Hooking up a BUS

[Mike Nowakowski]

I was wondering if it would be best to have two places where my Bachmann E-Z command DCC System hooks up to my bus. I have a 40FT long bus so if i connected it to two places there would be mimimal loss of electrictiy in my line. So should i hook my DCC system to two places on the bus to mimimize electrical loss.

 

[hamltnblue]

Yes. Actually you should have more than 2. At a minimum try 4. Some suggest every 6 feet and some go even more. Over time the rail joiners will conduct less and you will start having dead spots. Also a short in the track may not be detected and can cause equipment damage. The more feeder points, the less you will have these problems.

 

[hamltnblue]

Here's a pic of my bus.
It's just 2 strands of #8 copper wire that runs around the outside a few inches apart. As I add feeders I just solder them on.

 

[Mike Nowakowski]

i Know about the feeders but, should i have more than one place i hook up my DCC system to the bus wires

 

[Mike Nowakowski]

I am using a 12gauge bus, anybody know if i should have more than one place to hook up my DCC system to the bus its 40ft long bus.

 

[Selector]

i Know about the feeders but, should i have more than one place i hook up my DCC system to the bus wires

Possibly, but in the DCC world, it doesn't mean hooking up the lone DCC controller to the bus in multiple places. What we do is get another booster that adds voltage and re-broadcasts the imprinted DCC signal.

Look at it this way. If you have a good sized bus wire, say 14 gauge or heavier, and don't run it more than 60' with feeders here and there tapping into it, you should be fine. Once you get out past 60 feet, give or take, you would have to add a booster. And that means you begin to break your layout into chunks called 'districts' or 'power districts' that get served only by the booster...not by the bus!

Your goal is to keep the voltage as high as possible along your track system because your system needs sufficient voltage to run a clean signal and detect when that signal gets compromised...when you get a short somewhere. Effectively, you don't want more than about a 1/2 volt drop before you would cut in a power district and feed it by a booster.

-Crandell

 

[hamltnblue]

i Know about the feeders but, should i have more than one place i hook up my DCC system to the bus wires

Your DCC system only has to hook up at 1 place, the bus. You could also run individual strands to each location and tie them together. Just gets a little messier. Remember, the larger the conductors for the bus runs the better. 12 gauge is usually fine for most layout sizes.

 

[Mike Nowakowski]

Thanks for all the help