OK, all of a sudden I found myself having more lights than I can put on 2 layouts. Anyway, it's a long story, the usual impulse control problem.
The question is, do you route it on your layout to an edge and then go back to power point or do you drill through like a rail bus wire?
I'm still working through this. Since I want to have individual control of my lighting (especially my interior), I have quite a number of wires running from my lights scattered acroos my layout to my Atlas controller switches. I need to come up with a way of routing them so that they are easily tracable, use up less wire, but still have independent control.
Tom
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loathar wrote:Anybody run a DCC style buss for their lights?
loathar wrote:I was about to post this myself.Anybody run a DCC style buss for their lights? On small layouts I would just drill and run lines back to the power pack, but that was only a few lights.
Yes, I run a 3 pair 18ga bus for lighting. 1 pair for constant 12V, 1 pair for off/on 12V and 1 pair for 12V variable voltage.
Engineer Jeff NS Nut Visit my layout at: http://www.thebinks.com/trains/
Lothar,
Yes, I have an extra pair of wire (green/blue) that I ran with my red/black DCC bus to provide for other power needs... I have yet to get to wiring lights, but that is my plan...
Brian
Hey Art,
Your scenery is tremendous. The old truck picture especially caught my eye. Having been in the oil business I spotted the side rack cans immediately. I have a half dozen of the real thing
Bob
Don't Ever Give Up
I make liberal use of terminal strips off of power buses to make it easier to trouble shoot the occassional problem or add new lights. All holes are drilled beneath the structure.
I also use LEDs exclusively to avoid having to change burned out bulbs.
Mike Tennent
hi Iceman_c27
Being the fuss budget I can be I drill a row of 3/8" holes in the cross braces at the control pannel edge of the railway.
My wiring is then run to the closest cross brace then down to and through one of the holes on the way to the control pannel the wire is clipped and tied every 12" to keep it tidy and stop it hanging untidily below the fascia.
I drill holes in the base board to get light track and other feeds below the baseboard.
I always drill a couple more 3/8" holes than I think I need for the very reason you mention, its later on and I want add the extra thing I did not think of in the begining of construction and wiring
regards John
tstage wrote: I'm still working through this. Since I want to have individual control of my lighting (especially my interior), I have quite a number of wires running from my lights scattered acroos my layout to my Atlas controller switches. I need to come up with a way of routing them so that they are easily tracable, use up less wire, but still have independent control. Tom
I actually tried the same thing for my current layout where I have individual switches for say industrial lights, street lights, residential and then signals. I even colour code the wires for easy trouble shooting later and I also got one of those DC R/C power supply an goes to a PD block and goes to individual switches. But I tell ya, it's still a nightmare because I light every structure on top of street lights and what not and I still have lights I haven't used yet. Way too many wires and under the layout just a maze of wires and if I don't look at it for 2 weeks, I seriously don't what is what anymore. I think I now just by pass all the switches and just use the main on the power supply.
So I don't want to do that on my second layout anymore. Initially I even solder every joint but at the end, I just twist and use a heat shrink tube. BTW, I rant surface wires to the edge and then route to PD blocks and then njust try to hide wires later. That didn't work out too well because too many wires to hide everywhere and some have to go across the entire layout hence I was wondering if drill holes would be easier. But then that introduced another factor to consider, I am using WS 2" risers this time and then a nother layr of foam base underneath that, that's a lot of space to drill! I think I am already going to give up on lighting building interiors, too many and too much trouble, but signals and exterior lights still essential of a realistic layout so...
And that brings to another wuestion! If you do all the pre-wiring first which means the lights have to be installed before the scenic is finished, would that cause any problem? As far as I know, if I want lights, that would be the chronological order of doing the layout, am I right?
Hi Iceman_c27
Building lights go in before scenery street lights after then carefully tidy up.
Signals are best made easy to remove as work progresses as these are usually tied into train operations the signals are not finally fixed and scenic treatment of the base done until the risk of breakage because of works is over.
The big secret to knowing what wire goes where and is what colour is to use a std colour code which you have written down IE red black positive and negative for polarity constant situations
points ( switches) black common return yellow with brown reverse brown normal track feed up main blue with white and white with blue. down main purple with grey and grey with purple
signals green with red red with green and if required yellow with green black common return
Having done that number your switches only odd numbers and put wire markers with that No on them number your signals only even numbers only mark wires No the electrical switches that operate the item the same.
