# Light Wiring



## shael_richmond (Oct 10, 2011)

Now that you've seen the layout, once last problem. What's the best way to wire all the lights for the buildings?

Originally I was thinking about just running all the wires to the end into some sort of wiring block but that seems like a lot of wires - wife wants lots of lights!

Then I was thinking about running one bigger(18gauge) wire down the center of the board and then having short runs from the building to it. But wasn't sure about how to do the connections. Just stripping off a little insulation and wrapping it around it. Since it will be under the board that could be a pain working underneath.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

shael_richmond said:


> Now that you've seen the layout, once last problem. What's the best way to wire all the lights for the buildings?
> 
> Originally I was thinking about just running all the wires to the end into some sort of wiring block but that seems like a lot of wires - wife wants lots of lights!
> 
> Then I was thinking about running one bigger(18gauge) wire down the center of the board and then having short runs from the building to it. But wasn't sure about how to do the connections. Just stripping off a little insulation and wrapping it around it. Since it will be under the board that could be a pain working underneath.



You could do that and use liquid tape to seal them.

You could solder them but that would be more of a pain.

They make suitcase connectors that pinch into a wire also.

Anyway you do it you will have to work underneath it.


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

Yes a buss line makes it much easier to do.
You can use scotch locks, (Clam shell) wiring connectors, No pre stripping required just insert wire and crimp with pliers, done!


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

The easiest way is to use a white LED XMas string. Plenty of lights there. No heat and plug it into a power jack. You can lengthen the wires or use the extras to light the underside while you clean underneath. 

There is plenty of room for creative thinking here. We just had a discussion on a power BUS. If you use 14.v volt bulbs that 18 could easily be a 12,14 or 16. I visited one gentleman who went with a traditional postwar layout and he used a commercial power supply for lights, switches and accessories. He even had special low voltage breakers.


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## Dave Sams (Nov 24, 2010)

Here is what I did.

My table is 8 x 13 and 22" off the floor, yes 22 INCHES.

I have over 200 lights. By now, I can run the whole thing with only the layout lights on. This weekend, I added 2 new lights.

I bought 2 12v 3a Radio Shack transformers. They provide 330 watts of juice each. (Put that in your ZW and smoke it!)

I also bought a spool of 18ga wire, proper wire stripper and staple gun.

100% of my connections are soldered. It takes a few more minutes, but in the 15+ years I have had the train running, I have never had a failure due to an electrical connection.

I solder the wires, and then staple the two leads apart to prevent shorting.

Also, on the bottom of the table, I label each wire where it pierces the plywood. I makes it easier to add more things to a particular circuit.

I have switches loosely organized by function. Street lights on one switch, buildings on another, accessories that make noise on another etc.

Hope this helps.


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## xrunner (Jul 29, 2011)

Dave Sams said:


> I bought 2 12v 3a Radio Shack transformers. They provide 330 watts of juice each.


Uh - no, your math is off. They should only be able to supply about 36 W each for a total of abut 72 W. :dunno:


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## raleets (Jan 2, 2011)

OK, here comes my two cents. 
I now have 40 lighted structures on my layout. All of them are lighted with 
5mm LED's. The smaller structures only have one LED. The medium sizes (houses, etc.) have two, and the larger stuff (depot, merchants row, etc.) have three. These LED's draw 20ma each, so I am powering the whole deal with only two 12V 2amp power supplies.
Each structure has a set of wires (one positive, one negative) going thru a small hole in the table and then routed underneath the table to a terminal block out near the edge. Yes, it's underneath. And, yes, it's a pain in the neck to work on, but I want all my wires hidden! ALL the connections are soldered and, where necessary to prevent touching each other, they are taped.
LED's have a minimum life span of around 1000 hours. That's a lot of train runnin', right? But, if one fails, it's easy to follow the wire to the proper building.
They are all controlled by one switch. Everything on and everything off. Simple! When I turn off all the overhead lighting it makes one helluva sight!
Good look and enjoy your wiring. It's very rewarding when you hit the switch!
Bob


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

xrunner said:


> Uh - no, your math is off. They should only be able to supply about 36 W each for a total of abut 72 W. :dunno:


He's using the new math! :laugh:


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

raleets said:


> LED's have a minimum life span of around 1000 hours. That's a lot of train runnin', right?


I don't know where you buy your LED's, but that's way lower than any MTBF I've ever seen for LED's, unless we're talking about the really high power ones that generate enough heat to need a heatsink! In truth, typical times are quoted are 100,000 and more. Here's a typical article, and a quote from it. 

LEDs Are Still Popular (and Improving) after All These Years



> *LED Life Expectancy*
> 
> LEDs have a MTBF (mean time between failures) usually in the range of 100,000 to over 1,000,000 hours. This is a long time for continuous operation, considering that a year is 8760 or 8784 hours. In practice, the useful measure of LED lifetime is its half-life; an LED is deemed to have reached the end of its life when the light output falls off to half the original.
> 
> When current flows through an LED junction the current flow is not uniform, resulting in small temperature differentials within the chip. These temperature differentials exert stress on the lattice, causing minute cracks to occur. These lattice defects accumulate with use, and reduce the photon conversion efficiency of the chip, thus reducing light output. The attrition rate varies from the LED material, temperature, humidity, and the forward current.


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## Dave Sams (Nov 24, 2010)

Geepers Mr. Wilson all I know is what was on the package. I'd better put the fire dept on standby.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Fire department?


