I am ready to install the power buss for the layout, but have a quick question. Does the power buss need to follow the track, or can you put one buss down the middle of the layout and the run the feeders from the single buss. I know that by using only one buss and not following the track, this will lengthen my feeders. I didnt know if this would give any kind of power loss or not. the following picture is a rough diagram of the bench and track. It is not to scale or complete. I didnt add but a couple of sidings. just a rough sketch. Since this is my first layout, I want to get it right. I am going dcc also. thanks for any help or advice.
I assume you are talking DCC. I have four power busses, one for each booster, on three levels and the power busses do not necessarily parallel the track. I do however keep the length of the feeders to two foot and under. My layout has been wired since 2000 when I installed NCE and I have never had any problems with it.
What you have drawn will work fine, DCC or DC. It is almost exactly how I did mine. Make sure your feeders are color coded and I recommend 16 guage bus wire and 20 or 22 guage feeders (maybe 14 and 18 if you are HO). I went stranded wire and used positaps (www.positap.com). Suitcase connectors like Home Depot has also work. Color code everything and have someone show you how to solder track and feeders. You have to use flux and it is just a quick swipe with the iron, not a big heat. If you are melting ties, you are doing it wrong.
What size wire do you plan on using for the bus and for feeders? And what are the distances involved? You shouldn’t have any problems running the bus like that, unless the center section is huge or you are using telephone wire for the feeders. Most of the track looks fairly close to the bus.
Also, if you plan to have future signalling, you can tap off the bus and make sub-buses at various spots for each detection section, which will further shorten the feeders.
What you have drawn will work fine. As mentioned, use color coded wire. It would be real EZ to cross your wires the way you’ve drawn it. I used 12 gauge for my buss and 20 gauge for the feeders. Try and keep your feeders under 3’. There’s a good thread on the layout section about some new wire connectors for buss systems.
thanks, thats what I needed to know. I am using 14 gauge for the buss, and 18 or 20 for the feeders. The widest part of the bench is only 44 inches, so the longest feedet wire would only be around 20 or 24 inches. the main thing I am trying to avoid is a lot of wiring, so that if problems do arise, it will be easier to trouble shoot. I do plan on labeling all the wires as I go to help so I dont forget what the are later. again thanks for the advice. medic
It’s a bit late now that you have acknowledged the contributions of others, but I agree with those who say that your longer centralized “spinal chord” bus is the way to go. I would use wire near 14 gauge, personally, but your 16 is likely to suffice…depends on the overall length. Feeders should be kept to under 24" ideally, but I have several that exceed that by nearly a foot. Also, don’t be afraid to take even more feeders from other feeders if your length won’t exceed about 12". I did that in a couple of places rather than run 3’ feeders back to the bus. This was for short sections of track, such as the bay tracks in a roundhouse. Works marvelously.
To help you keep oriented with which colour wire goes to which rail, adopt a walll vs. operating front orientation at all points on the layout. Assuming you have any reversing sections well in hand, all other tracks should get wired as if they were laid in a series beside one master track…parallel, in other words. In that case, you should understand that one rail on each section gets the one colour, and the other side in each case gets the second. So, no matter where you are on your layout, try to use the same pattern of orientation and you will not make any mistakes.
I prefer stranded wire for the buss. I used stranded for my feeders too, in which case you have to twist the wires together and “tin” them to make them “one” wire before you solder to the track. Solid is probably easier for feeders. Both work. Anyway, you will have a solid vs stranded decision to make. I think Positaps like stranded better, not sure about suitcase.
[#ditto] I use a 10-12 GA bus and 20-22 GA feeders. Highly recommend <36 (or even <24) inch feeders. And no, you don’t need to follow the track… where I have 2 tracks, I sometimes go in the middle so I can supply both!
