Wiring basics Info needed

[NJ-Vince]

Hi guys,
I re did my layout from the 80's and am now finishing adding the lights to the structures and street lights. All of these are old school (no plug ins, or LEDs,) just regular sockets and lights. I didn't want a "new" lighting look. Wanted the older feel. But, since I haven't experimented much with wiring, can you direct me to a wiring basics site or info page? I want to make sure I know enough about which wires to use and the do's and don'ts of connecting everything to the transformer. Where can I go for basically "an Idiot's guide to wiring" without buying the $20 book.

thank you,
NJ-Vince

 

[wombat457]

NJ-Vince,

If you are only adding lights to your structures but want to retain an "old time" feel, I'd recommend that you go with the Model Power Self Adhesive lights. Wiring them up is very very easy - only 2 wires per light.

What I would suggest for the wiring is to run a Main Bus Wire (solely for the lights) using 14 - 18 gauge wire and connect the Light Wires to that. The Main Bus Wire will connect to your or DC power supply using the accessories terminals or "non-track" terminals on the supply. This way, you have a dedicated wiring system for your lights and only 1 wire to connect to your power supply.

Lets say you have 6 lights you want to install. Connect your Bus Wire (14 - 18 gauge) to your Power Supply and the other end of that Bus to the "last Light" in the line. All you then have to do is connect the remaining light wires to that Bus and your set to go.

If my explanation is unclear, I can give you a diagram that will probably explain it much better if you like.

 

[Red Oak & Western]

I don't know any basic electrical/electronics web pages, but a google search of "low voltage wiring" should bring up some. But I'll try to help.

First, incandescent bulbs (old school lights) don't care if they're fed AC or DC. They DO care about voltage, and you need to know about current, so you need to know the bulbs ratings. If you don't remember them and the bulbs are not marked (ps: the terms lamp and bulb are generally used interchangeably), you'll need a multimeter to find out. With that information, you can determine the power requirements.

Next, you need to know that there are 2 basic wiring configurations: serial and parallel. Its the end of a long week, or I'd do up a couple of diagrams. If you need, I'll see if I can do them up this week end. In series, one wire from the first bulb goes to the second. Then the other wire from the second goes to the third and so on.

____|b|________|b|________|b|________|b|______

In parallel, each wire from each bulb goes to a "bus":
____________________________________________
| | | |
b b b b
| | | |
____________________________________________

For lots of reasons, you do not want to wire the bulbs in series!

Got to go, more info later.

 

[NJ-Vince]

Hi Tony and Kevin,
Thank you for responding to me. Let me just say that I am sorry for not being appropriately knowledgeable about wiring. I feel dumb.
I have the sockets on the layout and the 2 wires of each socket already hanging under the layout. My dad had made the set in the 80's and had the wires going to an on/off 3 bank circuit and all the circuits were powered by a transformer. Most of the lights went one at a time directly to the circuit. Only a few were tied together and then to the circuit. Does it matter for safety or light brightness if I chain several lights together and bring it to the on/off circuits? Or is one to one better? With HO wiring, does the different color wiring stand for different gauges? If so, can you tell me the code?
I figured I would try to tie some of the ones I am reusing back to its original spot unless the wiring needs to be replaced. But, I am adding lights and need to understand how not to overload a circuit.
Again, I thank you both for helping me.
vince

 

[santafewillie]

Like Tony and Kevin said, wiring them in parallel is easiest and the most optimal in my experience. Overloading the circuit would depend on how many lights you use. If you are using lights made for modeling such as those offered by Miniatronics, or the old "grain of wheat" bulbs, you should be able to easily and safely put a dozen on a circuit fed by accessory terminals on a power pack. Just be sure you don't exceed the voltage requirements of the bulbs. I use Miniatronics 16 volt bulbs on a 12 volt circuit powered by surplus power supplies that the computer folks at work gave me. They would be brighter on 16v but 12v is good enough for my purposes; they will last longer at reduced voltages. They will all turn off/on at the same time this way. To stagger, you would need separate circuits, but they could all come from the same power source through separate off/on switches.
Willie

 

[Red Oak & Western]

Let me just say that I am sorry for not being appropriately knowledgeable about wiring. I feel dumb.

