I want to use feeders to supply power equally to my layout. I’ve read that the use of a power block or power strip is a neat and orderly way to do it. Send your mainline power to the first 2 screws and the feed off there in pairs to the track from a middle point. So I went to RS to see if they have them. I know my local rail shop does but I was near the RS when I thought about it. So here’s what they have, an 8 connection Barrier Strip #274-670 and an 8 connector Jumper Strip #274-650 to bring the power from the first screw on down the line. But here’s where my inexperience gets me, the Barrier Strip’s paired screws are connected by a metal strip, if I connect my common to one side and my power to the opposit side wouldn’t the metal strip between them short the circuit? I understand the use of the Jumper Strip, avoiding wiring screw to screw on the same side but the other thing has me baffeled. Its probably simple but I just don’t know.
You need two of everything. One for the Rail A connection and one for the Rail B connection. Each pair of strips then allows you to attach 8 sets of feeder wires to the power bus. If you have palces that don’t need 8 connections, and liekly never will, you can go to palce sother than Radio Shack and get 2, 4, and 6 position barrier strips.
The barrier strips shown on Radio Shacks web site are what I just call terminal strips. I think they are the ones you are talking about. Each pair of terminal screws are internally connected in the barrier strip (from the left side to the right side). Usually they have a raised plastic ridge between the first pair of terminal screws and the next pair, etc. In an 8 pair terminal block, you have 16 terminal screws. A 4 pair terminal block has 8 terminal screws.
Let’s assume you want to bring your feeder wire into the first terminal screw on the left side.
If you only want to have one wire leave the terminal block to feed one section of track or block, then you would attach a wire to the matching terminal screw on the right side. Using this line of reasoning, one wire in on the left and one wire out on the right, will force you to bring one feeder in for every wire leaving. Obviously that defeats the purpose.
However, if you use terminal screw “connectors”, which are small “u” shaped flat pieces of metal to connect the first terminal screw (where you hooked your feeder wire) and the second teminal screw ON THE SAME LEFT SIDE then you have now effectively made the first and second terminal screw on the right side powered by only the wire connected to the first terminal screw on the left.
If you connect the “U” shaped connector to each terminal on the left side of an 8 terminal block, you only have to bring one feeder wire into the left side, and you now can route 8 wires out of the right side to whatever you want to, all of which will be powered by that one feeder wire. The 8 connector jumper that RadioShack is describing is in effect like having 8 “U” shaped connectors already made into one solid piece. And yes that makes every screw terminal on the left common to each other. Remember though that screws terminals on the right side are not connected to each other. (They are connected to the matching screw
Let me see if I got this right. I buy 2 Barrier strips and 2 Jumper strips. First I install the jumper strips to the barrier strips. Then I attach, let’s say my white (common) wire to the first screw one barrier strip A and then my black (hot) to the first screw on strip B. Then I can run 8 whites and 8 blacks from the opposite side of their respective strips to parts of the layout supplied by that connection. So then I don’t attach wires all 8 screws on both sides of the strip? The side with the jumper strip completes the connection down from the first screw on each strip.
I have seen them with fewer connections elsewhere. Do I have the concept?
Going with what you posted and looking at the diagram, I see only one wire coming off the transformer to the block (the feeder). Shouldn’t here be 2 for 3 rail? And if so wouldn’t you then need a second block? Is what I described above correct? Or am Istill missing something
Here is another way to accomplish the same thing using less terminal blocks if eight outgoing leads are more than you need.
Just remove one jumper in the middle.
If you use the “U” shaped connectors or just short jumper wires from screw to screw, you won’t need to buy the connecting strip. This gives you more flexibility for maximum use of your termnial blocks.
All Electronics Corp at www.allelectronics.com has a good selection of terminal strips with fewer than 8 positions. They also have some barrier strips with more that eight if you need them. Prices seem reasonable. I’ve bought from them for many years and both the quality and the service are good.
