entering the middle of the bus wire instead of entering at the end of the bus wire?
maxman 4. For the size of your railroad and the number of engines you think you'll be running, in my opinion #14 wire should be just fine.5. At first glance, some may say that you used too many insulators, but they look okay to me where you put them.6. You don't need to use so many of the "suitcase" connectors. What I'd do is install a number of terminal (barrier) strips at locations around the layout where you'd have a number of track feeders dropping through the benchwork. Then you can have one pair of wires going from the buss to the terminal strip, and then run wires from the terminal strip up to the track. The wire from the buss can be #14. From the terminal strip up to the track can be #20 in my opinion.
Terminal strips sounds like a good idea, for the tracks - easier to uncouple the tracks from terminal strips.
Thanks for your tips,
Stein
tstageWiring - I used 14ga solid for my track bus and 20ga for my track feeders. I also used IDCs and terminal strips as the go between my track bus and track feeders. The IDCs accommodate 12-14ga and 18-22ga. I picked them up at Home Depot.Here's my wiring sequence goes: 14ga track bus --> IDCIDC --> 18ga (stranded)18ga --> Terminal stripTerminal strip --> 20ga (stranded) track feeder20ga track feeder to underside of railI found the IDCs very easy to use and they have worked great so far.
Any model number or make or any such thing on the IDCs you used ? An IDC that works well for connecting 14 AWG to 18 AWG would work good for me too, but I am about 6-8 hours flight away from the closest Home Depot since I live in Norway over in Europe.
tstage Turnout wiring - I switched over to Fast Track (FT) turnouts with live frogs and use Caboose Industries (CI) 220S ground throws to switch the polarity of my frogs. The CI ground throws are also connected to the terminal strips. The frog wire and the center pin wire coming off the ground throw are connected to an isolated pad on the terminal strip. It works very well this way and everything can be connected/disconnected via the terminal strip. I would HIGHLY recommend terminal strips as they would come in handy troubleshooting your layout for shorts later on.
I hear you (and the others who have replied so far) on the terminal strips. But I didn't totally understand that part about the CI 220 ground throws - you are using the ground throws both to move the points of the turnout, and to trigger a microswitch or some such thing to chose which track bus"polarity" gets sent to the frogs?
tstageInsulation joiners - I don't use any insulation joiners on my 4 x 8 layout. Because my FT turnouts have live frogs, the rail is already isolated before and after the frog. I tacked my track down with DAP latex caulk and only use rail joiners to maintain alignment and some electrical connection.Stein, I hope that helps. I like your layout design. Tom
Thank you!
WSOR 3801 Leave the 14 gauge feeders alone. They are in, and won't hurt anything. Make the new feeders smaller gauge, 18-20 works fine. I have one of the automatic type one-handed wire strippers, which also can be used for tapping into the bus very nicely. Just put it on the wire, at the appropriate gauge size, and squeeze. I then wrap the feeder wire around, and test. Many times I have the track power on, the system will let me know if I have made an error. Soldering the wires together usually goes pretty quick with a hot iron. When I did a bunch of wiring on the club layout, I would figure out which wires went where, tap the busses, and hook everything up. After testing, soldered up 6-8 at a time. Wasn't too bad.
Right. But were you working under the table while soldering, or putting the layout on it's side or something to work on things ?
WSOR 3801 All the insulated joiners won't hurt anything. I might suggest adding a few more in the 3-track yard, and feeders to the tracks. The contacts on the Peco switches do wear out after time, and powering a track off them may hasten their demise. It probably is just as easy to hook all the feeds to the bus as making jumpers. 1) Do you think I can actually get away from the hassle of cutting connections and soldering jumpers here and there on the turnouts to "DCC proof" them (which frankly looks like a nightmare for an inexperienced modeller) by just using insulation joiners on the Peco turnouts as indicated and otherwise trust my command station to cut the power when needed, or is that a fool's futile hope ? I think you shouldn't have to modify the turnouts so much. Just put the insulated joiners in and you should be fine.
I'll probably try it that way and see.
Well, you do need some way of changing the how the frogs are fed, depending on whether the two frogs will be right rails or left rails (or righ+left or left+right) for your engine as it is moving forward.
I tried a double slip a while back (when I was contemplating using peco electrical turnout morors and electrical switches - had to wire the frogs so that each turnout controlled the polarity of the frog on the opposite side of the double slip.
Wiring schematic:
Actual wiring when using Peco turnout motors and Peco electrical miniswitches:
Smile, Stein
steinjr Any model number or make or any such thing on the IDCs you used ? An IDC that works well for connecting 14 AWG to 18 AWG would work good for me too, but I am about 6-8 hours flight away from the closest Home Depot since I live in Norway over in Europe.
The ones I bought at Home Depot were manufactured by Buchanan (PN: 70027). They fit #14-16 AWG wire. (Sorry. I said #12-14 before.) The 3M version is #905. You can get them from Micro Mark.