Vince,

First, there is no reason to feel dumb! Can you assemble a jet engine? Can you bake a light and fluffy souffle? Until you have had the training/education to complete a task, there is no reason to know how to do it. We (people) do not inherit the ability to accomplish complex technical tasks, we have to learn how. I, and a number of others here on the forum, have years of experience (in my case its years and years and years: I started learning electronics when I was 10, started model railroading at 16; I'm 65 now). And we're here to help those who don't have that background.

So to answer your questions in no particular order --

With HO wiring, does the different color wiring stand for different gauges? If so, can you tell me the code?

Basically, no. With house wiring (110/220), the colors do mean something. Black is hot #1, red is hot #2, white is neutral, green and bare copper are ground. With low voltage DC, (low voltage being defined as less than 50 volts), typically, but not always, red is positive and black is negative. Typically, on wired incandescent lamps (bulbs: again, I will use those terms interchangeably, but, technically, a lamp is the complete device: bulb, socket, switch if present, wiring, holder, etc. and the bulb is the component that emits light), both leads (wires) will be black. It doesn't matter what color they are, since the bulb doesn't care! Incandescent bulbs don't care if they are fed AC or DC and if it's DC, they don't care which lead is positive and which lead is negative. It just doesn't matter. Which makes life simple for us.

Does it matter for safety or light brightness if I chain several lights together and bring it to the on/off circuits? Or is one to one better?

Here, the answer is YES, it definitely matters. First, a bit about bulb mechanics: every bulb is designed to operate at a specific combination of voltage and amperage. A typical small bulb like we would use would be rated 12V at 20mA. I'm just picking a typical value. There are bulbs that operate from 1.2V to 24V and use from 5mA to 1A. When bulbs are connected in series > _____B_____B_____B_____ < the voltage requirement goes up but the current stays the same. Those 3 bulbs (B's) would need 36V at 20mA. When connected in parallel
>_______________ <
>.....|.....|.....|..... <
>.....B....B....B..... <
>.....|.....|.....|..... <
>_______________ < the 3 bulbs would require 12V, but 60mA. {ignore the dots ..., they're there as placeholders}

So in the first example (series), if you supplied 12V, the bulbs would be very dim. In the second example (parallel), you could connect more bulbs together that your power supply/wire could handle. That becomes a safety issue - "using" electricity generates heat. Too much current through too small a conductor (wire) could melt the wire and start a fire. Or, a poor quality power supply could overheat and start a fire. But a good quality power supply will have "over current protection" and just shut itself off. From a practical standpoint, it would take a lot of bulbs to overload the power supply - somewhere around 70 to 80. So the best thing to do here is run as many bulbs together as makes sense to you - 1 or 2 buildings, this whole block (as in street), all the street lights, etc.

Here I wish I was familiar with a sketching program, sometimes a picture IS worth a thousand words. It doesn't matter if you run the wires from bulb A to bulb B then the wires from bulb B to bulb C and so on until you reach the power supply OR you run the wires from bulb A to the transformer then from bulb A to the transformer then from bulb B to the transformer then from bulb C to the transformer. Electrically, its the same.

Do you understand the difference between AC (Alternating Current) and DC (Direct Current)? How about Voltage and Amperage? Electrics/electronics has lots of jargon (technical terms). Just to understand where you are in this whole process so I don't end up talking over your head.

 

[wombat457]

The other guys are way more knowledgeable than I am when it comes to "power, voltage etc" so take their advice.

