Hi!
I'm replacing some electrical pick-up wires in an HO loco. The originals were very small, stranded, flexible wires and I don't have any direct match. Decoder wires are a tag larger, and I figure if I knew their AWG, then I could order something a bit higher (in AWG number).
Sooooo, anyone know what the typical decoder harness wire gauge is??????
Thanks again,
Mobilman44
ENJOY !
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Usually, #28 or #30 multi strand wire. Sometimes one brand might look a little larger as some have a slightly thicker rubber insulation. Litchfield Station, Tony's and other online DCC suppliers sell it. Some is a little more flexible than other. NWSL has sold this wire for many years but only in black or red I believe. You might want the standard colors for DCC.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
You can find soem ultra-thing wire in a coupel of palces, I think TCS has it - thinner than normal decoder wire. But I used leftover decoder wire to make proper feeds for my Athearn RS-3 (bypass the silly bolster pickup) and it worked just fine.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Thanks!
FYI, I got two short pieces of the OE wire from BLI, and soldered in the new pick-up wires on the front truck. Ha, everything works beautifully and the loco no longer stops when going slowly over dead frogs!
I have to say that the construction of the BLI RSD is really good and straightforward, and easy to work on. I did not expect that.