Hi,
I am about to run in power feed wire ready to spur droppers into for OO gauge railway. I will be using AWG14 (2.5mm) cable. Is it ok to use immersion heater cable which is the same rating, multistrand, 50 strands per core?
to the forum. Your posts are usually delayed in moderation.
InterCity 125 immersion heater cable which is the same rating, multistrand, 50 strands per core?
As a Yank, an immersion heater is what I used to make instant coffee in college.
If you are saying it is the same rating as 14 ga, that is way more than you need.
Actually solid wire works better as droppers, because you can bend it and it holds the shape without stray pieces of wire. I use 20 ga.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
It would be OK to use, and at 50 strands, very flexible.
This table shows recommended wire sizes, and depending on the length of the run, AWG14 or 2.5mm would be adequate.
BigDaddy Actually solid wire works better as droppers, because you can bend it and it holds the shape without stray pieces of wire. I use 20 ga.
I would agree with the 20 ga suggestion. It should be enough for what you need. 20 ga is what many auto parts stores sell as primary wire for wiring in cars and such. (For some of my wire, I've actually had to go that route as no place in town other than my local NAPA carries that size of wire. Although for the latest wiring project I had to order it via the internet as they don't carry orange or purple wire. Ran out of colors as I was already using red, black, green, blue and yellow.)
I also agree with the solid wire for track power drops. Many of my terminal joiners are ones that came via a certain auction site that were custom ones using the 20 ga wire and different colors as needed.
FWIW, 14 ga is getting close to building wiring.
It would depend on the size of your railroad, my smallish one uses 22 gauge solid feeders and stranded 10 buss.