When running buss wires, do you have to run both hot and ground?

[magicman710]

It seems that somewhere I read that you only need to have hot buss wires, and that ground is not needed (Because its already connnected to the track once). Is this true?

 

 

Thanks.

[phillyreading]

Depends on the size of your layout, but I would run both a hot & a nuetral wire if the layout is over 20 feet long. Loose track connections can give a lot of resistance and cause power loss that may not be picked up except under load by a locomotive with several cars behind it.

As for answering your question about running only a hot bus wire I say NO! If it is tubular track.

I use the common on my post war ZW and run the wire to my tracks about every five sections of track, also run the ground to all my tracks at the same place if possible to cut down on drilling holes in the plywood. Also use putty to try hiding the wires from view, then you can paint the putty if need be.

Lee F.

[Eriediamond]

It seems that somewhere I read that you only need to have hot buss wires, and that ground is not needed (Because its already connnected to the track once). Is this true?

 

 

Thanks.

False,false,false! The purpose of buss wires is so you can run feeder wires to the track to as relying on rail joiners may work fine but the buss lines and feeders assure good electrical flow in the track. Lets assume the center rail is the hot rail and you place a feeder every for feet and the ground to the ouside rail near the transformer. Twenty feet from the transformer the train stops!! Ok, theres the positive feeder wire on that section or piece of track. But the problem is  the outside rail joiners have failed electricaly. So yes you need both feeders. Ken 

[jwse30]

It seems you have your answer on that. While you're under the table installing these buss wires, do yourself a favor and two more for accessories. Your current transformer may allow for only one more (with the throttle and accessory power sharing a ground), but your next bigger, better transformer may not. Copper's expensive, but it ain't that bad if it saves a bunch of rework later. Being able to tap into a buss to wire a building's lights could save a bunch of time running wiring under the benchwork.

 

Hope this helps,

 

J White

 

 

[Buckeye Riveter]

Magic....I ran a red and black set of wires just for the track and then one white ground wire and four more multi colored wires just for the accessocires while it was easy to access.  Using TMCC, I can turn on an off the various accessory circuits.

Has anyone mentioned to you using suitcase connectors?  If not, here is a web page that explains what I am describing:  http://www.scottsodds-n-ends.com/accessories.htm  My drops are all connected to buss wires with this type of connector.  I have had great success using them on my layout.  I have at least 20 sets of drops and not one has had a problem.

The connectors can be found at Lowes or Home Depot.  I buy the blue ones.

 

[lionelsoni]

Do not buss your track.  You can get shocked that way!...;-)

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/buss

 

[jmkk]

 Good one Bob!  Brings a new meaning to the wife saying he sure does love those trains.

Jason

[ChiefEagles]

Buckeye is right if you use buss wiring.  I do not use buss wiring for track voltage.  I use the 'homerun" version.  I did use buss wiring for switch power. 

[Buckeye Riveter]

Buckeye is right if you use buss wiring.  I do not use buss wiring for track voltage.  I use the 'homerun" version.  I did use buss wiring for switch power. 

We are keeping this one for posterity's sake.  The last time the Chief said I was right was four years ago, when he thought I lived in the South.  Needless, to say Chief, unlike your buddy, pal, good friend, Northern acquaintance, I have been there and done that.

[magicman710]

Ok, thanks for the help!

[EIS2]

I used the wiring that is used in house wiring for my buss wires.  I stripped all of the insulation off the wires and ran nine wires about 4" apart along the entire length of my layout.  I ran eight more wires from the buss wires to each of the terminals on my ZW (A,AU,B,BU,C,CU,D,DU).  Envision a 'T' with the top of the 'T' as the buss wire and the bottom of the 'T' attached to the transformer.  The ninth buss wire was used for lighting on the layout and was contolled by a switch on the control panel.  I used the A and D circuits for each of the two track loops.  I used the C and D circuits for accessories.  I used alligator clips to attach accessories to the buss wire.  That made it easy to relocate or change accessories, which I do quite often.  The buss wires worked quite well for me and has made making changes to my layout relatively easy.

