Need some more help – please. I have submitted a few images to my user gallery that is a wiring diagram for my lighting. Although the picture is a little small I think it is still able to be made out. (I have gone ahead and split the images into thirds so it will be easier to read.) http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/500/wire_diagram.JPG Wiring 1 (This will be under the control panel) Wiring 2 (This will also be under the control panel) Wiring 3 (This will be under the train layout almost directly underneath the area to be lighted) My questions are in regards to using barrier strip blocks. Which way should the block face for the most convenience of wiring? How are they best positioned as to wiring them up and for easy of maintenance later? I do not have a lot of room under the control panel in which to work and would like to be as organized as possible. Also I would like to have the easiest time in wiring under the layout and maintenace there too. I know some people have used these before and I have seen pictures in the galleries but just can not find them. So if you have a lot of switches and numerous wires that you have organized using barrier blocks please share your advice and or photos. Thank you, Mr X
I do use these types of barrier strips. My strips are parallel to the layout so the back wires are harder to reach. Still it is open behind the control panel, so it is not very hard to wire either side. OTOH, I think it would be easier to wire and maintain if it had been designed to be perpendicular to the layout. It doesn't really require much maintenance. Here is a picture of a control panel interior. The barrier strips are along the rear edge. The piece of paper is a wiring diagram for that panel.
Here is one group of barrier strips that I am using for one of the areas that needs lighting. This picture corresponds to the diagram above labeled 'Wiring 3'. It just does not have all the wires and lights going to it yet. The view in the picture will be from the bottom, looking straight up at the layout. I am not sure where to place the blocks in relation to the two access holes that are already drilled. My questions are: (I realize the strips do not care which position they are in) BUT do I have the orientation of the barrier strips correct in order to allow for the most ease in wiring and maintenance? Should both of the leads be facing in or out? Or do I need to have one in and one out? Do I need to turn either of them around? I have seven wires to attach to this barrier strip, five of which have resistors at the end. Do you think that, since the resistors put off heat, I should wire them to the bottom block to get the away from all the other wires and place the loose wires on the top? Mr X
Perhaps you could attach a small piece of wood vertically to a rib or support below the layout and mount these strips on that. It might make it easier to access instead of having it on the bottom of the layout.
The complete wiring job is not done yet, but I do have two sections completed on the lighting. The main industry building and the signal tower are all wired up and lit. I have pictures in my personal image gallery but honestly I think the buildings look better in real life. I tried to upload the pictures in order but they seem to not have turned out that way. I still need to wire these to the SPST switches and get the rest of the blocks done. Have look at what I have done so far: http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/500/Train_141.jpg http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/500/Train_131.jpg This wiring block is for the main industry above. I did decide to take the advice of mounting the blocks vertically rather than horizontally and I think they turned out rather well. Mr X
Sorry for the duplicate posts but I wanted to show the results of some of the wiring efforts. Well I think I may almost have it! http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/500/Train_148.jpg http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/500/Train_151.jpg http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/500/Train_158.jpg Thank you for all your suggestions. I took these photos with ISO 400 (which at this point I think is the highest my digital will go) and using a hand held work light set below the layout to provide a little bit of light. BUT the key was to adjust the exposure down to -2. This really took the "burn out" away from the windows. Thank you ... Thank you ... Thank you for all your help. Any way it leaves me with the question of "Now what?" :shade: This is the first two of 16 lighting jobs that I am going to be doing on the layout. Let me know if you would like to see more as they come along? Mr X
If you have a lot of structure wiring on your layout (I don't), it would be possible to have a dedicated control panel for that wiring. You could do all your wiring circuits right there at the panel in one place. Then, the only thing at the structure itself would be the two wires that go to the lighting device. On the panel, you could have simple on-off switches, resistors, etc. for each structure (or similarly powered structures) to facilitate trouble shooting. I have never seen such a control panel on a layout. This post by Mr. X gave me the idea. I'm not sure if it is feasible.
Flash Blackman, In fact, that is precisely what I am going to have. I am not sure if you can tell by the picture or not but here is the left side of my control panel drawer. That is situated under the layout. Just to the right of the top power pack is a black strip which has not been completely installed yet. This is made from aluminum dry wall edging with some additional holes drilled in it. The 16 switches that control the individual light blocks will be mounted here. The wiring diagram below shows the wiring for all the switches in the panel and at least one of the lighting area blocks: I believe that this has/will minimize the wires that need to be run and will also provide a way for me to control each building/lighting area individually. Since each light bulb is attached to the wiring block in order it should make it a lot easier to trouble shoot when they eventually burn out. Some of the buildings will have up to 8 individual light bulbs with in them. With and with out resistors attached. Each building or lighting area will have its own barrier blocks. These in turn will only have a pair of wires leading back to the switch at the control panel. I have taken several photos of the project in my user gallery if you would like to check it out further. Hopefully this made sense. I have been working all night... Mr X
This wiring block is only used for the larger factory building and it allows for expansion of 8 additional lights if I would like to add them in the future. This wiring block is currently only used for the signal tower and it allows for expansion of 5 additional lights. Which I may add some exterior lights near the fuel, sand, and oil towers to highlight them. The Yellow and Blue wires are currently just test leads and would be the only wires that lead back the switches in the control panel and eventually the power supply. Mr X
