Buss and feeder question


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.
 
Hawke,

For my HO I always used 14 gauge stranded for the bus and 18 gauge for the feeders, both stranded, and had no issues with it at all other than my own soldering etc.

For my N Scale, I use 14 gauge stranded and what I think is telephone line wire stripped down to individual wires of about 20 gauge solid, I think it is, and that worked without an issue as well. I'll post a picture of the telephone wire (if that is what it is) so you can see it if you like.
As for my lighting, I use nothing larger than 18 gauge stranded and prefer 20 gauge stranded for connecting the lights to the bus which is 14 gauge, same as for the track power bus.

There are differences between the solid and stranded wire although I can't recall what that is. I prefer the stranded because it is easier to splice together. That being said, I like the solid wire as well as that (for me) is much easier and controllable when soldering it to the rails.

So, in a nutshell -

14 gauge stranded for your bus wires (track and accessories)
20 gauge solid for your track power feeders
20 gauge stranded for your lighting and accessories
 
Electrically, at DC, there is no difference between solid and stranded. The differences come into play when determining what type of connectors are used. If soldering, again, it doesn't make a difference.

As to the size, it really doesn't matter how may switch machines total since you won't be operating them all at the same time. Maybe two or three for routing purposes. the number of LEDs mostly doesn't matter, since they draw so little current (between 10 and 20mA, depending on size and color). You can use the 22 gauge feeders with no problem, you'll just need to place them more frequently - which itself is a hot topic widely debated.
 
Here's an interesting page about solid and stranded wires http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/wire-gauges-d_419.html I was told many years ago that stranded wire would carry more current than the same gage solid single strand. But from the same page, an interesting statement about the actual thickness of the wire/s, even though they are given the same gage #. The AWG table below is for a single, solid, round conductor. Because of
the small gaps between the strands in a stranded wire, a stranded wire
with the same current-carrying capacity and electrical resistance as a
solid wire, always have a slightly larger overall diameter.

The main reason it seems for using stranded over solid wiring is where flexibility is required or desirable. An interesting and important note I saw elsewhere though is regarding surface nicks/cuts to particularly solid wire when stripping insulation, is that it/they reduce the current carrying capacity of the wire. So always use an accurately sized wire stripper.
 
Thanks Tony, Kevin and Toot

I'm surprised that there's only three answers to my question out of 153 views.
Does that mean that there's 150 people who don't know how to wire their tracks....lol
 
Maybe those three answers were all that was needed!
Willie

We don't need a bunch of posts all giving him the same advice. In the absence of contrary advice, I would guess, as you do, that three with the same advice is rather confirmatory.

Maybe he's hoping there'll be a dissenter.
 
Thanks Tony, Kevin and Toot

I'm surprised that there's only three answers to my question out of 153 views.
Does that mean that there's 150 people who don't know how to wire their tracks....lol

Be glad there wasn't an argument with 153 different viewpoints!

I would say you are getting good advice above!
 
Maybe he's hoping there'll be a dissenter.

NOPE, just found it weird that reading and viewing so many different opinions which got me confused, that here in this forum there was no difference of opinion.

Glad everybody agrees with Tony, this makes it so easy.
 
Just so long as you agree that a Buss and multiple feeders is the way to go. Overkill, i.e. more feeders than you think are needed is better than not enough. Putting in more during the construction stage, while time consuming and boring, is a lot better than trying to get them in when the track has a dead spot after all is ballasted and scenicked. As you have mentioned the use of Tortoise machines, consider using turnouts with powered frogs, e.g. Peco Electrofrog, as the frog can be powered via the Tortoises' included contacts that automatically change polarity to suit the point's direction. Another potential dead spot eliminated.

Another tip: when using stranded wire for your feeders. After stripping the end that you're going to attach to the track, tin it with solder, then you can bend it to whatever angle is needed to fit to the track i.e. it will then be just like solid wire.
 
I agree with Toot'n here, especially where he say's the more feeders the better and to tin the wire (stranded or solid) before soldering the wire to the rails or anything really. Using flux makes life a little easier as well but not too much. As an indicator for you, I have one feeder per full length of flex track where possible.
 
I have read that solid wire is recommended for the buss on DCC systems, but I don't know why. I use 18g feeders and 14g buss wire. Every section of track should have a feeder, be it a full length of flextrack or a 9" piece. I also would recommend suitcase connectors over trying to solder to the buss.
 
For feeders, I definitely prefer solid conductor wire. It can be easily bent into a shape that will lay neatly in the web of the rail for easy soldering. It stays where you put it, unlike stranded wire which I find requires a means of holding it in place while you solder even after you tin and bend the exposed conductor.

Maybe it's just me!

- Jeff
 
For feeders, I definitely prefer solid conductor wire. It can be easily bent into a shape that will lay neatly in the web of the rail for easy soldering. It stays where you put it, unlike stranded wire which I find requires a means of holding it in place while you solder even after you tin and bend the exposed conductor.

Maybe it's just me!

- Jeff

Jeff,

Nope, not just you. The reasons you mention are exactly why I used solid for my feeders on the n scale shed layout - easier to control and solder.
 



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