Wired rail joiners... block info and how many do I need??

[mdmeyers1982]

Planning my wiring for my 10x10 room (around the wall setup)....

I was wondering if those rail joiners that had the wires atatched are any good? I would prefer to use them over soldering my own line to the track if possible

also.... with a "block" does it work like this:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Dynamis---> 14ga wire------> Block{8  8  8  8 8}
                                                         l   l   l    l  l
                                                         l   l   l    l  l
                                 (*track joiners in different areas of layout*)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

??  sorry for the odd... uh... "diagram"   I hope it makes sense...

and any idea's on a good site to pick up these blocks?

EDIT:   Also... how long can the wire be from the Dynamis to the block, and from the block to the track? I know resistance will come into the equation after a while...

[Doneldon]

mdm-

Yes, those rail joiners with wires attached are good products. They save time soldering your wires directly to the track and they save a whole lot of money compared to terminal tracks. But there are a couple of things you can do to make them operate their best: First, don't loosen their grip; you want as much squeeze as possible. Second, use a tiny dab of conductive grease in each end of the joiner so the small contact area between the rail and joiner are sealed against corrosion or oxidation which will degrade the effectiveness of the electrical contact over time. Will these two precautions mean your joints will be perfect conductors forever? No, but they'll maintain the integrity of the connections and forestall repairs as long as possible, at least several years.                                 
                                                                                                                                                                                                          -- D

[Len]

In my book, there's no such thing as too many power feeders.

And don't let anyone tell you blocks aren't needed with DCC! A friend of mine with a 1 car garage layout bought into that myth and didn't put in any blocks, except to set up seperate power districts for his yards. One day he was doing some scenary work and dropped a T-pin. He figured he would look for it later, and when he went to fire up the layout, his DCC system tripped out because of a dead short. Long story short, 3 days later we found the pin where it had bounced on to an "inside the building" warehouse track. He decided it might be a good idea to retrofit blocks for troubleshooting purposes.

Trust me, it's easier and cheaper to put the blocks in as you build the layout.

Len

[Len]

Like I said, my friends layout filled a one car garage and had track inside buildings, hidden staging tracks, etc. Not having a way to isolate sections of track with On/Off switches for trouble shooting purposes led to a major headache.

Are blocks needed on a smaller layout, maybe not if all the track is readily accessable. But it doesn't hurt to put them in.

Len