Me again:
I am in the process of converting my Peco Electrofrog turnouts to be DCC friendly as per Allan Gartner's 'Wiring For DCC" recommendations. I just spent about 30 minutes reading through his website but nowhere can I find a suggestion about what gauge wire I should use for the jumpers that go between the point rails and the closure/stock rails. I have done a few already using 26 ga stranded wire but before I go any further I want to know if that is heavy enough.
Thanks
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Dave,
Probably more than heavy enough. I use 30 gauge for similar fixes. Smaller would likely work. Remember, while the gauge may be small, it's usually a very short run.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
My current layout (32yrs. running) I used 26 gauge solid wire on all My feeders.....found it easier to solder to code83 rail, than stranded wire......don't have to worry about stray strands. Just put a 1/16 90 degree bend in it and solder to rail. I use a variable temp. pencil 1/16th tip iron for it set at 60 watt...looks like a soldering station iron, but isn't.
Take Care!
Frank
I use 22 ga stranded wire as jumper wire on my turnouts, but 26 ga is just fine.
Rich
Alton Junction
I solder a short section of bare 22 ga solid wire between the closure rails and stock rails on the back of the turnout (I do this for both types of Peco turnout). This wire will be hidden by ballast so the guage of the wire is not a big concern, I used scraps of feeder wire I had left over from a 100' roll. I remove the factory jumper wires, if so equipped and/or cut gaps with rotor tool. Install turnout. 3 wires will now power all parts of the turnout, and there is less than a 1/4" of unpowered track, 3/4"-1" if I skip powering the frog.
To answer your question: 26ga should be fine. You will probably get contact between the points and the stock rails anyway, this step is just an insurance policy because using points to feed power in DCC is not a recommended practice, and really, really annoying when someone does it on a club staging yard (8 tracks and every turnout has to have perfect contact otherwise you lose power and have to either drag your train in by hand or you get hit by another train because someone isnt paying attention and you are crossing the opposite direction main line; so glad those modules are gone).
Edit: sorry about the rant
22-24 solid would be perfect and easy. Look at the factory ones you cut - that's about the same size.
Trick: strip a piece of soldi wire longer than needed, bend the end to shape, use the long piece of the wire as a handle to hold it while you solder to the rails, then clip off the excess. For the two sets of jumpers directly in line with each other - you can just strip a whole bunch off the end of the wire and use one piece of wire, then cut it after soldering.
Beats dealing with 1/2" lengths of wire.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Here's an interesting chart:
http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm
I would go with the maximum amps for chassis wiring column. For HO, #22 would be the largest size needed, I think. You could go smaller if you ran "smaller" power.
I suspect if you go even smaller, nothing bad will happen--the chart looks quite conservative.
These leads should be as short as possible before they connect to the feeder wires. My feeder wires are #12.
Ed
I use left over pieces of decoder wire. I think that's 30ga. You are only powering the points or frog which means at best, one truck will be actually drawing current through the jumper. Short, small diameter wire is sufficient.
Martin Myers
Thanks for all the answers guys!
I thought I was ok with the 26 ga. stranded wire but it would have been stupid to do all 39 turnouts and then discover I had done it wrong.
mfm37 I use left over pieces of decoder wire. I think that's 30ga. You are only powering the points or frog which means at best, one truck will be actually drawing current through the jumper. Short, small diameter wire is sufficient. Martin Myers
An excellent point.