Hi Everyone, I am about to start running my power bus for my 5amp dcc layout. The entire bus run around the layout is about 65 feet for a complete loop. I have some solid core 12 gauge wire in 4 colors laying around that I could use for main bus and dc accessories. My concern is attempting to attach the el-cheapo minimal gauge wires that come with the track to that. I would love to get away with just vampire clamps, but I am not sure if those will handle such a disparity in gauge for a connection. Anyone have any thoughts on this? I know there are several ways ie/ terminal blocks and so on. Not that is matters, I am using all KATO switches and track.
My layout is an E shape taking up 3/4 of a 16X42' room. It's an around the room with the majority of it only 2 foot deep with a 4 foot wide center peninsula (think giant N track modules). So my buss does not loop, it has 3 legs that all dead end, so my buss run is about 120 ft. I used 10 gauge for the buss (I got it free) and 20 gauge for my feeders as well as some of the el-cheapo OEM feeders. What I used is a product called T-tap terminals. https://www.amazon.com/TICONN-Connectors-Self-Stripping-Electrical-Disconnect/dp/B07MLPBPW5/ref=sr_1_16?adgrpid=1344703286083469&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ih2I3VYcd_fDozs1vUP2qwOe_xOQBW_-DlpY4EqdosVwXdQ8XN9S6LKo_ix3gEVG3kWuq6t-dKL-MiUux8MePkchU-gxOzF_x06h-SCy3OKWO9zzfAqU5CrcCGZwCxgw3OQAGHJd5dCJwWI5Nx9OuI6t5BpQHyQ7CUUvlJ7_btjoTMU7gFhxueP_PZYjh1UFhj1vU3j8slDZhqQmVBNpqV1jrHrxrU1rytcfgYUzxA8.ixwRwohFWZJS1B92mW22cjXqcfuXzI6ZpQuvBEYLRkg&dib_tag=se&hvadid=84044170196889&hvbmt=bb&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=109798&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=b&hvtargid=kwd-84044304000745:loc-190&hydadcr=18913_13351322&keywords=amazon+wire+connectors&qid=1715358021&sr=8-16&th=1 (not the brand, but the same otherwise) The set comes with clamp on pieces ( your vampire clamps?) for the buss wire (Red, yellow and blue sizes). But on these, instead of the 2nd wire (your feeder) being crimped in with the larger wire, there is a female spade terminal........so you simply put a male terminal on your other wire and plug it in. So far it's been working great for me. It also makes it easy to make changes.........I had an auto-reverser go out, and I just unplugged it and plugged the new one in (had to ad the plugs of course) and you can make the wire coming out any size you want. I worried at first if the connections would be good enough, but when I first started to wire, I only hooked up one feeder and it powered my entire 150' mainline with just that one connection. I've added feeders about every 5 feet since then. Time will tell what will happen 10 years down the road, but alls well after 2.
5 amps is a lot, are you N, Ho or something else? What Command Station are you running? Consider breaking the layout up into power districts. This way with N you can cut the amps down to 2 amps which is plenty to run a number of engines at the same time. I have a similar distance around the layout and more on the upper level. I have it broke up into 8 power districts with four 5 amp boosters and 8 circuit breakers shown above I have the circuit breakers set to trip at 2 amps, plenty for a number of locos that will probably never run at the same time in that power district. More power districts make it easier to find an electrical problem and isolate a problem to only one district. I'm running DCC-EX and the output from it goes to the boosters so it is only supplying the DCC signal, no current. The buss wire now doesn't have to be as large since it isn't carrying more than 2 amps max for any one district. I run ..... .... bare 14 gauge around the perimeter for the track buss and 16 gauge bare wire above it for the 5v power for my turnout servos and anything else that will run on 5 volts, such as LED lighting. The 5v is broken up into 4 districts with circuit breakers for each. I'm extremely happy/satisfied with the perimeter wiring. At 80 don't want to go under the layout anymore than necessary. I hardly ever have to go under for wiring. Super easy to run the track drops or other drops to the 5v and DCC buss. Drill a small hole next to the track. Run the drop down the hole, reach under and pull it over to the fascia, run it through the hole between the buss wires, strip and solder it to the buss. Back at the other end cut the wire and solder it to the track. Simple fast and no need to go under the layout. Faster than about any other kind of connection I can think of and most likely a better connection. You can find more info and images on all of the above here.... https://1fatgmc.com/RailRoad/UP%20Canyon%20Division/UP%20Canyon%20Division-Index.html Looking forward to your build, Sumner
You all are the absolute BEST!!! Those connectors are EXACTLY what I was hoping for. I have a NCS Power pro 5 for my N scale layout. While I know I will never use 5 amps, I did not want to have any "easy to fix" potential problems in the future. I may break mine up into 3 districts, it would be easy to do with the U-shaped layout. I will have to see if there is a worthwhile benefit for my layout. My idea was to have 2 separate circles running through the holes I drilled in my girders so I can drop a wire pretty much anywhere through the surface and be near a line either DC or DCC and I would just tap into that.