Yes. It's both a mechanical and and electrical switch. Here's a diagram from the Fast Tracks web site that will best describe how it works:
http://www.handlaidtrack.com/tech-turnout-wiring-r.phpClicking the image will show you how the polarity is changed.
tstage steinjr Any model number or make or any such thing on the IDCs you used ? An IDC that works well for connecting 14 AWG to 18 AWG would work good for me too, but I am about 6-8 hours flight away from the closest Home Depot since I live in Norway over in Europe. Stein, The ones I bought at Home Depot were manufactured by Buchanan (PN: 70027). They fit #14-16 AWG wire. (Sorry. I said #12-14 before.) The 3M version is #905. You can get them from Micro Mark
The ones I bought at Home Depot were manufactured by Buchanan (PN: 70027). They fit #14-16 AWG wire. (Sorry. I said #12-14 before.) The 3M version is #905. You can get them from Micro Mark
I'll go see if it is possible to order stuff from Micromark now - last time I tried their web site (a month or so ago) to try to buy something else, it insisted that I could live in pretty much any country, as long as my billing address in addition to having some valid country name (picked off a list of countries) also at the same time contained a valid US state name as part of the address
Oh well - I sent their customer service an email back then - maybe they have it fixed by now. If not, then I guess my billing address just changed to Minnesota, Norway or some such thing
tstage .I hear you (and the others who have replied so far) on the terminal strips. But I didn't totally understand that part about the CI 220 ground throws - you are using the ground throws both to move the points of the turnout, and to trigger a microswitch or some such thing to chose which track bus"polarity" gets sent to the frogs? Yes. It's both a mechanical and and electrical switch. Here's a diagram from the Fast Tracks web site that will best describe how it works: http://www.handlaidtrack.com/tech-turnout-wiring-r.phpClicking the image will show you how the polarity is changed. Tom
.
Cool illustration. You save quite a bit of jumper wires by having those conducting PC board ties here and there connecting rails - although at the cost of having to make sure you gap all those ties in the appropriate places (and that you also gap the rails on both sides of the frogs.).
Smile,Stein
I came across this today while searching for some other things. While intended mainly for a modular layout, if you've built your layotu to take apart, even if it's years before you do, it has some merit. No soldering underneath! And no suitcase conenctors (I STILL don;t trust them).
http://www.mindspring.com/~cadenza/bus-tap-system.html
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
As already stated, leave the 14 awg feeders in. They don't need to be this large but certainly won't hurt. If the need to add more feeders arises, use 18 or 20 awg. Purchase appropriately sized IDC's. Wrong size will cause trouble down the line. 567's are for 12 ga main and 18 ga tap. 567 is too large for 14ga and will be loose on the conductor. 560's should work for 14 main and 18 tap.
Don't worry about the ampacity of 14 ga wire. Even 26 ga wire will carry 3.5 amps for a short distance. Decoder wire is 30 ga and it's used for track pick up.
Reducing voltage drop is the reason for using larger wire. As long as your booster's short circuit protection kicks out immediately everywhere around the layout, the wire sizing is correct.
Don't create a loop with the bus wire. By all means try to connect the booster near the center with 1/2 of the bus running in each direction. This cuts the resistance in the bus in half and that means less voltage drop. Just don't connect the ends of the bus together.
I like gapping my turnouts as well. That lets me add feeders as needed and avoid the inevitable short circuit when I forget to cut a needed gap.
Martin Myers
steinjr Right. But were you working under the table while soldering, or putting the layout on it's side or something to work on things ?
I was under the table. Would have been easier to flip it over, but the layout was assembled and running. A creeper with a back would have been nice. Table is about 40" tall, just the right height to be a stretch when sitting on the floor, but too short to get any sort of chair under there.
The club used to have some Peco double slips. We never had any extra wires to the frogs or anything, worked fine. Well, they were a little sharp, a Shinohara double slip would have worked better. It was located on the inner main, formed part of a crossover to get the outer main into the yard.
Jees I feel stupid. I'm getting ready to begin work on a new layout and would like to go with DCC but all these technical terms are giving me such a headache. May just stay with DC - at least I understand how to wire a layout with DC.
Busses - IDC's - so on and so forth may be beyond my comprehension. I thought I had it figured out once - you run a buss wire from the power source around the layout and run track power from that at appropiate locations. I think I can visualize how you can use terminal strips to get power from the buss wire to the track to limit the number of direct connections to the buss, but what the devil is an IDC.
Just a lost lamb wandering in the dark woods!
Mainetrains
'there's something happening here, what it is ain't exactly clear' Modeling the Hard Knox Valley Railroad in HO scale http://photos.hardknoxvalley.com/
mainetrains what the devil is an IDC.
what the devil is an IDC.
And here I thought I had been careful to define the abbreviation IDC, in the first post in this thread:
" 3M Scotchlok 560 IDCs (Insulation Displacement Connectors)"
It is those kind of joiners that you slip over two insulated cables and crimp shut with a pair of pliers, making a couple of metal "knives" slice through the insulation of the wire to make contact, without having to remove the insulation first.
