(Rookie question) My last set I used a 14 solid wire gauge under table and tied in power from rails 18 ~20 gauge. On the new layout I'm not sure I need to use that large gauge on my DCC N gauge. Was thinking I can get away with 16 gauge as primary length under table?... I believe total length is just under 60 feet. thanks for your time
I have used 14awg as the primary feed for the JACALAR, with not nearly the length. With 60', i would still use it, and have the command station feed from a central point.
Hello, Because DCC is a square wave carrying information, you will find issues if any track is more than 30' from the booster - if you have 60' total, then put the booster in the middle and everything is within 30' and you are fine. (Issues can include locos speeding up or slowing down by themselves, headlights turning on and off, and in the worst case runaway trains.) I forget the tables for voltage drop, so I had a look at http://www.wiringfordcc.com/trakwire.htm - wiring for DCC is a useful site. Foremost, he suggests that adequate wiring will shut down the booster if a quarter is placed across the rails anywhere on the layout. If you can short the rails with a coin and the booster does not trip, you need fatter bus wires, feeders or both. I have heard some people say they can detect 0.1V of drop, which is 5 feet of bus at 14awg with 4A of loco hauling down on it. I have also heard people say anything under 1.0V of drop is just fine (25' of 18awg with 4A of loco on it). I suspect the real answer is somewhere between. N gauge, you will be hard pressed to pull 4A without shorting the rails, so 16awg might well work just fine - as long as a coin on the rails trips the breaker, and as long as no track feeder is more than 30' from that district's booster. (You might want to consider loosely twisting the bus wires around each other, 1-2 times per foot, on any buses longer than 20'. It helps a little..)
Good Point, my other layout I don't believe I was "centered" with DCC. This new layout as it as a "U" shape I plan to park DCC control at the base of the "U" allowing me to be centered and I think with replies I wall just continue with the 14awg main since I already have lengths of it of it for north and south rails. My feeder drops are 18gauge and I believe I read as long as you don't drop more the 12inches any loss won't be obvious. My feeders only drop about 8 inches max. Appreciate all the help.
