I am getting ready to start wiring the new DCC MRR. I am going to use 18 gage wire for the feeders and was wondering what was better. Stranded wire or solid wire. What is everyone using? Thanks
Dan
I use #22 solid wire for feeders. They are short - just long enough to go through the benchwork and tie on to thicker wires that form the power bus. I also have feeders ever 3 feet, so #22 wire is plenty thick for the short distances. Plus the smaller wire is easier to solder neatly to the track. Stranded wire raises the possibility of a single strand getting loose and forming a short.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I second Randy's answer. Worked fine for me just like he did it.
Hal
neither
both
Long answer: each is fine. Solid is more controllable in terms of retaining a bent shape while stranded is more flexible. Stranded is strongly prefered for connections where one end moves, but track and busses are stationary so take your pick. Solid can break off if you nick it. (Which you aren't supposed to do) Stranded just loses a few strands.
Karl
PS: 18 ga is fine, so is 20 or 22 as noted by above posters. Wire is neither as critical nor as mysterious as we often think. Then again you could use oxygen free, gold plated, litz wire.
The mind is like a parachute. It works better when it's open. www.stremy.net
Here is what a relatively new fella to the hobby thinks: stranded wire is easier to bend and to tin, so it probably will adhere better to the rail foot or to the rail web. On the other hand, and I do use it, solid wire holds the bend better. I make an elbow to get the wire to lie tighter against the upper foot of the rail, where it meets the web, and I also kink the last 1/4" or more at 90 deg so that it lies along the crook where the web and foot meet. A pre-tinned wire, in either case, will adhere to the rail nicely with just a touch if everything is clean.
-Crandell
I use 22 ga.solid, as Randy suggests. I keep the length to 6" or a little less. I also do one step that most modelers don't. I drill a .031"-.033" hole in the outer web of the rail, form a hook on the end of the wire, insert the hook into the hole, and solder it.
I have just started laying track on a fairly large (18' x 9', 3 levels) N-scale layout using DCC. I am soldering feeders to every piece of flex track, so I am starting to get pretty good at it! I am using 20 gauge solid wire for my feeders and 14 gauge stranded wire for the bus. I solder the feeders to the bottoms of the rails and they go down through a hole in the middle of the roadbed where they are soldered into the bus wires. My soldering skills are not good but I have been very successful with this wire size. I like the stiffness of the solid feeder wires for bending them at right angles so they will fit down into the holes in the roadbed without flexing back up between the ties. I like the flexibility of pulling the stranded bus wires around and through the layout benchwork. Jamie
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I like stranded wire and use 18 gauge. I tin the wire, bend and use a alligator clip to old the wire and acts as a heat sink.
Cuda Ken
I hate Rust
Hi,
I'm currently building an 11x15 HO layout which is being wired for DCC. It is my first DCC layout, but I have been wiring DC (and AC) layouts since the mid-50s.
The bus wires are #14 stranded for two reasons. The wire in various colors is readily available from Lowes & Home Depot, and IMHO will be more durable as it snakes its way around the layout and I cut into it to attach the 200 plus feeder wires.
My feeders are all #20, spaced 3-3 1/2 feet apart, and range from 8 to 12 inches in length and are solid core wire. My reasons are that solid core (for me) is much easier to attach to the rails, and I rarely will puncture myself on one. Seriously, when I have used stranded wire in the past I often managed to jab an errant wire into my fingers, and that gets old after awhile! By the way, I would have no problem using #22 wire for feeders, but I have a lot of #20 left over from the recently demo'd DC layout. Oh, all of this wire came from Radio Shack.
ENJOY,
Mobilman44
ENJOY !
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Quick and dirty:
If it will be bent into shape, soldered into place and then remain undisturbed forevermore, solid wire is better.
If it is likely to be pushed, shoved and bent at odd angles on a regular basis, use stranded wire.
My own layout wiring falls pretty much into the first category, so I use mostly solid wire. However, I do use stranded wire for connecting the terminals on control panels to the terminals on the fixed terminal blocks adjacent to the panels - the panels hinge down, so the wire will be bent and twisted occasionally. I also use stranded wre with thin insulation to connect the moving termini on RIX machines to the turnout terminal block, The wires to the fixed posts are solid, as are the coil connections.
If you use stranded wire where solid would be more appropriate, it might be a bit more difficult to convince it to stay where you want it. If you use solid wire where stranded wire would be better, it will eventually break where it's bent on a regular basis.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)