Wire Lingo...Help a newbie out.

[Anonymous]

I have rolls of thermostat wire and cat-5 cable laying around all the time. On my layout I used the t-stat wire for the bus and the feeders, I believe it is 18 gauge. My layout is small (9x7) and I have had no problems with this wire size. (I only put 3 feeders)

[tomikawaTT]

I'm going to add a new word to this thread's vocabulary - jumpers.

They are the little omega-shaped bits of wire that are soldered around your unsoldered, uninsulated rail joiners. Since I live in a place where the temperature in my layout enclosure swings from too darn cold on winter nights to 115+ on August afternoons, I have to allow for rail expansion and contraction and soldering rail joiners is not an option. Jumpers guarantee that power from the feeders at the center of a block will reach the insulated joiners at the ends of the block.

[AntonioFP45]

Good info.

I always assumed that the thicker the wire, the better. However, I've always worried about overdoing it has I've read some modelers go "whack-out" with thicker than needed wires and feeders at every single rail joint to avoid those annoying "dead spot" headaches.

Threads like these are helpful.

Peace.

[Anonymous]

I use 14 guage speaker wire for my bus lines. I use DCC and have a larger layout than you so you might get by with smaller wire. My feeders are 22 guage solid core, and the speaker wire is stranded. Keep in mind, Solid core wire is fine for wiring a layout, but alsways use stranded in your engines. Solid core wire just doesn't have the flex you need to keep it on the rails.

[Don Gibson]

[B] The 'Buss' wiriing is a 'Power Distribution system that's goal is to equalize voltage thrughout the system. It also offers signal transmissioon advantages for DCC.

FEEDER wires are short and 20g. - 24g. seem to do the job.
BUSS wires to avoid resistance should be thicker . 16g - 12g.depending on length's run.

STRANDED VS SOLID is a toss-up. Both work.

I find solid to my liking That includes the feeders.Anywhere I want wires that FLEX. I use Stranded - such as 'Jumper's vetween modules, & Power Supply to track..

[cwclark]

I use telephone wire all the time!...i use 18 gauge for the buss and the telephone wire for the feeders...it's usually 20 - 22 gauge .... Chuck

[Bikerdad]

Guys, theres one other thing that hasn't been mentioned that impacts on the proper gauge for the main bus. What scale are you working in?

An N scale layout can get by with smaller wire than an O. Its simply a matter of how much juice the locos are going to be pulling, i.e., its all about the amperage. For most home layouts though, a 14g bus will be sufficient. This is especially true when considering a first layout, which, if you need a 12g bus, is probably a case of biting off more than you can chew.

Of course, aside from cost, there's nothing wrong with going to a larger gauge than absolutely necessary. Who knows, when Futurama Scale Transit brings out their HO scale Maglev trains, that extra bus size may be just the ticket.

[Anonymous]

wow... Everytime I think I'm ready to start on my first layout, I read something on here that makes me question everything.... I've been concentrating so much on the design and the scenery aspects that the electrical never really entered my mind... Thanks for bringing up another thing for me to look at!

[Anonymous]

Trevor, Your layout is so dirt simple, why not add some blocks so in the future, you won't have to pull tracks apart to install insulated joints. I would do it at the diversion end of every turn out. That way if you want, you can put some block switches in the wires so you can isolate a loco or train on a siding or spur. Also, your layout is small enough that 20-22 gauge wire is all you need.

In the future, you can be helpful for yourself and the people trying to help you, if you are a bit more descriptive and thorough with your questions. I.e. I'm building a 4 X 8, not thinking about cab control, only simple wiring.

In fact, if you are not going to have any blocks, you only need to wire directly to the positive and negative rails of your tracks! Two wires from the power pack to the rails. For simplicity's sake, this will suffice, especially if you are going to solder the rail joints.
This method makes it more difficult to make changes and additions and subtractions, but may be all you need.

I hope I have been helpful!

[Anonymous]

Thanks gang. For completeness sake, I will be running DC right now, using my Bachmann Magnum power pack. The track plan is such that I do not need separate cabs or blocks. I only plan to run a single locomotive right now, and there are no reversing loops. The layout is only 8x4. I will, based on your experience, be using 16-gauge solid wire as my main power feed from the power pack, with 20-gauge feeders dropping down to it from the rails. I will be using the same feeder wire to connect my 4 switches to their corresponding DPDT's, and this will be powered by a 9v DC power supply.

Thanks Again,
Trevor

[howmus]

QUOTE: Originally posted by TrevorG

What gauge is telephone wire? I have reels of it lying around in the office.

trevor

Depends. Hows that for a definitive answer. If it is the old stuff, it is probably 24. A lot of the new stuff used today is 30 or smaller. The old phone wire is fine for track feeders.

What you need for wiring also depends on if you are using DC or DCC. In any rate I would advise that you do your main bus wiring in a minimum of 14 gauge as it would be good for both DC and DCC. DCC generally wants to be heavier gauge wire than DC.

[Anonymous]

Another differance is what type of control system are you installing? You didn't say. It is generally recommended larger gauge wire be used for DCC buss. Since you called the wire a buss, I assume your talking DCC. For DC wiring, your block control wires maybe shouldn't be called a buss. To me a buss is a a larger conductor which has feeders eminating from it, going to the track. As you stated, solid or stranded is a personal choice. Using 14 gauge for the buss and 20-24 gauge for the feeders will likely suit your needs.

I don't know if telephone lines are a specific gauge, it might be anywhere from 20-24 gauge.

[Anonymous]

What gauge is telephone wire? I have reels of it lying around in the office.

trevor

[ndbprr]

A couple of factors influence wire size. the first is how good your power pack is. The better the pack the easier for it to push current through the wires. It is kind of like increasing the pressure in a water line to increase flow out the end of the hose. If you use the water analogy you can get 500 gallons a minute by doing one of two things. You either increase the size of the pipe and keep the pressure low or increase the pressure and keep the pipe small. In our case it is better to increase the size of the pipe and keep the pressure low. I believe for carrying current to a track the recommended size is about a #14. Because the distance from the underside of the layout is short you can get by with a smaller wire from the feeder to the track without much drop in voltage. That being said many of us have used old telephone wire for many years with no indication of any problems whatsoever. The advantage of telephone wire is it is color coded in pairs so they are easy to keep track of. However I would not use telephone wire with DCC and in doing my current layout I am increasing wire size for that reason.

[Pruitt]

The question of wire gauge for the Bus is a matter of how long the bus wires will be.

If they're ten or so feet long I think 16 gauge would be plenty large.

On my own rather large layout the longest bus wires are about 40 feet long (there will be some even longer ones). I use 14 gauge wire, but for the longest runs I'll probably go to 12 gauge.

My feeders are 22-24 gauge - whatever I happen to have on hand. Since they're so short, voltage drop isn't a concern with them. The biggest concern I have is very simple - will they nest easily against the outside of the rails for soldering?

[Anonymous]

Hi gang,

My Grandfather always said there is no such thing as a stupid question, only stupid people who wont ask a question and then pretend to know thw answer. So, in that spirit I am looking for clarification on some wiring lingo. One day I'll be a veteran and toss around the lingo like it's second nature.

I am going to make some assumptions, but feel free to correct me if I am inaccurate.

The wire that runs from the power pack called the Power Bus.
The wire that drops from the rail to the Power Bus is called the Feeders.

What gauge wire is recommended for the Power Bus and the Feeders respectively?

I have read many a discussion from here which I found in a search and the debate was mostly stranded vs solid. I'd rather know about gauge.

Your help is appreciated.

Trevor