Be Prepared 🫡

[Hines (Bill)]

I’m trying to prevent future major disruptions to the railway by laying irrigation and wire beside and in the track bed. It’s nice to know that building lighting etc can be run off track power, but having tested one building with solar, HERSELF has decreed that all buildings should be illuminated.

I feel like the boys on BIG BANG THEORY who understand the concept of the internal combustion engine but would get lost once the bonnet was opened.

Rather than me asking an assortment of newb questions about lighting, what is a good modern source book on electricity, for someone who understands the concept, but not the practical applications?

[Rooster]

Bill,
Just remember that both voltage and amperage can kill you!

Honestly after seeing the topic of " Be Prepared" I figured you got a pics of my recent I Cloud hack.

[Hines (Bill)]

What is the preferred method for connecting low voltage wire for building lighting and track?

Link

Link

[John_Lenheiser]

I remember being a Boy Scout and “Be Prepared” was the scout motto. I was lucky and had a grandfather who could pretty much repair, or build anything, he taught me the skills that I still use today. For me today it’s Rail Pro battery power, those wiring days are pretty much gone and the fun of wiring, looking for shorts, conductivity to the rails and engine are all in the past. I will say I still enjoy a good wiring project, but most of mine are working with LEDs on the railroad in both structures and railroad cars, engines, etc. I personally don’t combine my wiring circuits, much easier to locate problems when something goes wrong with different circuits and things will go wrong.

[Hines (Bill)]

I have one building with a string of solar powered grain of wheat bulbs as a trial run.

It has some problems

• all 10 meters of coiled lights barely light up the interior.
• being solar battery, if it’s been a cloudy day, it doesn’t light at night
• the Solar control is programable at night when it is on, making it inconvenient to adjust the current disco flickering. (Of course I only notice the night club effect as I’m going to bed after turning off the house lights when my interest in climbing into the garden bed has the lowest of levels of interest.)

Should I be:

• purchasing individual lights rather than a string
  

  

• soldering my wires together rather than piercing them or clipping them with a gel connector?

• looking for some sort of waterproof plug if I need to do building repairs?

• looking for a 24 volt vs 12 volt light? I believe my Massoth unit is 24v. I’m happy to get a different DC power transformer if needed.

[rmccown-admin (Bob McCown (Admin))]

I’ve been using automotive-style weatherproof connectors outside. Seem to work pretty well.

[Hines (Bill)]

Apologies for newb questions.

I’ve stumbled in to @JRad post elsewhere and really need to be able to ask more intelligent questions.

• should I be considering strip lighting?
• is RGB worth investing in, or will warm light be enough?
• should I look at dimmable lighting or plan to mask?
• do I need to consider a diffuser or would stain glass paint suffice?
• would the shortest strip in the above photo be enough to light a GScale house or building?

[Cliff_Jennings]

Bill,

I agree with Bob’s automotive-type connectors. Especially for disconnectable connections, like to a particular building.

I’d avoid regular wire nuts. Moisture creeps in, and corrosion occurs between that internal spring and the wire strands.

When you have to make multiple permanent wire connections, you should either solder them together, or use the wire nuts that have that conducting gel in them.

You might plan a bus for your building lights. Or, use the track as that; but you’ll need to calculate your power loads on the rail, to make sure your trains run ok with all the lights on.

An advantage with a dedicated building lighting bus is that you can enable / dim / control that, independently of the trains.

Cheers,
Cliff

[Hines (Bill)]

I’ve put Bob’s connectors in the Amazon basket.
Is this the gel connector you mentioned?

[Cliff_Jennings]

Sorry for the delay Bill.

I’ve not seen those; maybe they do the same?

I was referring to something like these:

Amazon.com: 20 PCS Waterproof Wire Connectors Silicone Filled Waterproof Wire...

[Hines (Bill)]

Thanks Cliff,

I couldn’t find multiple sizes. Will your wirenuts accomodate 3 wires as I’ll essentially need to make a Tee junction?

BTW, This was the other type of connector I was looking at

T-Junction link