Wow. Thanks for all the information in this thread.
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The "super flexible" wire I have been using was made for R/C cars, and not as flexible as I would have wanted. I am going to try this stuff out.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
that brawa number shows as 28 gauge wire, with pvc insulation, and 10 conductors .. around the same price per foot but in 33ft spools
11 strands in the #30 and 16 strands in the #28 should make it nice and flexible. That's not terribly expensive considering it is silicone insulation and you typically don't use long lengths of it. The cheaper #30 wire is often made of far fewer (but larger) strands and that's what makes it not so flexible.
For internals, a number of companies sell bundles of small diameter wire in packs with all of the basic NMRA DCC colors - I'm not a fan of extending decoder wires using plain black or red or white wire, I like to keep to the color code. Only one I seem to ever use is blue when running lights - usually I end up with EXTRA of red, black, orange, and grey which of course one NEVER throws out, but when you have to run the blue common to both the front and back of a loco, you usually need more than what comes with the decoder harness. The stuff sold by TCS and Digitrax is the very same wire they use when making the decoders, so it is thin and flexible.
--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 don't pay too much attention to actual wire gauge sizes for my DC locomotive wiring, but have found Brawa's Part #3168 to be very useful for the wiring between locos and tenders, especially when used with mini-connectors...
The wire is about .030" in diameter over the insulation, and the braided wires within are about .013" total, when twisted together. The wire is very flexible, easy to tie in knots if you wanted to do so. It's not on a roll, but comes in 10 metre coiled bundles. I don't recall the actual price (fairly high), but it too is well worth it.
Wayne
the Bntechgo 28 gauge silicon wire is more flexible than most that are in that price range, a good buy