# Does look ok to hide wires?



## Conductorkev (Nov 5, 2021)

So I am building walthers modern travel center. I had to figure our a way to hide the overhead lights for the gas pumps islands to get them underneath it. I could not use the inside of the columns. So I thought of heat shrink tubes.run the wires thru them and they could in theory be electric conduit.
I ran it like it is because you would not want it going down the two sides since cars could in theory hit it. So that left the side I picked or the side the gas pump would be.. The side I picked also has the two poles pretty much in front of it.
Going into the ceiling there's the crossbeam so had to go to one of the sides.

On the picture I'll place the gas pump in its location but still have to put the decal on it and the hose with thr pump itself so it's not done yet. I'll also place the safety poles but they need another coat of paint (I'm also definitely no Picasso lol) the last pic is of the lights.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

Your conduit is about a scale foot in diameter. I've never seen such a conduit at any gas station.

I would strip the insulation from the wire pair and run them separately up the support.


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## Conductorkev (Nov 5, 2021)

MichaelE said:


> Your conduit is about a scale foot in diameter. I've never seen such a conduit at any gas station.
> 
> I would strip the insulation from the wire pair and run them separately up the support.



Wouldn't thst cause a short ifbthey touched. 

Might have another idea I'll try I'll post pic if it works.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

I thought the two inner wire were themselves insulated. Yes, they would short if they are bare.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Heat shrink tubing works. In the past I have used brass tubing, straws and stripped insulation from phone cables. Last resort was enameled wire for small work.


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## Conductorkev (Nov 5, 2021)

T-Man said:


> Heat shrink tubing works. In the past I have used brass tubing, straws and stripped insulation from phone cables. Last resort was enameled wire for small work.



So should I try to find smaller heat shrink or do you think that will look close enough? I do agree with Michael it is sorta big for electrical conduit but there's not many things smaller that could feasibly be used.

I thought about thinly rolling electrical tape around the wires but I think that would cause more of a flat look which would look worse.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

Heat shrink tubing comes in very small diameters but you might have to order it from Digi-Key or Mouser.


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## MidwestMikeGT (Jan 4, 2021)

Could you use a coffee stirrer straw, square it off with a little heat, run the wires inside, and make it look like a drainage downspout maybe? Another option you might consider is telephone or computer cable wire. Strip those down to the local insulation. If you use two strands of a ribbon cable and painted it, it might be able to look like a 2 4-inch diameter pipes...


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## OilValleyRy (Oct 3, 2021)

Why not just use the insulated feeder wires as conduit representations? It’s a little oversized but not by a great deal.


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## Conductorkev (Nov 5, 2021)

OilValleyRy said:


> Why not just use the insulated feeder wires as conduit representations? It’s a little oversized but not by a great deal.


2 lights red and black what just twist them together down?


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Can you drill through the support? A long 1/8 drill would do it.


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## Roy Merritt (10 mo ago)

Lots of good ideas.

Did you shrink the heat shrink tubing? If not, that would reduce the diameter and likely make it more rigid.



T-Man said:


> In the past I have used brass tubing, straws and stripped insulation from phone cables. Last resort was enameled wire for small work.


I've also these kinds of things successfully. I've also used Plastruct tubes. For me it was easier to work with.

Has anyone tried conductive paint for something like this? I have not, but I've seen pics of a scratch built building with interior lights that was completely "wired" by conductive paint.


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## Conductorkev (Nov 5, 2021)

T-Man said:


> Can you drill through the support? A long 1/8 drill would do it.


Doubt it here is the support beam


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## Conductorkev (Nov 5, 2021)

Roy Merritt said:


> Lots of good ideas.
> 
> Did you shrink the heat shrink tubing? If not, that would reduce the diameter and likely make it more rigid.
> 
> ...



I thought about shrinking it but then it becomes wrinkly and probably would not look right


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## Conductorkev (Nov 5, 2021)

I have some of that electrical tape paint wonder how that would work...


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

You have to have wire inside of heat shrink tubing when you apply heat or it does what you describe.

It will also do this if you apply too much heat. You just want to heat it, not broil it.


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## Conductorkev (Nov 5, 2021)

MichaelE said:


> You have to have wire inside of heat shrink tubing when you apply heat or it does what you describe.
> 
> It will also do this if you apply too much heat. You just want to heat it, not broil it.


Helped a lil did not want to put too much heat. The obe on the left I shrinked the one on right hasn't been.


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## OilValleyRy (Oct 3, 2021)

Conductorkev said:


> 2 lights red and black what just twist them together down?


I’d run each wire down a different location. So 4 “conduits.” Paint the visible wires gray before hand.


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## Conductorkev (Nov 5, 2021)

OilValleyRy said:


> I’d run each wire down a different location. So 4 “conduits.” Paint the visible wires gray before hand.



