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dropper wires

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  • Member since
    August 2005
  • From: S.E. Adirondacks, NY
  • 3,246 posts
Posted by modelmaker51 on Monday, May 19, 2008 7:25 PM
On my 12x23 layout all drops are 22 gauge and vary in length from 6" to 18" and are about 6' to 10' apart. I have not found any significant voltage variations even running 4 unit lashups pulling 60 to 70 cars

Jay 

C-415 Build: https://imageshack.com/a/tShC/1 

Other builds: https://imageshack.com/my/albums 

  • Member since
    May 2006
  • From: UNITED KINGDOM
  • 64 posts
Posted by iomtt on Monday, May 19, 2008 6:15 PM

Hi 

Thank  you for  all  the information guys sure it  will  come in useful.

 iomtt

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: Austin, TX
  • 462 posts
Posted by 4merroad4man on Sunday, May 18, 2008 8:21 PM

Call em what you like.  Electricians cal them drops, model railroaders tend to call them feeders.

It would be wise to run your bus first, following the main track so the drops or feeders don't have that far to run.  If you are running 22 or 24 AWG wired, the length should be irrelevant if the bus is under the main.  If you have a longer run, you can add a pigtail of 18 AWG wire to the feeders or drops in order to complete the longer run without voltage drops.  I know of at least three local layouts using 24AWG wire in drops or feeders of less than five inches with no voltage drop or DCC signal loss at all.

Serving Los Gatos and The Santa Cruz Mountains with the Legendary Colors of the Espee. "Your train, your train....It's MY train!" Papa Boule to Labische in "The Train"
  • Member since
    January 2007
  • From: Eastern Shore Virginia
  • 3,290 posts
Posted by gandydancer19 on Sunday, May 18, 2008 7:56 PM
What size or wire gauge are you using for the feeders?  HO or N scale?  I don't recommend anything less than 22 gauge  (AWG 22).  Telephone wire is kind of small (AWG 24) and is not recommended.  However, if you are using AWG 24, and running N scale, and you keep the feeders short (less than 6 inches), you can get away with what you have now, but don't use it any more.  Switch to AWG 22.

Elmer.

The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.

(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.

  • Member since
    June 2004
  • From: Orig: Tyler Texas. Lived in seven countries, now live in Sundown, Louisiana
  • 25,640 posts
Posted by jeffrey-wimberly on Sunday, May 18, 2008 4:30 PM
We call them 'feeder' wires here. Mine are no specific length, six inches to one foot.

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  • Member since
    May 2006
  • From: UNITED KINGDOM
  • 64 posts
dropper wires
Posted by iomtt on Sunday, May 18, 2008 4:26 PM

Hi all,

I am on with laying track and installing dropper wires while laying track, testing conductivity of the dropper wires as i go via dc supply and a little shunter for the moment, i have cut the dropper wires overlength to around 8 inches each, when it comes time to run the bus wires round to them what length is to be reccomended for the droppers not to have a voltage drop anywhere.

iomtt

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