I am working on wiring my layout now (finally have the track secured).
What would people recommend as a proper gauge wire to use for the three control wires that run from the switch levers to the switch motors of O22 switches? The wires that come with the switch wires are pretty thin.
The O22 switches are being powered by constant voltage plugs using 14 gauge wire.
I am not against using 14 gauge wire for the control wires to the switch motor if it is needed, but since the wires that come with the switch levers are not 14 gauge I don’t want to drill larger holes in the table, and pay extra, for thicker wire if 20 gauge wire is perfectly adequate to use as extension for these control wires.
The turnouts’ coil resistances are probably in the vicinity of 10 ohms resistance, which limits the current to about 2 amperes even using DC at 20 volts. Even so, the 022 shuts off the coil almost immediately when the turnout throws. So quite a small wire would be safe. I use 18 or 20 AWG, which are good for 7 and 5 amperes, respectively, which is somewhat of an overkill.
i use speaker wire or telephone wire to run the power and controls on my switches. This gives you multiple conductors each with its own colored insulation in one insulated wire. easy to pull, less of a mess under the table. available everywhere and relatively cheap. it is 18g.
You can also run two conductor cable off the two outside conductors of the controller to the two outside posts of the switches. The the center conductor comming off the controller would go to the same common conductor going to the outside rails of the track. The center post on the switch machine would be left blank as it is married to the outside rails of the track. 20 gauge speaker wire would work fine.