Dumb wiring question with a PM42


ICG/SOU

ICG/SOU

HO & O (3-rail) trainman
So, I ran all my busses (4 of them) and created 4 power districts. I got a PM42 and PS14 power supply, and found that the tabs on the PM42's connector aren't up to holding onto my soldered 14 gauge wire. I was thinking of adding a terminal block, so that I can take my 14 gauge busses and have them go down to 18 gauge (what my feeders are, so I don't have to buy more wire), but I didn't know if reducing the size of the wire would eliminate the benefits of a large bus to begin with.

Wiring diagram: track power (A&B) and ground from command station to terminal block via 14 gauge wire. From terminal block to PM42, 18 gauge wire. 4 track busses (14 gauge wire) to another terminal block, then 18 gauge wire from block to PM42. PS14 power supply directly into the PM42, since that wire is like 26 gauge or smaller.

So, is it ok to use the smaller diameter wire for the connection?

Thanks in advance.
 
ICG/SOU said:
So, I ran all my busses (4 of them) and created 4 power districts. I got a PM42 and PS14 power supply, and found that the tabs on the PM42's connector aren't up to holding onto my soldered 14 gauge wire. I was thinking of adding a terminal block, so that I can take my 14 gauge busses and have them go down to 18 gauge (what my feeders are, so I don't have to buy more wire), but I didn't know if reducing the size of the wire would eliminate the benefits of a large bus to begin with.

Wiring diagram: track power (A&B) and ground from command station to terminal block via 14 gauge wire. From terminal block to PM42, 18 gauge wire. 4 track busses (14 gauge wire) to another terminal block, then 18 gauge wire from block to PM42. PS14 power supply directly into the PM42, since that wire is like 26 gauge or smaller.

So, is it ok to use the smaller diameter wire for the connection?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

If four wires are connecting into two wires, there may be a bit of a bottleneck, so smaller wire may hurt a bit.
The maxim I use for this sort of thing is "If you're not sure, make it bigger."
 
You can go wrong with a small wire, but it's you can never go wrong if you use high-tension power lines :D
 
I got it (the PM42 and such) wired up today. It runs, and the PM42 does its job, so tomorrow I will put the whole mess in place, and label it.

18 gauge wire is probably the largest wire you'd want to use on the PM42.

What I did was wire Track A and B (14 gauge) from the command station, and used 3 suitcase connectors (I ran out of Positaps long ago), and had them go into the incoming terminal block. From there, I ran 18 gauge wire to the appropriate positions on the PM42. From the PM42 I ran 18 gauge wire to the outgoing terminal block, and they connected with the 4 14 gauge track buses. The ground is 14 gauge from the command station straight to the PM42.

Once everything is in position, I'll make a Loconet connection from the command station to the PM42. Then I'll get a dedicated power surge protector in place, and will be good to go.
 
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