If you do want to control each light individually then your wiring is going to be a little different to that which has been described as each light will need to be wired separately. What I am using to achieve that for my lighting is as follows:

1. DC Power Supply/Controller
2. Terminal Block (6/12/24 sized depending on how much wiring you have)
3. Micro Toggle Switches

How to wire this up:

Run your positive and negative/ground wires from the DC Power Supply/Controller to the Terminal Block Main Contacts.
You will then need to run your "negative/ground" wires from "each light" to one of the Negative/Ground Terminals on the Terminal Block
Next, run your Positive Wire (from the Light) to one of the terminals on the Toggle Switch
Finally, run a second Power Wire from the other terminal on the Toggle Switch to a Positive Terminal on the Terminal Block

This will allow you to have power to your lights BUT allow you to turn them on and off individually.

For "common lights" that come on together, such as street lights, I run a "Main Bus Wire" from the last street light on the layout to one of the negative and positive terminals on the Terminal Block then splice the other lights into that Bus Wire.

In my opinion, when doing a lot of "accessory wiring" on a layout - Terminal Blocks are invaluable.

 

[Red Oak & Western]

This is what Tony is talking about -

They come is many sizes and styles. They are a great wiring aid. You can get jumpers for them so you can have 1 input and many outputs:

And the small switches to turn the lamps on and off:

For the switches, a basic SPST (Single Pole Single Throw) will do for on and off. You only need to open 1 of the wires in the circuit to stop the flow of current. The switch shown above is single pole double throw. The center contact is the common contact, the outer contacts flip on and off as the handle is toggled. If we number the contacts in the picture 1, 2, and 3, the center would be #2. When the handle is "up" (the opposite direction from the photo) contacts 1 and 2 would be open (off) and contacts 2 and 3 would be closed (on). Flip the handle in the other direction and contacts 1 and 2 would be closed (on) and contacts 2 and 3 would be open (off).

 

[wombat457]

Kevin,

Thanks for posting that stuff, I should have added pictures as well for clarity.

 

[Red Oak & Western]

Tony -

It's just the teacher in me coming out. I love sharing knowledge and watching the smiles as <insert task here> actually works. Don't you still get a little thrill when you put in a new set of lights, flip the switch, and they actually come on?

 

[wombat457]

Tony -

It's just the teacher in me coming out. I love sharing knowledge and watching the smiles as <insert task here> actually works. Don't you still get a little thrill when you put in a new set of lights, flip the switch, and they actually come on?

Do I still get excited when something I have done with electrics works? - normally I am bloody amazed

 

[Iron Horseman]

Does it matter for safety or light brightness if I chain several lights together and bring it to the on/off circuits? Or is one to one better?

As Kevin said, yes it does matter. However you can mix and match to give the brightness desired. When I was playing with old light bulb street lamps, for the power supply I had (the acc output of an old MRC pack), hooking them in parallel made them too bright. Hooking them in series they were too dim. So I did both. I hooked two in series and each of those sets I hooked in parallel to the power.

Using Kevin's scheme....

>_____________________________________ <
>.....|.....|.....|..... <
>.....B.....B.....B..... <
>.....|.....|.....|..... <
>.....B.....B.....B..... <
>.....|.....|.....|..... <
>_______________________________________ <

In my case the bulbs and power was 18V. So with this scheme each bulb only gets 9V. Having said that, these days power supplies are so cheap one could easily pick up a 9V supply (I frequent the thrift stores) to use with Kevin's original all parallel scheme and achieve the same result.

Light bulbs don't really "need" their rated voltage or current. That is just the max they can take to produce the max illumination, before they burn out. Bulbs do just fine if they are depraved of their max power. They will just be dimmer, and by the way last much much longer. I never ran bulbs at their rated voltage, always under by about 10%, because I hate changing burnt out bulbs.

 

[jfb]

this is with the idea of this thread. stay away from suitcase connectors as much as possible. I do auto work also and have seen these connectors go bad for whatever reason and they were also top shelf quality. the power strips can be bought with a live board or a one hook up of power that is distributed evenly or so thought but hard to find at hardware stores.