And Most important draw a wiring diagram as you go while the system is new no problem later problems including now where is the wire for that crossover.
Wiring is the single most neglected item that also causes the most problems because its hidden out of sight so any old rubbish will do even mixed up colours through the same cct instead of taking the extra effort to do a tidy well and logically marked job that can be easily sorted down the track when trouble strikes
Iceman_c27 wrote: tstage wrote: I'm still working through this. Since I want to have individual control of my lighting (especially my interior), I have quite a number of wires running from my lights scattered acroos my layout to my Atlas controller switches. I need to come up with a way of routing them so that they are easily tracable, use up less wire, but still have independent control. Tom I actually tried the same thing for my current layout where I have individual switches for say industrial lights, street lights, residential and then signals. I even colour code the wires for easy trouble shooting later and I also got one of those DC R/C power supply an goes to a PD block and goes to individual switches. But I tell ya, it's still a nightmare because I light every structure on top of street lights and what not and I still have lights I haven't used yet. Way too many wires and under the layout just a maze of wires and if I don't look at it for 2 weeks, I seriously don't what is what anymore. I think I now just by pass all the switches and just use the main on the power supply.So I don't want to do that on my second layout anymore. Initially I even solder every joint but at the end, I just twist and use a heat shrink tube. BTW, I rant surface wires to the edge and then route to PD blocks and then njust try to hide wires later. That didn't work out too well because too many wires to hide everywhere and some have to go across the entire layout hence I was wondering if drill holes would be easier. But then that introduced another factor to consider, I am using WS 2" risers this time and then a nother layr of foam base underneath that, that's a lot of space to drill! I think I am already going to give up on lighting building interiors, too many and too much trouble, but signals and exterior lights still essential of a realistic layout so...And that brings to another wuestion! If you do all the pre-wiring first which means the lights have to be installed before the scenic is finished, would that cause any problem? As far as I know, if I want lights, that would be the chronological order of doing the layout, am I right?
This is why I stuck with 3 buses and used 18 gauge thermostat wire in a common sheath. I then tie to 6 conductor terminal strips located about every 4-6 feet. It keeps the wiring manageable.
I generally do buildings with lights first, then scenery. For street and yard lights, I generally do the streets and yard first, then the lights and then any final scenery elements (i.e. trees, paint touch ups etc..)
I just checked out your photos. WOW! I am WAY impressed!
I have lots of questions to ask you but I'll start with just two.
Where in the world were the pictures of the trail on the side of the sheer canyon (file011MA14090568-0042, etc.) taken? And I thought the Highline on the Durango & Silverton was impressive!
Your pine trees look fantastic. They are some of the best I've seen. Did you make those? If so, is there a tutorial someplace that you can direct me to?
Regards
Greg
One thing not mentioned, regardless of the power supply or the voltage of your bulbs, is to run voltages less that that of the bulbs. A 12 volt bulb on a 12 V power supply probably won't be light to max output on a variable source. If the voltage was limited to say 10V max for the 12V bulb these bulbs in your structures will last many years.
Some intricate buildings w/ light baffles may have multiple bulbs, changing them once completed can be a pain.
Many use old DC powerpacks for lighting, If the pack was ever turned up to the max 14-16V, all those 12V bulbs will look like flash bulbs for a few seconds. Mount some sort of stop on the power pack to limit the voltage accordingly.
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org
bogp40 wrote: One thing not mentioned, regardless of the power supply or the voltage of your bulbs, is to run voltages less that that of the bulbs. A 12 volt bulb on a 12 V power supply probably won't be light to max output on a variable source. If the voltage was limited to say 10V max for the 12V bulb these bulbs in your structures will last many years.Some intricate buildings w/ light baffles may have multiple bulbs, changing them once completed can be a pain.Many use old DC powerpacks for lighting, If the pack was ever turned up to the max 14-16V, all those 12V bulbs will look like flash bulbs for a few seconds. Mount some sort of stop on the power pack to limit the voltage accordingly.
I use the Minatrionics 16V 30ma bulbs. They claim a 15,000 hr life.