Track Feeders

[jonathan]

I am making some changes/additions to my layout.

Presently working on a little tracklaying and I'm experimenting with making my own track feeders, like the kind you see in hobby stores, that cost too much.

Anyway, I took some wire out of some old ethernet cable, or a mouse, some other source of trashed wire.  Then I soldered them to the bottom of standard rail joiners.  Like this:





Will this be a reliable distribution of current?  I plan on using them every 3 feet or so.  Seems like a little overkill, but it was so inexpensive, I figure better more than less.

Plan on using recycled wire for the bus feed as well.

Regards,

Jonathan

[pdlethbridge]

I use the same wire but for the switch machines. A heavier wire should be used for the buss but that wire you have should be okay for a 2 amp max system.

[NelsOn-30]

Caution: Mouse wire can be unsuitable as the primary design concerns is flexability and minuscule current is involved so the wires may be undersized for this application.

[Nigel]

As long as you keep those small wire short, say 20" of less to you buss wire; and you have them every three feet; you'll have no problems, even with 5A.

[richg]

I would try to stay with #22 wire and no smaller than #24 wire for a 2 amp system. I suspect mouse wire is a little smaller than #24.

I have some Leviton TelCom Ethernet cable from wiring my house for a Network and it is #24 AWG.

Rich

[Doneldon]

Jonathon- Your rail-joiner-feeder hybrids should be just fine as long as you keep them very short.  You can use double wires if what you have is very tiny but the wires in your pics look okay.  I suggest that you use a consistent color scheme so you don't wind up with a short circuit.  The only problem I have ever found with my homemade rail joiner feeders is that it can be really tough to remove the factory-installed joiners from some kinds of track so I generally have to solder the feeder to those joiners while they are on the track section.

[Jim Banner]

One suggestion would be to attach the feeder wires lengthwise rather than crosswise on the joiners.  Then you drop them straight down through holes under the rails and they become invisible.

Personally, I am old school.  I generally solder feeders to the top of the rail foot on the side away from the viewer.  This puts half my feeders between the rails, but since I use code 100 rail and use #24 feeders, they are below the flanges on all my cars, even the old ones I need code 100 to be able to run.  The feeders are still hidden from casual view, but easy enough to find when I need to.

Jim

[pdlethbridge]

The apparent consensus is that smaller wire like 24 ga. is okay if kept short

[jonathan]

I appreciate the great input.  Thanks a million!

I misspoke when I mentioned mouse wire.  I use that for lighting and wiring inside a locomotive, where size and flexibility are important.  The feeder wires are ethernet wire (probably 20-22 gage), cut in 24" lengths (much thicker and stiffer).  The wire will be cut even shorter when soldered to the bus wire.  I used the long length so I could wrap the wire around to the top of the layout, when soldering to the bus wire.  Then I can tuck it all back under the layout when complete.  I drilled through my 1"X3" spanners in the benchwork to thread the bus wire.

Color scheme:  I'm using the white wire for one side, and orange wire for the other side.

The bus wires will be white on one side and blue on the other.  Should help me keep from making any wiring blunders.

I like the lengthwise solder idea.  Wish I had thought of that.  Still I should be able to hide the wires well enough when I ballast.  Jim, I considered soldering directly to the rails (old School), but I've got too many thumbs when it comes to soldering, and I was afraid I would melt the ties if I attempted that.

The new section of layout will have its own power pack, as I intend for it to be a point-to-point area, transporting coal from a mining area to the mainline.  I intend to have a small turntable to turn small engines around to head back to the mine, after they deliver their cut of hoppers.  There will also be a 3% grade from the mainline to the coal mine.  Not thrilled with the grade, but it's all I had room for.

Thanks, again.

Regards,

Jonathan

p.s. WGL, saw your comments in my album.  Thanks.  Camera is set on automode.  Wouldn't know how to adjust anyway.