Guys,
Do you think 14/2 bury low voltage wire is big enough for the layout?
I could use 12/2, but the 14 is about 1/2 the price.
thnx,
jb
John, the 16/2 LV wire would be large enough…especially with your propensity to use a multitude of connections to the track. It will handle anything that current power supplies can put out.
Warren
Squeaky,
Any loss of voltage with a long run of, say, 100 feet from my basement layout out to the outdoor layout? I will also double the run, using both strands on one terminal. Thus there will be two sets of 14/2 coming from the basement for each + and -. In conduit, under ground and up into the layout. After that I will spider web out to all kinds of places in the layout with just a single set.
jb
John Bouck said:John,
Guys, Do you think 14/2 bury low voltage wire is big enough for the layout? I could use 12/2, but the 14 is about 1/2 the price. thnx, jb
There’s an easy explanation for that, the AWG14 is half the cross section of AWG12
Why not run the wire in a large loop??
John, if I’m not mistaken, Jens uses 16 ga LV wire on his layout and he only has about 3 connections. He runs 5 locomotives with 100 car trains! Your 100’ ain’t nutt’n. My indoor layout which is a 36’x24’ “L” is run with either 22 ga or 18 ga. I don’t recall, and I only have 1 connection. I’ve never had a problem with the layout for power. Of course there isn’t much distance between the power supply and the track. You usually don’t run big trains so you won’t be drawing a lot of current. Do any of your trains ever draw more than 2 amps?? John, 14 ga house wiring is rated at 15 amps @ 120v. Yours will be 10 amps at 24v. There is quite a difference in power usage there. 12 ga is 20 amps @ 120v.
Warren
The wire diameter is related to amps only. The voltage does not matter. Yes volts times amps is watts, but the capability of the wire is in amps. The insulation is the only thing that limits or is related to voltage.
(this is why power distribution is such high voltage, since it reduces the amperage required, so the wires do not have to be the diameter of a truck)
I would not recommend anything less than 12 gauge, why underbuild. You will never run multiple locos?
If you always run your trains slowly, have great joiners or rail clamps, multiple feeders, then smaller gauge might be ok.
Why scrimp on one basic component of your layout with so much energy and time invested. This should be a one time thing.
I use 10 gauge, and my layout is only about 450 feet in 2 loops. I run DCC and several locos on each train. Voltage drop is noticable with poor connections and wiring.
Definitely do not use 16 gauge. No way.
Regards, Greg
Greg Elmassian said:Rats,
Definitely do not use 16 gauge. No way.
Now my lovely bride has to make another trip to the big box store.
Wait a minute, I’m switching to battery power. Whew, dodged that bullet. Or should I use that on another thread?
madwolf, who is up 'way too late
You’re mighty sneaky Steve! 
Seriously, we’ve had this power feed discussion on many forums, and it always winds up around 12 gauge outdoor lighting cable.
Not a bad compromise. I had 3/4" conduit buried along the RR right of way when the yard was landscaped, so was able to buy cheap stranded 10 gauge with thin insulation, easier to pull than solid wire.
One of the best things I did in my planning, because the thin air lines for the air-operated turnouts fits in there too.
Regards, Greg
JB,
On my layout in Deer Park, I used a 10 g coax buriable wire to run from the power supply in the barn about 100 feet or so to the TE, then used 14 g wire from the big box store designed for the low voltage lights in a loop along the mainline. Using what I learned from my 3 rail experience, I ran a 16 g feeder wire to the track from that loop every 6 track connections, using Hillmans to provide mechanical and electrical connections. I isolated all my sidings and stubs, running power through an SPST switch and the only time I had trouble was when I reversed polarity on one of those. I never had voltage drop on the mainline.
madwolf