Track feeds kato ho

[Bristolman2012]

Have my layout ( kinda ) figured out . If wiring guru could help it would be appreciated . The passing siding has the insulated uni joiners on all 8 legs ( turnouts ) as I am adding switch motors to them . The siding is powered . The outside track on rt side will have 2 single truss bridges with maybe spacing between them . I’m using kato in curves and then using all code 83 track for bridges and track till next kato curves .
Mike

 

[Rico]

DC or DCC might make a difference on feeders.
You may not need insulated joiners on all the siding rails.

 

[bnsf971]

A feeder set on each end in the center of each curve, a feeder set in the middle of each straight, and a feeder set in the middle of each siding would be more than enough.

 

[Bristolman2012]

Sorry dcc .

 

[Bristolman2012]

other question would be can you use smaller wire to power supply ( digitrax ) to 14awg buss wire ?
mike

 

[Rico]

If you mean drop feeder wires from the buss to the rails yes, I use bell wire for the short distance.

 

[Bristolman2012]

so 14 ga connect to digitrax to power buss ?
mike

 

[J.Albert]

Looking at the layout above, I'd just use the Kato electrical unijoiners (which is what I used, drilling holes through the table to keep the wires invisible).

I also used the Kato "extension cables" and "3 into 1" adapters when needed.

Thus everything comes down to one set of leads to attach to my dcc controller.

 

[Bristolman2012]

Appreciate the thought , I just don’t like the size of holes u have to drill in the table to get the connector through .
mike

 

[Bristolman2012]

I started making my own track feeders because not only size of the holes to feed them thru layout table plus the cost to power my layout ( 3 loops ) with those ? Already a little afraid to figure out what I’ve spent for track and all those other accessories .

 

[J.Albert]

Bristol wrote:
"Appreciate the thought , I just don’t like the size of holes u have to drill in the table to get the connector through"

You don't have to do that.

I got something called (I think) a small tamiya pin tool. With it, I pushed the pins out of the plastic shells. Now I could drill a smaller hole, run the wire through, and put the pins back into the plastic shell.

Works great. I would push the "bare" wires down to the holes, then run them through to get the UniJoiners where they needed to be.

I also did this (at the "UniJoiner end"):
1. I located the drilled hole about 2" away from the actual joint, to provide some "wiggle room".
2. I separated the blue and white wires for about 2" from the UniJoiner. Again, makes it easier if you have to break the joint apart.

Again, works fine.

 

[Bristolman2012]

B

Bristol wrote:
"Appreciate the thought , I just don’t like the size of holes u have to drill in the table to get the connector through"

You don't have to do that.

I got something called (I think) a small tamiya pin tool. With it, I pushed the pins out of the plastic shells. Now I could drill a smaller hole, run the wire through, and put the pins back into the plastic shell.

Works great. I would push the "bare" wires down to the holes, then run them through to get the UniJoiners where they needed to be.

I also did this (at the "UniJoiner end"):
1. I located the drilled hole about 2" away from the actual joint, to provide some "wiggle room".
2. I separated the blue and white wires for about 2" from the UniJoiner. Again, makes it easier if you have to break the joint apart.

Again, works fine.

believe or not i was just looking online for that , pretty pricey though . One guy took an ink pen apart and wiggled it around and pushed the pin out .

 

[Bristolman2012]

found old electronics tool , cant even remember where i got it . removed all of the white connector ends .i had added power switches to all of the manual turnouts so i can drill small hole . soldering skills suck but going to do dpdt momentary switches for tunouts . j albert do you have any crossover swiches in your layout ? my layout a triple loop so wont be able to do 2 inces away wiggle room . if i measured right i only have 3/4 of an inch between the kato tracks . thanks again for feedback ,i kept looking to resolve problem .

 

[J.Albert]

Here's the tool I use for popping the wires out of the plastic connectors:

Airsoft Tamiya Adapter Plug Pin Wire Removal Tool (Type: Small Tamiya)

Shop A Must have tool for Airsoft tech and custom works! Type: Small Tamiya. Male and female. Application: For RC Car, Airplane, Airsoft, and any other Tamiya application. Material: CNC Aluminum. Steel. Manufacture: Evike.com. OEM: Element / Matrix. Color: Red, Gold or Gray Functions /...

www.evike.com

By 2" wiggle room, I mean that I drill the hole for the Power UniJoiners about 2" from the actual location where the track joint is. I found that doing this gives more "room to maneuver" when working with the track. Works for me.