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## raleets (Jan 2, 2011)

grjohn,
Well, excuuuuuuuuuussssssssse me! 
I'm SO technically challenged, but I guess I'm happy with those inferior LED's I've installed on my layout 'cause they'll more than likely outlive me. :thumbsup:
Next time I'll try to get some of those "long life" bulbs. :laugh: :laugh:
Bob


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

I was really glad to see this post pop up. I just bought a string of tiny Christmas tree lights and 50' of doorbell wire with the intention of lighting up buildings as we decide where they go. It looks as though I may not need to put a Halon discharge system in the basement, after all!


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Perhaps just the FD on speed-dial?


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## Dave Sams (Nov 24, 2010)

Dave Sams said:


> Here is what I did.
> 
> My table is 8 x 13 and 22" off the floor, yes 22 INCHES.
> 
> ...


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## xrunner (Jul 29, 2011)

Dave Sams said:


> Dave Sams said:
> 
> 
> > I bought 2 12v 3a Radio Shack transformers. They provide 330 watts of juice each. (Put that in your ZW and smoke it!)
> ...


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

*xrunner*, you spoiled my fun!


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## BigAl56 (Dec 14, 2011)

I run a light bus down the center of the layout. Use solid 14 Gage wire and strip most of the insulation off so its bare wire except in a few places. Do the same for a return wire. I just run my wires over to the bus and wrap them around.

For the lights themselves I use Christmas strings. Those lights are really cheap. They run about 3 volts each. Put 4 in series and connect to 12 volts. When you wire in series they draw the current of one bulb.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

What's the reason, then, for the insulation on the bus wire in a few remaining places?


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## raleets (Jan 2, 2011)

tjcruiser said:


> What's the reason, then, for the insulation on the bus wire in a few remaining places?


Good question, and can't wait to hear the answer.  I've thought of just running a pair of bare copper bus wires (+ and -) under the layout and twisting on like Chubby Checker.  It would save a box full of suitcase connectors and a LOT of strain on my neck and back! 
If anyone wants to inspect the wiring underneath my layout they might as well observe the mistletoe on my belt while down there! :laugh: :laugh:
Bob


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## BigAl56 (Dec 14, 2011)

This is very simple. I like color coding. When your lying on your back under the layout with limited lighting having spaces of insulation allows me to tell one bus from another as well a gives a place for the staple gun to secure the bus wire to the underside. I use black for the return, green for the lighting, and red for 14v. As I set up my accessories I can easily run the bus wires to the appropriate connection points. I also prefer bi-color wire to connect to the track for the same reasons.

Another reason is insulated wire is a lot cheaper than bare wire. I take about two feet of 14 gage solid and use my stripper tool to pull off about 3 inches or so at a time. Then I cut about a half inch of insulation and slide it back on to create about 4-6 inches of bus. I staple the bus wires in the center of the activity at a few key locations under the layout.

To connect the busses I use a heavy gage outdoor extension cord. They are dirt cheap and are about 16 gage 3 conductor. You can get a 100' three conductor cord for under 10 bucks! I chop them up into short lengths and strip the ends to connect to each bus and the transformers.

Anything for household AC wiring is cheap at the home improvement store and easily handles the high current loads of O gage trains.

Now if I could only figure out how to modify a 15 amp circuit breaker for 7.5 amps...


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Thanks for the detailed explanation!


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## raleets (Jan 2, 2011)

areizman said:


> This is very simple. I like color coding. When your lying on your back under the layout with limited lighting having spaces of insulation allows me to tell one bus from another as well a gives a place for the staple gun to secure the bus wire to the underside. I use black for the return, green for the lighting, and red for 14v. As I set up my accessories I can easily run the bus wires to the appropriate connection points. I also prefer bi-color wire to connect to the track for the same reasons.
> 
> Another reason is insulated wire is a lot cheaper than bare wire. I take about two feet of 14 gage solid and use my stripper tool to pull off about 3 inches or so at a time. Then I cut about a half inch of insulation and slide it back on to create about 4-6 inches of bus. I staple the bus wires in the center of the activity at a few key locations under the layout.
> 
> ...


Thanks for your system explanation.
I also run dual bus wires from cheap zip wire. I use the stripe side for positive and the plain side for negative. I split them apart, staple gun them to the bottom of my table, then attach the light drops via suitcase connectors. Slow work, but effective. I now have about 100 LED's on my layout. Looks pretty cool when I turn off the overhead flourescents.
Happy wiring,
Bob


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## kingred58 (Apr 8, 2011)

*Photos Please!!!*

*BUMP!!! Please include PHOTOS (even of your rats nests!)*
This is exactly where we are in constructing our layout and we need to *SEE *what these options look like. I feel confident in my ability to follow your leads (no puns), but would like a visual to help wrap my mind around the various practices you employ. 


We would like to fire up 6-8 buildings in a town and some exterior / street lamp / spot lights.



We will be using an MRC pack for accessory power only (please advise on AC orDC output side).

Have a collection of various lights designed for model train purposes (no leds yet)

Would like to avoid soldering.

Would love to see your "best" (and easiest) methods - suitcases sound nice, as do spade plugs.:thumbsup:

As always, thanks for your great ideas all. Dying to see what under your layouts!

[edit: can you post any photo responses to the Beginner Section? Figured it would serve a greater good there. Thanks!]


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