Lets see your DCC Wiring.

[Jeff AKA St0rm]

I am starting to build my power shelf and i thought it would be nice to see how everyone does there wiring.

I will start off with a photo of the start of what i have so far.



Jeff

[Burlington Bob]

Looks like you've got a good start by keeping your wires neat and orderly.  I would suggest that you make straight line runs from one area to another , avoiding the urge to make a diagonal run to whatever it is that needs wired.  It might take a little longer and will use a little more wire but it will be far neater and easier to troubleshoot or make any changes if needed.  Also, identify your wires by either writing on a piece of tape and flagging each wire at each end or you can buy small tablets that have numbers and letters that are self- adhesive and can be wrapped around your wires just for this purpose.  A little extra time spent now can save a lot of time (and hair pulling) later if problems should arise.

Here are some suggestions for wiring a control panel.  While many things won't apply to our needs there are still some good practices outlined to follow. https://hennulat.wordpress.com/2013/05/13/control-panel-layout-and-wiring-best-practices/

[peteski]

LOL Bob!  When you said "control panel" I thought you meant a model RR control panel. 


But you're right - neat wiring counts, no matter if it is a model RR or a nuclear plant control panel.

[Burlington Bob]

I worked for a company in Arizona and one of the owners was very anal about wiring in control panels.  He did some of the best wiring jobs you could find anywhere and I've always tried to follow his advice.............because neatness does payoff.

[bdennis]

I mount mine on boards under the layout. (Sorry for the poor quality)



All boards are clearly labeled with board numbers, locations etc for easy fault finding.

[fcwilt]

Nothing fancy here - just mounting the various boards, etc to the underside of the layout.

There are a few wiring pictures here from quite a while ago but it should give you the idea:

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/cq1m3o0mcyki8e2/AADLEsFX50kem9ajz34qwKlma

[John]

Nothing fancy here - just mounting the various boards, etc to the underside of the layout.

There are a few wiring pictures here from quite a while ago but it should give you the idea:

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/cq1m3o0mcyki8e2/AADLEsFX50kem9ajz34qwKlma

disgusting neatness

[elnscale]

I have a photo of my PM42 setup:



Input from the Digitrax Super Chief 8 amp is in the lower right corner. All four inputs are wired from this single input. PM42 power supply (12v) top right. 4 power districts exit on left. Power districts are 1) yards 2) engine facility 3) main line and 4) branch lines.

[basementcalling]

So much for the advantage of hooking up two wires to the layout and being able to run trains on DCC. 

[Santa Fe Guy]

Here are some of my BDL168 and SE8C boards under my SFRSD
[ Guests cannot view attachments ] [ Guests cannot view attachments ]
Rod.

[Jeff AKA St0rm]

So much for the advantage of hooking up two wires to the layout and being able to run trains on DCC. 

Well you can But!!!

Right now i have just 2 power drops powering 300 feet of track. everything runs fine the problems is there isn't enough power to trip the system in the event of a short so i just watch my trains really well. DCC wiring only get complicated and starts to look like this when you start to use all the features that DCC offers. I have built many small layouts that are just 2 bus wires and power drops.

Jeff

[basementcalling]

Well you can But!!!

Right now i have just 2 power drops powering 300 feet of track. everything runs fine the problems is there isn't enough power to trip the system in the event of a short so i just watch my trains really well. DCC wiring only get complicated and starts to look like this when you start to use all the features that DCC offers. I have built many small layouts that are just 2 bus wires and power drops.

Jeff

Oh, I am so stealing ideas as I start wiring the Idaho Belt.  I've run bus lines on the lower deck and dropped most feeders, but I need to learn my DCC ABCs and acronyms so I don't use an AR as a PM42.