06-23-2010, 10:01 PM
Russ, I typically put a drop to every piece of track. I also skip soldering the joiners on about every other piece of track, just to allow room for some expansion. Now, on the old shelves, the drops are #22 solid for about 4 to 6 inches, then are soldered to #18 which runs over to the #8 bus in the junction boxes. The maximum length on the #18 is around 24 inches, but most are shorter than that. All the mentioned connections are soldered.
On the new shelves, the drops are all #18 solid going to the #8 bus. I cut out a tie or two from the flex track, then solder the #18 to the bottom of the rail. Then I lay the track upside down where it will go, mark and drill the hole for the wire, feed the wire through, then glue the track into place. Doing it this way makes it very easy to hide the wiring under the ballast.
Now, there have been a few spots where I had to add feeders to glued down track on both the old and new sections. I did use #18 for these, and will hide the solder connections with paint and ballast. It isn't a perfect job, and even with the paint/ballast, the discerning eye will find them, but it is only in a couple of places. I can live with it.
Also, in some places where parallel tracks are close together as in a yard, I sometimes run the wires between the tracks instead of doing drops from each one. One track will have a drop, but then I run the wires between the ties over to the other track. all this gets covered with ballast.
Back to the 6 inch limit for the small gauge wires. It is my opinion that a person can get by with a couple of feet of #22 wire at the drops. At 1 amp with #22 wire and 4 total feet (2 + 2), the voltage drop is around 1/10th of a volt - not enough to matter in my estimation. Also, this is neglecting any parallel paths such as through the rail joiners of the track on either end. Even if these rail joiners are not perfect, they are still a part of the parallel path and as such, will lessen the overall resistance to the current going to the rail in question.
Still, I am erring on the big side on all the wiring. I did do the "quarter test" at the extreme end of the bus where the wiring is complete and the booster shut down as it should. So, everything looks good.
Thanks for the link and the info on the Topeka cab. Just may be interested in that.
On the new shelves, the drops are all #18 solid going to the #8 bus. I cut out a tie or two from the flex track, then solder the #18 to the bottom of the rail. Then I lay the track upside down where it will go, mark and drill the hole for the wire, feed the wire through, then glue the track into place. Doing it this way makes it very easy to hide the wiring under the ballast.
Now, there have been a few spots where I had to add feeders to glued down track on both the old and new sections. I did use #18 for these, and will hide the solder connections with paint and ballast. It isn't a perfect job, and even with the paint/ballast, the discerning eye will find them, but it is only in a couple of places. I can live with it.
Also, in some places where parallel tracks are close together as in a yard, I sometimes run the wires between the tracks instead of doing drops from each one. One track will have a drop, but then I run the wires between the ties over to the other track. all this gets covered with ballast.
Back to the 6 inch limit for the small gauge wires. It is my opinion that a person can get by with a couple of feet of #22 wire at the drops. At 1 amp with #22 wire and 4 total feet (2 + 2), the voltage drop is around 1/10th of a volt - not enough to matter in my estimation. Also, this is neglecting any parallel paths such as through the rail joiners of the track on either end. Even if these rail joiners are not perfect, they are still a part of the parallel path and as such, will lessen the overall resistance to the current going to the rail in question.
Still, I am erring on the big side on all the wiring. I did do the "quarter test" at the extreme end of the bus where the wiring is complete and the booster shut down as it should. So, everything looks good.
Thanks for the link and the info on the Topeka cab. Just may be interested in that.
Three Foot Rule In Effect At All Times