I use shorting terminal blocks (busbars) in my control panel for main power distribution and EURO type connectors for terminal blocks for ease of connecting the wires. Been using them for the last 30 or so years without any problems.
https://led-switch.com/collections/terminal-blocksMy layout is pretty small at 10’ x 14’ with 121’ of mainline and I don’t use DCC bus wiring, I run a pair of #19 solid bell wire to each block from my control panel. My blocks are approximately 8' long. Longest track wire run is about 12’, no problems since I added DCC in 2005.DCC bus wiring works great I just prefer individual block control.
EDIT:
I run dual mode on my layout, DCC or DC. I have over 60 locomotives and only 13 DCC decoders.
Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California Turned 84 in July, aging is definitely not for wimps.
LastspikemikeEach coating conceals a continuous metal strip connecting each seperate wire to the same polarity and to each other for the two separate bus wires power sources. You could instead fit those bus bar type connectors onto the other side of these terminal strips.
Correct.
On the ones I bought, each set of screws is connected to the screw opposite it. So the connectors only need to be on one side. By connecting the buss wire to one screw, every screw on either side of the strip is connected.
It's a nice, easy, neat system.
For the feeder wires, it didn't make much difference, but for my lights, I regret not labeling each wire indicating where it went on the layout.
York1 John
dtaborBased on my last question, some mentioned terminal strips for wiring a DCC system. Most of what Ive read/watched shows a continuous buss line and the feeders attached every 3-6' along that, and the best practice is to keep the feeders as short as possible for less power loss.
I use the terminal strips. On each terminal strip, all the screws are connected.
The bus wire is attached to one screw, and all the other screws then are out to the feeders. I have two terminal strips at each location.
I found several advantages. As Mike said, it makes things very easy to connect or disconnect, especially if you're trying to find a problem.
Another advantage is that these terminal strips are attached behind the removable fascia. Wires are dropped under the table, and pulled to the terminal strips. This allows me to never have to go under the table and work over my head. All connections are done sitting in a chair. For you younger readers, this may seem silly, but just wait until you get to my age.
I have these terminal strips at several different places on the layout, with the buss wire going to each one. Not one of my feeder wires was over four feet with this system, so I don't think there's any problem with loss of power.
This picture is for lights on the layout, but I use the same system for the power feeders and buss.
Here's a sample of what I used. These come in quite a few different sizes:
Edit: Brent beat me to the post!
This bench is 18' long, I have a terminal strip at one end and the buss wires run the length of the bench like fingers. I hook the feeders to the wire right under the track by wrapping the feeder wire around the buss and soldering it. I just stripped the buss maybe 1/4" in each spot, soldered the wire on and slapped some liquid electrical tape on it.
I mounted it on this flip-down board under the layout.
This is the other side of the room. I had 100s of feet of 12g wire sitting around so I went a little overboard. The layout is 15 years old and I have never had one electrical issue.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Based on my last question, some mentioned terminal strips for wiring a DCC system. Most of what Ive read/watched shows a continuous buss line and the feeders attached every 3-6' along that, and the best practice is to keep the feeders as short as possible for less power loss. Wondering what the advantage of a terminal strip is and how that works with feeders. It seems if I have a terminal strip in a certain place, that the feeders from that strip to the track would get long. Do you use a small terminal block at each feeder point? Seems that would be a ton of terminal blocks if you had a long main line. There are some youtube videos showing terminal blocks/strips but I cant find one that shows the whole process of wiring the actual feeder points.