Hawkesburytrain
Well-Known Member
I know this as been answered very often, but the more searches and reading I do about it the more confuse I get. So why not ask the right people.
I had 14 gauge hard wire which was very hard to maneuver and read I was better off with stranded 14 gauge. So I bought it and find it very thick, though very flexible. As for the feeders, I had 18 gauge hard wire which is hard to handle when soldering to the tracks, so I bought 22 gauge stranded which is easy to use.
I know length plays a role in deciding gauge size, so here's an explanation of my layout. The layout will be divided into 4 power districts of 50' of double main line and 3-4 industries with spurs (hope it's the right terminology). I thought of putting the power box in the middle so to have 2 lengths of 25'. The power will only be used for the tracks as everything else such as lights and tortoises will be on another buss. The feeders will be on every track and will be no longer than 18"
I need to know the gauge size for both feeders and buss and should they be hard wire or stranded wire? Can I keep both the 14 gauge stranded and the 22 gauge stranded or should I dump it?
Might as well ask right away, for the buss line for all other electrical gadgets, I was going to do the same thing in having 4 sections for powering them. Therefore each section would have about 20 tortoises and about 20 LED lights for buildings. Is this ok and what gauge should that buss line be and stranded or not?
Much appreciated everyone.
I had 14 gauge hard wire which was very hard to maneuver and read I was better off with stranded 14 gauge. So I bought it and find it very thick, though very flexible. As for the feeders, I had 18 gauge hard wire which is hard to handle when soldering to the tracks, so I bought 22 gauge stranded which is easy to use.
I know length plays a role in deciding gauge size, so here's an explanation of my layout. The layout will be divided into 4 power districts of 50' of double main line and 3-4 industries with spurs (hope it's the right terminology). I thought of putting the power box in the middle so to have 2 lengths of 25'. The power will only be used for the tracks as everything else such as lights and tortoises will be on another buss. The feeders will be on every track and will be no longer than 18"
I need to know the gauge size for both feeders and buss and should they be hard wire or stranded wire? Can I keep both the 14 gauge stranded and the 22 gauge stranded or should I dump it?
Might as well ask right away, for the buss line for all other electrical gadgets, I was going to do the same thing in having 4 sections for powering them. Therefore each section would have about 20 tortoises and about 20 LED lights for buildings. Is this ok and what gauge should that buss line be and stranded or not?
Much appreciated everyone.