Electronics and DCC

 What width do most people use for isolation motors and general purpose?

Paxton,

I find 1/2" wide to be pretty handy.  With HO decoders, it generally takes 2 pieces to insulate the bottom of the board longwise, with a little overlap in the middle.  I use this stuff exclusively for insulating and taping down decoders.

Tom

 Thanks.  That is what I was thinking.  Planning ahead -- hope to make the change to DCC soon.

 I actually have 2 sizes, the wider stuff is handy for motor isolation, but I have some 1/4" I used to lay a strip to hold wires or a decoder in place. I use far more of the narrow as most of the locos I put decoders in already have isolated motors. In N scale the 1/2" might be too wide for most things.

                                   --Randy

What are the advantages to using Kapton tape over regular electrical tape?  One of my club members swears by the Kapton tape but all I've ever used is good old electrical tape and have never had any issues.  I've noticed Digitrax has started to use it on all its decoders that require tape to hold the foam block to protect the 8 pin plug.   

#1 is that it's thinner than electrical tape. I find it's also less messy than the gooey black adhesive of electric tape. Plus since it's thinner it is more flexible when working with small wires - electrical tape works great wrappign it around #14 and #12 wires, but it's a little tough to wrap it around #30 - although kaptopn tape isn't the most desireable product for that, either - this is where heat shrink tube is most useful.

                                   --Randy