Lots of progress to report ! Got the entrance to Lucky Penny Yard lit.... This includes the guard shack...yard office...and the team track area... Georgetown is lit... This is the seedier side of the layout...not many lights here... The Homestead flanked by Highway 68 on the right and Highway 69 on the left... South Jeans Valley. You can see the area I still need to wire up lights in..... Here is a longshot from the front of THERR RV.... The pictures really dont do any of the lights justice. I shot them with no flash and the lights on the layout are really not near as bright as they look in pictures.....
Looking really good! Love the mix of white and yellow lights. What type of connectors are you using to join the lights to the main wire? I'll be doing this at some point and with a similar amount of lights to fit I would prefer to avoid using the soldering iron if I can!
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....they are just twisted around the buss... My DCC power districts where done the same way....9 years ago. I have never had a problem. I am sure all the connections will outlive me.... Like you...I wasnt about to get under all those cabinets with a soldering iron...
What back ???? Usually its my knees. This time it was my back. Gonna give it a days rest before tackling the last 8 lights... After the lights are done.... there is the cleanup. Almost dread that more.....lol
Cleanup? cleanup? "Cleanup crew in aisle 1 please!" Yeah, the dreaded 'cleanup your own mess' after glow. At least you will be able to clean by evening lamplight!!
I know the "Whole Truth"!! Looks like we are on the same page with soldering irons. Lights are looking great and I can't wait to get to the point I can put mine in. Love it!!
I've thrown in the towel on these street lights !!! I have spent 2 1/2 days wiring in the last 8 lights. I have extended the wires so they will come out of the Abyss. I have wired them all up. Had to snake the wires behind one drawer runner. That made hooking them up lots of fun... N O T !!! About 3 hours ago I had ALL the lights working. I 'moved' a group of wires to put the drawer back in. 5 of the 8 lights went dark. I am so sick and tired of this. It's no longer fun. So tomorrow I am going to vacume off the layout. I will clean track. I will vacume the floor. I will put the 2 drawers back in. I will put the one cabinet door back on. I will turn OFF all the lights on the layout. THEN....I am gonna power up the DCC and run trains till the sun goes down !!!! I MAY get back to the lights somewhere down the road. But for now...I run trains in the daylight hours....street lights dont need to be on... .
I hate to be the one that "told you so", but this is probably a direct result of not soldering. Or you could have used "suitcase" (displacement) connectors. Most likely when you moved the wires one or more of the "twists" came loose. Troubleshooting should be fairly easy since it's only five of eight lights. I know, easy for me to say. But at 80, I guarantee I hurt as much as you do at times. Hang in there, buddy. You're SO close. Don't let it beat you.
You send a guy to school, teach him all the tricks in the book and what does he do? Never mind, it still comes back to bite him in the buttdinsky. Solid connections are the best connections. Don't give up on it quite yet. You've got a good thing going and some good advice from Jim R. The suitcase connectors are more then likely the solution to your problem. I know, I know. Requiring yet more twisting and turning under your layout. Give it a day or two and then give it another shot. Hang in there.
Believe me...I am not ungrateful guys. Can someone point me in the direction of suitcase connectors for 28AWG wire and the smaller size wire leads off these led street lights....please ????. https://evandesigns.com/products/kynar-hook-up-wire
Soldering is really out of the question. 65 lights X 2 wires each light makes 130 solder connections !!! X 165 !!! Crawling inside a bunch of kitchen cabinets...soldering upsidedown 130+ times is just asking for trouble. Just twisting the led wires around the 28AWG buss wire seemed like a logical solution. From their website... "Ideally suited for many applications, this wire is OFHC (oxygen-free, high-conductivity copper wire) and provides a very flexible and very abrasion-resistant hook-up wire. The wire is a single solid copper strand and easily connects to other wires by either twisting or soldering." I may be wrong in even thinking I could do this... I'm just flustercated right now. I will get back to it soon enough. When I told THE WIFE I was throwing in the towel...she gave me one of those pouty lip looks. I know what that means....LOL
I would agree that soldering is out of the equation. Not a question, that's for sure. I'm working on an idea for your. When I get it put together it will be for me as well as you. I need to get my data together before I present it. The idea is a plug-in that goes topside that you can plug the lights into. Underneath would be wire leads and a bus but it runs around the front of your cabinets where it's easy to get to when wiring the leads to this plug. A plug that would drop in through a hole on the surface to give you access to plug your lights into. Had a friend do this but now the plugs he used aren't available anymore...go figure. The only difference is under my layout will be dressers I can roll out so I can get under the table to perform the obvious "Wireus Repairus". Hmmm, we are getting some mileage out of the "WR" project. Good idea to chill out for now. Let me see what I can find. Got it a small plastic clothespin. Don't laugh, it might work.
Weather is not so good toady. 55...overcast...and windy. I have been delegated to KP duties by the CFO... With a little extra time on my hands I sorta burned Google to the ground researching 'connectors' for 28 AWG wire. No luck so far. I even thought t-tap connectors would work the best in my situation. Again...no joy... Twisted wires around the buss looks like the only viable option...at this point.
The twisting of the small LED leads to the buss has worked great for the length of the buss. I am now at the ends of the buss...the 2 ends of 28awg wires...stripped. My plan was/is to twist the remainng 26 wires...13 red and 13 black...to the end of their prospective buss wires and 'hopefully' twist a couple of appropriate sized wire nuts on them all to hold them tight and functioning.
Here is my problem child. "The Abyss" There are 13 sets of wires coming out of the hole in the side of the cabinet. 13 red...13 black. The wires have to go behind the drawer guide. The wires also have to clear the drawer height. Velcroing them to the side and top of the cabinet is a must. I will extend the end of the buss 28awg wires so they run down the cabinet side more. I am going to 'untwist' all the wires and twist them back one at a time better then they are now. Then I will put a couple of 'wire nuts' on to secure the beast !! The Cat5 wires are because I ran out of the 28awg to wire extensions on a few LED leads. I can see in the pic I twisted some insulated wire in there too... Disregard the blood on the cabinet side...LOL.They say if your not bleeding or if you dont have parts left over...'Ya didnt do it right!" .
