Wire for feeders


oplholik

oplholik

Member
Just a gripe here. I was out looking for 18 - 22 gauge stranded wire this morning, think I could find any? Nope. Used to be able to get this stuff at Radio Shack, but now all they sell are phones. WTH! As far as I know, there aren't any electronic shops near me. Guess I'm gonna have to go online for this also. Grrr.
 
Many hobby shops carry wire from Miniatronics (or direct from Miniatronics) or try a big box hardware store, they should have what you need.

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from Hobby Town

Greg
 
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Get doorbell wire at your local builder supply store. Or, thermostat wire...much the same thing. I get the four-wire bundle (each insulated in green, yellow, red, and black) in white plastic sheath that is only somewhat easily cut and stripped off.
 
Except doorbell and thermostat wire aren't stranded, not that in 99% of model railroad applications should that matter. Lowes, and probably Home Depot carry 18 ga stranded on spools.

Edit: And, thinking about it, solid is preferred for feeders, assuming "feeders" means the wire that transfers the power from the bus to the rail.
 
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Thanks for all the tips. The only reasons I was looking for stranded wire was that it always more flexible, easier to work with, and seemed to heat up and solder more easily.
 
Paul - I got lots of free wire when our company ripped out all of the computer wire and went wi-fi some years ago. I did have to split cables into six or eight individual wires that ranged from 22 to 24 gauge stranded silver wire. That opportunity might arise for you. Price was right.

Willie
 
oplholik said:
Just a gripe here. I was out looking for 18 - 22 gauge stranded wire this morning, think I could find any?
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Where all did you look? I'm pretty certain they carry it at both ACE and TrueValue hardware stores. One of the HarborFreight trailer electrical kits has a lot of small gauge stranded wire in it.
 
I went to Home Depot, lots of wire there, but didn't see anything there I was looking for. Also went to the local True Value and they didn't have much of anything.
 
I solder my feeders to the outside web of the rail, and I much prefer solid conductor wire for this. A little paint, weathering, and/or a carefully placed clump of foliage hides the soldered feeder pretty well.

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Because solid conductor wire holds its shape, you can easily form it to lay neatly in the web for soldering. Now if you are soldering to the bottom of the rail before laying the track, stranded wire might be a good choice.

- Jeff
 
jdetray said:
I solder my feeders to the outside web of the rail, and I much prefer solid conductor wire for this. A little paint, weathering, and/or a carefully placed clump of foliage hides the soldered feeder pretty well.
Because solid conductor wire holds its shape, you can easily form it to lay neatly in the web for soldering. Now if you are soldering to the bottom of the rail before laying the track, stranded wire might be a good choice.

- Jeff
Click to expand...

This is why I prefer solid wire. It's easier to shape and it will retain that shape.
 
I have a 40 watt soldering iron that I have been using for soldering the rail joints, but will probably need more than that for soldering the wire to the rails. I do have a Weller pistol type, but was never able to get it to solder worth a darn. Just never had any luck with it.
 
I'll experiment with my 40 watter and see if it does the job. The soldering station looks good, but I'd prefer to get it done with what I've got if possible. If I can't, then I'll get the station.
 
I use wire stripped out of ethernet cable for feeders, 24 gauge solid, for the reasons people have said, and being small, it's unobtrusive. You wouldn't want to run track power long distances over wire that small, but for a few inches you'll never notice any voltage drop. (0.025 ohms per foot, I looked it up.) I usually solder feeders to either the inside or the outside of the rail, whichever is less visible. Wire that size doesn't interfere with passing wheel flanges, if you do a neat job.

It's counter-intuitive, but I don't agree about soldering iron size. The problem with a small iron might be that you could sit there half the day trying to heat up a section of rail, while the whole area cooks. Whereas if you come in with plenty of power, you can get the job done quickly, before heat spreads very far. Sure, you can do some damage with a big iron. It's important to know how to avoid that!
 
John brings up a good point. Soldering, like many others aspects of model railroading, is a skill that needs to be mastered. For some it can come very rapidly, but for others, it may take some time. It is worthwhile to take a scrap of track, 6 inches will do, and practice soldering feeders onto the rails. Keep going until you can consistently produce a good joint without blobs of solder or melting the ties. A couple of hints: clean the rail with alcohol, tin the feeder, and use flux; don't rely solely on the flux in the core of the solder. And when it comes to the solder, thinner is better.
 
Paul,
Lots of options for "feeder wire" and options that are available in almost any Auto type store like Advanced etc or places like Lowes for example.

Most Auto type stores carry 18 gauge wire and places like Lowes carry CAT 5 wire which can be broken down into single wires for feeders and is a cheap way to go. I think my local Lowes sells 100' of CAT 5 for around $30 giving you a total of 500' of feeder wire.

I'd stay away from hobby shops for the sole reason of the price they tend to want, especially as other places can give you what you are after.

In so far as soldering goes, I agree with what said above. A small, low powered (temp) soldering iron can cause more damage to your track due to the time it takes to heat the "actual area" required to be heated. My iron is set to 750 degrees and solders almost instantaneously with very little heat transfer due t the iron being on what is being soldered for such a very short period of time. Whether it has been by luck or what I don't know but I have soldered CAT 5 solid wire (feeders) to the sides of my N Scale track and haven't had a tie damaged - so far. As said, I might have just been lucky.

My advice is to spend some dollars on a good soldering system, one with adjustable temperature control. If you do, you will find that soldering will become easy or easier and you'll have less potential track damage. I have a Hakko FX888D system and now can't understand why I persevered with the cheap Lowes varieties for so long.
 
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In that small gauge I don't think You have to be concerned about flexibility,....and solid wire in this size is more neatly soldered to the rail
 
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