hi. Well I'm back in action with the layout, and now wiring for DCC. Talking to some blokes in the club, they say wiring for DCC is as easy as running 2 wires (busbars) from one end of layout to the other, and then running feeders off this to the track - 1 wire to 'left rail as +' and 1 wire to 'right rail as -'... Is this correct? I'm thinking of running the Power wires (busbars) as in the image, but would like hints or tips before I start!
The principle is good, but you are making your bus lines very long. I'd bring the 'feed' at bottom right straight up the picture, then T off the three horizontal lines from there - kind of a reversed F. You could go mad and put a breaker or switch on each leg, but for an 8' x 4' I think that would be overkill. Don't forget to route the bus so it is clear of any switch machines, etc, that will be under the board.
Add lots of feeder connections. I have a 4x8 and have about 20 feeder connections. I added them as i tested running and found some "slow" spots. Steve
I see no polarity conflicts. Someone please check this and see if I made any boo-boos. It does seem like it will get boring going round and round.
Thanks mate... Is that better?? I was told you should add feeders every 3ft, is that overkill? Can you cause issues by having too many feeders? Sorry if these are nuffy questions, but electrics are probably my worst subject, right after track building.
That's it. On your original the power had to go about 30ft to get to the top left, now it only has to go about 12ft, so volt drop will be less of a problem. Feeders is a tricky one. Some people say put a feeder on every piece of track because rail joiners can be an unreliable electrical connection, and as rail comes in 3ft lengths you can say "feed every 3ft". But of course a lot of pieces will be cut shorter than that. I aim to have a feeder on each piece, but I often solder the joiners of some rails to make a longer 'piece' and only put one feed up to it.
Thanks Mike. I've had power to the track test running for 12 mths and have had no power issues, but since the layout isnt that big, I'll go every 3ft just to be safe.. Thanks for your help Mike and the other blokes, appreciate it.
I guess Tim is referring to th eissue that you must only feed power to the "single-track" end of a turnout. Power must not enter it from the end with two tracks. It makes wiring a little more complex, but gives you un-interrupted power flow in the turnout, hence reduces stalling. Cheers Dirk
Dirk.. Thanks for the info, can you expand a little - is this a big issue with the power from either single/double end? Darwin award question - how can I tell which points I have? and if I have the 'harder to wire ones' what do I have to do to "fix" it ?? Thanks
Sorry for introducing tension and drama by asking about the type of turnouts! The easy way to tell if you are probably using "power routing" or "electrofrog" turnouts is to look at the frogs - they will be metal, not plastic insulated frogs. Here's a link (that I hope works) which might help explain the issues involved (you might need to register to view the article): http://www.trains.com/mrr/default.aspx?c=a&id=185
The link in my last post might only work if you are a subscriber to Model Railroader magazine, so let me try to explain the issue. Plain and simple, if you are just starting out, and going with DCC, I would recommend "all live" turnouts. An all-live turnout has insulated frogs - examples would be Atlas code 80; Peco Insulfrog. This type will make wiring much easier. The "power routing" type like Micro Engineering turnouts add some complication. Frogs should be isolated -with DC, frog to frog connections must be gapped; power has to be from the "point end". Here's a link that I think will work (it is to a PDF from NMRA.org): http://www.nmra.org.au/conventions/PDFS/Turnouts.pdf And here's another one that's good: http://www.loystoys.com/peco/about-electrofrog.html
In my humble opinion... unless you have some really small trains (short wheel base), the easiest is to just use a "dead frog" turn out. These are turnouts that have plastic sections in the turn-out that help to eliminate a short when a train passes through. The advantage is not having to worry about gaps or isolated joiners and all that other stuff. Just lay it down like you would most other track.