Earl

[ChiefEagles]

Buckeye is right if you use buss wiring.  I do not use buss wiring for track voltage.  I use the 'homerun" version.  I did use buss wiring for switch power. 

We are keeping this one for posterity's sake.  The last time the Chief said I was right was four years ago, when he thought I lived in the South.  Needless, to say Chief, unlike your buddy, pal, good friend, Northern acquaintance, I have been there and done that.

Yes, you post what you know is the truth and what you have done.  Not want someone else has done and then take credit for it.  Thanks for all the help you have given the forum. 

[PostwarMan07]

Earl, your method sounds like a neat idea.  Do you ever have trouble with shorts due to exposed wires touching eachother?

[DennisB-1]

You only need to run one common wire for the U connection. There's no reason to run multiple commons since they're all connected internally on the ZW.

[bfskinner]

"Bus" wires, for Heaven's sake, "bus." Not "buss." The big wide smokey thing that you get stuck behind in traffic is a bus. It carries a lot people. A busboy carries a lot of dishes back to the kitchen. In electrical parlance, a bus (also known as a "bus bar") carries a lot of electrical current, relatively speaking.

The persistent confusion about this probably derives from "Buss" fuse, which is a brand name belonging to the Cooper Bussman company. It is often a good idea to protect your circuit from overcurrents by inserting a Buss fuse between the power source and your bus.

"Bus" in the sense that we are using here is singular. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the plural (more than one bus) is "busses" as in a fleet of busses; although more and more frequently one sees "buses." In these austere times, it may be prudent to conserve our precious esses.

A buss is a kiss; a Buss is a fuse; and a bus is a heavy-duty wire that carries electricity.

No need to heed to me on this, but it often pays to listen to lionelsoni, and not go around kissing bus bars.

 

[DennisB-1]

bfskinner,

None of us are perfect but some of the common errors make one wonder. The use of to when one means also. Using add instead of ad when referring to an advertisement. Adding an e to the word lens giving us "lense." I think the problem is exacerbated by forums because many people tend to repeat what they see.  

The other thing that slays me is when someone doesn't know the correct spelling and puts(sp?) after the word in question. This is the internet. Can't one look it up?  

 

[EIS2]

Earl, your method sounds like a neat idea.  Do you ever have trouble with shorts due to exposed wires touching eachother?

No, the exposed wires are four inches apart and are under the layout so items would have to fall up to touch them and the remaining wires are all insulated.  If you think about it, the track itself is the same as exposed wires and most shorts occur either due to a derailment on the track or a metal object falling on the track.  Neither problem occurs wih exposed wire under the layout.

You only need to run one common wire for the U connection. There's no reason to run multiple commons since they're all connected internally on the ZW.

I ran the four common wires (AU,BU,CU,DU) because the Lionel ZW add-on volt-amp meter will only read amps correctly if the ground wires are separated.

Earl

[EIS2]

A buss is a kiss; a Buss is a fuse; and a bus is a heavy-duty wire that carries electricity.

Thank you for the correction.  I was not offering a 'kiss' to anyone.

Earl

[bfskinner]

Thank you, Dennis.

Well read; well stated.

Peace!

[ChiefEagles]

Sorry, misunderstood the intent.

[magicman710]

Saying "buss" is almost like Yankees drinking sweet tea. Once they start they cant stop!

 

Dennis, on a side note, I have been looking at your layout in CTT (Very good of course) and I have been wondering where you get your O Scale sized buildings. You explained that the skyline was HO, but I dont think you listed your O Scale sources.

[DennisB-1]

Thanks, Grayson. The O scale buildings on the Sandy Harbor Terminal Ry. came from a variety of sources: Atlas O, Downtown Deco, Design Preservation Models, IHC, Lionel, MTH, Plasticville, Walther's Cornerstone Series, Weaver and last but not least, Brennan's Model RR Products.

Almost everything is a kitbash of some sort. Is there a particular structure that you are curious about?  

 

[magicman710]

No, not really. I was just wondering. Thanks anyway.