I'll agree with Sumner that 5 amps is probably more than you need, but as long as the system catches shorts quickly you should be OK. Like Sumner, our club uses a 2 amp limit, but with fuses when running DC......unfortunately we are forced by budget to use auto fuses, which don't always blow quick enough.....usually, but not always. We tried dropping to 1 amp, but they frequently blew when running more than 2 locos. Response speed is the important thing. Power districts are nice to have though. I like Sumners wiring method as it makes wiring very easy as he points out. Back to the amperage thing........the club ran an NTRAK layout at a recent train fair. I had my 2 amp DCC system hooked up to 2 of the 4 lines (for a total of about 110ft of mainline) running 4 to 7 locos (an ABBA set of Kato F7s, and an ABA set of FP7s, then the ABA set and a sound equipped BLI Pacific) and had no problems with the locos, or with the DCC power supply heating up . That system isn't adjustable........not too many systems are that I have found, which takes us to Sumners adjustable circuit breakers. My home system can go up to 10 amps, but it is currently set at 3......I'm slowly adjusting it down as get more run time in on the layout and figure out what I actually NEED to run what I want to run. Usually I run alone, so that's 4 locos on the mainline (max), and 1 to 3 switchers (I have a number of paired switchers to handle 30+ car trains in the yard). Having a guest can add 2-4 to that.
I'm using Tam Valley CFJ003U circuit breakers. They aren't really adjustable but have a jumper that sets them to 2 or 4 amps. I have two on a 5 amp booster. Since you have plenty of amps you wouldn't need the boosters that I did since my command station is a little under 2 amps and you could use three of them for your three districts (or more districts). The run a little under $35 each and setup is simple, connect the input to the DCC track bus, and connect the output wires to the district to be protected. Most of the other manufactures probably have something similar. Sumner
I will concur, isolating sections of the layout is the best way to go. And using the best quality cable is also the right way to go. In addition to isolating derailments, when done right, the trains move along effortlessly, without any change in speed. We do this with our N Track club on every show layout, and I have done on my pretty large and complicated layout.
Multiple circuits on a layout are never a bad idea, but depending on how you operate, they could be an unnecessary expense. Most current DCC systems have protection that's more than adequate. If your system doesn't trip instantly, at least one circuit breaker is required. Multiple circuits have the advantage of letting you know where the problem is........but if you only operate by yourself, You KNOW where the problem is since it's most likely where your train is. Multiple circuits also keep the entire layout from going down if you have multiple operators, but again, if you are the only one operating, does it really matter if the whole layout goes down.......and if by chance you were operating more than one train, having the whole layout go down might even be a good thing since it keeps train #2 from having a wreck while you are trying to fix train #1. It's great that everyone is giving you all these options, but always remember to keep YOUR requirements in mind. It's very easy to spend A LOT of money on things you don't need in this hobby. All that's really NEEDED to have a model railroad, is some track, some trains, a power supply and some wire. Some people need more than that for better operations, and there's nothing wrong with just WANTING all those extras.......but always evaluate YOUR needs.
I blasted through what has already been said so some may be repeats. I think 5 amps is just right for your 65'. Once you add sidings and such it will quickly add up to more. Using short protection of some sort is a good way to protect the command station and help isolate shorts. I use the PSXX units. NCE has the CP6 which is simply six districts protected with light bulbs and is very inexpensive. A concerning statement was when you stated that a complete loop was in the plan. Do not do this. Put the command station/power supply in the middle then you can reach out as far as 30' in each direction with less risk of dcc signal loss. Keep the short protection(district protection) close to the command station and run the bus out from there. There are many connectors to pick from to splice into the bus and feed the track so go with what you are confident in. I like T-taps that feed Wago connectors to split into feeders. Model Railroading will be fun when the layout is running with many trains and operators.
One last thought is the quality of the wire being used. The better the quality the smaller gauge you can use. On my layout I use 16 gauge Oxygen free copper wire for the power bus and 24 gauge oxygen free feeders from the bus to the track. Tested a 56 foot long set of NTrak modules feeding at the first module, the track voltage at the other end was only .3 volts less than at the feed. So it is important the quality of the wire for good performance on the layout whether it is you home or a club level layout. That cable costs a little more, but when you want the best performance from you locomotives, the cleanest power gives the best performance.