I have 4 hanging security cameras I could make all the leads black and each light could be the cctv wires coming down the two posts....


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

The vertical part of the support could be replaced with hollow square strip styrene (or even hollow tubing). Hopefully the brown base is not solid, but if it is you can just get some bigger square stuff or roll you own from just plain sheets of styrene. then the wires would all be neatly hidden.


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## SF Gal (11 mo ago)

I use transformer wire or ribbon wire and feed it into coffee stirrer straws from 7-11, if I want that conduit look.
Honestly, I like the idea of using the wire as conduit and separate them between the pillars holding up the roof.
That's what I did for my illuminated pump island.
You can also get a sheet of brass and cut 2 thin strips as leads and wrap then on oppisite side of the pillars.
I almost bought that kit that you are building, it is 'AWESOME", but it's footprint on where I wanted to put it was a bit too large so I bought the one below.








You are going to love the look whan it is all lit up!!!!
Nano LED are what I use, they really are cool to see such a small thing illuminated.
Hope you share the finished product on the layout.


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## Conductorkev (Nov 5, 2021)

SF Gal said:


> I use transformer wire or ribbon wire and feed it into coffee stirrer straws from 7-11, if I want that conduit look.
> Honestly, I like the idea of using the wire as conduit and separate them between the pillars holding up the roof.
> That's what I did for my illuminated pump island.
> You can also get a sheet of brass and cut 2 thin strips as leads and wrap then on oppisite side of the pillars.
> ...



I have two lights for each island have one for outside the door to the store. Got a kit for the store that has the cooler and counter with cardboard cutouts. Going to light inside there with a bright led.
Got lights on each end of the car wash.going to light the inside and thru the window you will see the car wash. So far for that I found something foe the arm coming down.
Need to still figure out something to use for the actual scrubbers tho.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

If drilling is out try wrapping a tube ( straw or brass) around it and feed the wires through it.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

Conductorkev said:


> So I am building walthers modern travel center. I had to figure our a way to hide the overhead lights for the gas pumps islands to get them underneath it. I could not use the inside of the columns. So I thought of heat shrink tubes.run the wires thru them and they could in theory be electric conduit.
> I ran it like it is because you would not want it going down the two sides since cars could in theory hit it. So that left the side I picked or the side the gas pump would be.. The side I picked also has the two poles pretty much in front of it.
> Going into the ceiling there's the crossbeam so had to go to one of the sides.
> 
> On the picture I'll place the gas pump in its location but still have to put the decal on it and the hose with thr pump itself so it's not done yet. I'll also place the safety poles but they need another coat of paint (I'm also definitely no Picasso lol) the last pic is of the lights.


Conductorkev;

Reading through this thread, I see lots of good tips on concealing/camouflaging wires. I'll add a few that have not been suggested.

First: the simplest. Since the wires need to end up on top of the canopy, why not bring them up (presumably from under the layout) inside the gas station building?
(you can super glue the wires into interior corners that are not visible from the front view of the gas station.) Then simply feed them out along the top of the canopy.

Second: Suggested by Lemonhawk, and also pretty simple. Replace the kit's solid square canopy support post with styrene, or brass, hollow square tubing. The wires can then be run up inside the support post, no tricky drilling required. No gigantic conduit visible.

Third: Double sided PC board. I've used this material for many light-powering projects. From a simple plank supporting an outdoor light fixture, to entire buildings made of PC board, with electricity-conducting runs cut into the inside walls.

The engine house in the photo has all-too-obvious LED interior lighting. That is, the rather huge for N-scale 3mm yellow LEDs are obvious. (Now that I have much smaller LEDs, I plan to replace the "giant light fixtures.")

What's not so obvious is how electricity gets from wiring below the layout, up to those LEDs. The entire back wall of the engine house is made of a piece PC board sandwiched between pieces of scribed basswood. The "wooden" A-frames & the cross beams that hold the LED lights are also made of dual-sided PC board.
So in fact, there are no wires at all in this lighted structure.
A PC board canopy, supported by a PC board post, would eliminate the wires in your gas station in the same way as I did in my engine house.

Traction Fan


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

If its too big, paint it white and call it a drain line for the roof? Or if you can get small enough wire, run it in on a telephone pole? Not sure on the scale.


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

Oh, and whatever yoy do will look better then my stuff! Lol.


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## Conductorkev (Nov 5, 2021)

traction fan said:


> Conductorkev;
> 
> Reading through this thread, I see lots of good tips on concealing/camouflaging wires. I'll add a few that have not been suggested.
> 
> ...



Never seen tge pc board trick. As far as running the wires up thru tge building that's a negative as it is seperated from each other. 
I ended up doing what I mauled over above. I put in two security cameras and made both wires black to resemble cctv wires. Once I am done with the gas pumps for both fueling areas I'll post pics.


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