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Feeder Wire Gauge Recommendations Track and electrical/DCC
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Active Member 82 posts Grampy Active Member 82 posts
Grampy

I have 12 gauge wire as my bus, and something like 24 gauge for my feeders.....I bought them from a hobby store.....rail joiners with wires soldered on to them.  Would I be better off with a higher gauge for my feeders......would that make my trains go any faster (they seem to go slow even with the throttle all the way up).  My layout is 12x15x12x15 with a duck-under and I have 8 feeders spaced about 5 feet apart.  Thanks for any suggestions......!
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LKandO Prolific poster 3,839 posts
LKandO

This May Help You

Quote:

I find 20 AWG solid makes great feeders stripped from thermostat wire cables for HO.  It tucks nicely along the outside of the rail. If you attach a wire to every 3' (1m) section of track, you can use wire as small as 24 AWG. Here are my suggestions. There are no hard and fast rules about the wire size you should use. Try to keep your feeders to about 6" in length or less — especially if you are using the smaller sizes of wires I suggest for your scale. When using the larger sizes suggested for your scale, try to keep your feeders to about 12" in length or less.

From Allan Cartner's Wiring for DCC

Alan

All the details:  http://www.LKOrailroad.com        Just the highlights:  MRH blog

When I was a kid... no wait, I still do that. HO, 28x32, double deck, 1969, RailPro
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Terry Roberts Regular poster 345 posts
Terry Roberts

feeder wire size

The wire sizes are okay,but keep these small wire size lengths short to minimize resistance.

I use a small wire size to run between the long feeder and the rail.  I use #14 for long feeders and bus wire because it was what I had available and #20 to # 24 for the last 4 inch connection to the rail.  This last 4 inches of wire has a resistance of less than 8 milliohms and can be tucked into the non visual side of the rail hiding the connections to the track.  #24 will fit into the web of code 70 leaving 0.035 for flanges and #20 will leave about 0.035 for flanges using code 83.  This technique makes track look a lot better.  Do keep the small wire lengths short as the wire resistance is significantly higher

Terry
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wp8thsub MRH Author 3,348 posts
wp8thsub

I use 18 AWG

I like using 18 AWG stranded for feeders.  It works great with Scotchlok 567 suitcase connectors for attaching directly to the 12 AWG bus.  After soldering to the rail, I minimize the amount of wire exposed by filing the top of the feeder flat.  Once the track is painted the feeders pretty well disappear.

Rob Spangler MRH Blog
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Russ Bellinis Prolific poster 3,335 posts
Russ Bellinis

Don't forget the resistance in the mechanical connection.

If you are using the slide on rail joiners with the drop wires soldered to the joiners, and you are not soldering the joiners to the track, you may well end up with a bad electrical connection between the joiner and the rail.  You need a solid, soldered, electrical connection all the way from the rail to the main buss.  Any mechanical connection has tremendous potential to result in a bad electrical connection.
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Terry Roberts Regular poster 345 posts
Terry Roberts

other mechanical connections

I agree the rail joiner is the most prevalent failure in the hobby.  Solder it if it is used to carry electrical current.

All of the mechanical connections, including toggle switches, screws, crimp lugs, wire nuts, terminal strips, scotchlok connectors and others, need to be installed properly and sized correctly for the application.  Check the manufacturer's specifications, recommendations and installation techniques otherwise premature failure is a possibility.  Some require special tools for proper installation.  All also add resistance to a circuit.

All are more complicated than a piece of wire and will, according to Murphy, fail first.

Terry Roberts

 
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