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Terminal blocks, i have forgotten how they work

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  • Member since
    January 2013
  • 89 posts
Posted by kgill on Monday, May 27, 2013 5:54 PM

Batman,

Thats a pretty neat approach. Thanks.

 

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: 4610 Metre's North of the Fortyninth on the left coast of Canada
  • 9,352 posts
Posted by BATMAN on Monday, May 27, 2013 4:05 PM

Here is a pic of one of mine. Jumpers on the left side of the block were made from 12 gauge wire. Strip the wire, then twist around the end of a needle nose pliers and cut. Insert into terminal block. Repeat as necessary.

Good luck.Smile

Brent

"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."

  • Member since
    January 2010
  • From: Chi-Town
  • 7,712 posts
Posted by zstripe on Monday, May 27, 2013 2:07 PM

Sounds like, ''The Pink Lion Strikes,Again'',,,,,LOL..

Cheers,

Frank

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: North Dakota
  • 9,592 posts
Posted by BroadwayLion on Monday, May 27, 2013 10:20 AM

Terminal Blocks are EXPENSIVE and the LION uses them not at all.

Him plants two nails about six inches apart. Him stretches a bare wire between them. Him solders everything he wants joined together to this wire. With 14 miles of track, LION kneads lotsa wire. If him were to buy terminal blocks him could not afford no railroad.

LION HAS FOUR BUS WIRES.

1) GROUND

2) TRACK POWER

3) -12 v DC Aux

4) +12 v DC Aux

Him also has big fat distribution cables for switches, signals and relays.These consist of several 24 pair cat-3 telephone cables that terminate at several patch panels all around the layout. (Panels are home made: are boards with nails driven into them.--LIONS are cheap). These cables cost lotsa money, but you don't gotta pay for them: go to a commercial construction site and beg for the scraps that are too short for them to use.Out here the telephone company buried all of their cables, and we kept the ones that were up on the utility poles. The are (were?--hehe) in the power house. Now they live again on the railroad.

ROAR

PS the recently ABANDONED all of those buried cables in favor of buried fiber optic cable, but LION could not dig up old cables. Too much work. BUT him knows where they are if he needs more wire.

The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.

Here there be cats.                                LIONS with CAMERAS

  • Member since
    February 2004
  • From: Knoxville, TN
  • 2,055 posts
Posted by farrellaa on Sunday, May 26, 2013 4:38 PM

Jim /SOO is right with his diagram for the terminal strips; you just need to replace the lights with what you are powering from the power pack. Use one for (+) and one for (-) and then you need jumpers from the first terminal screw on each strip to all the others. Another way is to use a power distribution strip or bar, which is ususally solid metal and has a number of screw terminals on it. Just make sure you label each terminal strip as to what polarity it is, positive or negative.

    -Bob

Life is what happens while you are making other plans!

  • Member since
    January 2010
  • 2,616 posts
Posted by peahrens on Sunday, May 26, 2013 4:38 PM

Some examples are below. 

I used the MTH type for my grandsons layout.  They are pricey but handy, and connect the plus and minus power to the associated terminals beyond the input ones. 

The more basic terminal blocks / barrier strips are just connected pairs of terminals separated by plastic.  To use them as a connection buss (all one source signal), you need one for your positive wiring and one for your negative.  The terminals on a strip are not interconnected except at each pair between the barriers, so you add jumpers across one of the directions so the inputs are all connected to the source power which is connected to one of them, then connect all your outputs to the strip at any points.  

I bought the MTH types (which I used for lighting) cheaper than shown here, and bought the basic types (which I used for switch machine wiring) and jumpers at All Electronics.

http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Terminal-Blocks-Strips-s/3169.htm

 

Paul

Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent

  • Member since
    October 2005
  • From: Detroit, Michigan
  • 2,284 posts
Posted by Soo Line fan on Sunday, May 26, 2013 12:10 PM

This is for a lighting block but it should give you and idea:

Jim

  • Member since
    January 2013
  • 89 posts
Terminal blocks, i have forgotten how they work
Posted by kgill on Sunday, May 26, 2013 12:03 PM

I want to run two wires from my power pack to a terminal strip. I want to then wire everything into that strip that it needs to power.

Please remind me how I best do this.

Is there a terminal block that I can apply pos and neg to the first lug on each side and then run all my things off each pair of lugs? if so what is it called, how do I shop for it?

Do I have to apply the pos and neg to the first lug and then a jumper from the first to second, second to third, third to fourth etc for each side?

I knew all this stuff in 7th grade but forgot it all for more important things I guess.

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