Click on the link above to get a more detailed description.
rrinker I came across this today while searching for some other things. While intended mainly for a modular layout, if you've built your layotu to take apart, even if it's years before you do, it has some merit. No soldering underneath! And no suitcase conenctors (I STILL don;t trust them). http://www.mindspring.com/~cadenza/bus-tap-system.html
Mmm - that would work, but seems a bit overkill for my application. Maybe I should just grab a couple of these:
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/475-PDB1
They cost $18 a pop, but I wouldn't need any more than three of them for all track feeds for my entire layout.
IDC stands for It Don't Connect
No seriously, it's Insulation Displacement Connector. Basically, a way to join two wires without stripping or soldering. Personally I'm not a big fan, I just strip a section of the bus wire, wrap the feeder around it, and solder. Quick, easy, and I don't (usually) drop solder on myself. You need the right tools though, that little 25 watt iron used to solder decoder wires won't heat a 12 gauge bus wire.
Greetings,
Indeed, I really enjoyed your discussion. Please tell me how you drew your layout. What computer program did you use? I'm desparate to draw my layout in the same form at yours. My layout is an around-the-walls in my basement, which measures 23 feet my 24 feet, with the staircase in the middle of the room. The benchwork is 2 feet wide along 3 walls and 5 feet wide along the 4th wall to accommodate the 130 foot turntable, 7 stall roundhouse, and 9-track staging area.
As I proceed with the DCC wiring, it has become strongly apparent to me that I need to develop a really good layout plan to keep track of all the wiring. When I start installing all the signals, the wiring is going to be a mess, so I must really develop a good drawing of my layout.
Stephan
timber2Please tell me how you drew your layout. What computer program did you use?
Hi Stephan --
I used XtrakCad (http://www.xtrkcad.org/Wikka/HomePage) for my track plan, and just put the wiring diagram in a separate layer.
mainetrainsJees I feel stupid. I'm getting ready to begin work on a new layout and would like to go with DCC but all these technical terms are giving me such a headache. May just stay with DC - at least I understand how to wire a layout with DC. Busses - IDC's - so on and so forth may be beyond my comprehension. I thought I had it figured out once - you run a buss wire from the power source around the layout and run track power from that at appropiate locations. I think I can visualize how you can use terminal strips to get power from the buss wire to the track to limit the number of direct connections to the buss, but what the devil is an IDC. Just a lost lamb wandering in the dark woods! Mainetrains
All the technical talk is about good wiring practice that should be used on DC and DCC layouts. When it comes down to it there are two wires feeding the track. Works that way no matter what type of power is in use--even full size.
Many have gotten away with substandard wiring on DC layouts because it can be more forgiving. Mainly because if the voltage drops down at the end of the block, you just turn the throttle up. That doesn't change the reason for the voltage drop or that the wiring could have been done properly in the first place.
I divided my rectangle into 4 blocks. Each block gets a PDB (Power distribution board) that feeds a group of local feeders. Each of the 4 PDB's run to one master PDB that contains the Power Bus which then goes to rails A and B on the DCC.
I will post again later this week when everything is in and running.
Ok here is the first of my installation so far tonight.
Test power pack was a Tech 4. I think total output was like 1.6 amps and 12 something volts. Useful for testing electrical systems together with a analog engine I call the test pig to find shorts and fires. Not fires, but problems with the circut as we go into wiring.
Then there is a PDB installed onto the small table that will eventually contain the DCC Command System and power supply. Thus I named the PDB responsible for the power bus "Command Board" Everything I put onto the layout needs to have a name and followed up with documentation and sometimes pernament marker directly onto or near the item in question.
I had already decided ahead of time that one wire color will go with one side of the board. This assists me greatly when it comes time to laying feeders to the block boards later.
Each PDB has a name and a document that goes with it. I make a note that the west mainline is connected to number 12 terminal.
Eventually the Test Pig Engine is brought out and placed onto the track area to be tested. Everything is powered up and the engine will see what is good and bad about that particular track, later crossing switches and gaps into other tracks in the same area or block on the layout.
I made a note of the terminal number next to the feeder wire coming up the hole in the benchwork, it helps me keep mental track of which wire goes to which set of terminals by number during construction and testing.
The distance from the command block to the A block is only three feet. 14 gauge wire is used from power pack to blocks. Then it appears to be Kato 20 gauge wire which should not be a problem with the very short distances involved from the track to the board in the middle of the zone. I think the farthest I have to run is maybe 2 feet, and the amps wont go above 3 unless there is a short which should be caught quickly.
I leave a little wiggle and slice room in all the wiring, sometimes working temperatures under load, weather and what not tends to flex the wires and stranded wire is best for this.
I use a 14 gauge ring terminals and a crushing type tool to smash the rings onto the bare wire. However, the feeders go into screws already equippted with plates that go down and secure the lot.
I must count and keep track of ALL load on the Blocks at all times. Each board cannot exceed 15 amps total. Sure I can stack 6 engines above the A Board and power them all up... for a short time. That is one of the reasons I limit my layout operations to one freight, one passenger and a switcher set.
Hope you enjoyed it. It so happens today was the first time anything ran under power.
The rest of the loop mainline will be hooked up and tested. Once the engine successfully runs forward and backwards around the entire loop mainline, I will move into connecting each of the feeders in all 4 Board zones.