How is one supposed to spice the Rail A Zone Common (Heavy Wire) comming from a Digitrax booster i.e (DB150) into a BDL168 as mentioned in the Digitrax BDL168 manual on page 6 Figure 1.
If you are asking an electrical question, the diagram in the Digitrax instructions is pretty clear. If you are referring to the fact that the bus wire is probably too big to fit, use a terminal strip close to the BDL168 and run smaller wire between the terminal strip and the 44 pin connector for the BDL168. The fact that the wire is lighter will not be a problem if you keep it short.
Same as with a PM42 - short lengths of smaller wire, #18 is about the biggest you will ever fit to those solder tails, #20 would be a ton easier, to a terminal strip, and then attach the heavier wire to the other side of the terminal strip.
Or use one of these breakout boards (not cheap_: http://www.lwh3.com/products.htm
For 4 different power zones feeding the BDL168 you’d need the multiple input version.
Or you could make one of these yourself, suitable edge connectors with solder pins instead of the tails are available on eBay for about #2.50, plus a small piece of perf board and a supply of those screw terminals, that would then use very short runs of about #20 wire fromt he pins of the edge connector to the appropriate screw terminal, and you can go from there. Might be about $10 in parts plus time to assemble it all, vs the premade ones.
–Randy
I highly recommend the Acculites breakout boards for use with Digitrax components. They save time and eliminate the need for soldering and terminal strips.
You can find them here: http://acculites.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=40_77
Cheers
Nige’
I have to agree. After previously installing and setting up quite a few BDL-168’s and SE8C’s, I wish they had been available to me then. But I am using them now.
Thanks you all for your informative effort. I already have the breakout boards for the PM42 and BDL168.