Do we really need heavy gauge wires for track feeders?

[robert3985]

When I re-wired my layout for DCC seven years ago, I went with 22AWG solid core feeders, six inches long on each and every piece of rail. 

I don't solder to the sides of the rails (both C55 and C40), but to the bottom of the rail foot.  I bend a 90deg. turn in the wire and squash it flat with my flat-nose pliers, then tin it, and solder it to the bottom of the rails both holding it and heating it with my resistance soldering tweezer, fluxing with Supersafe Gel Flux from H&N Electronics.

To keep them from being pulled off after the rails are re-ballasted, I CA the feeders into their respective holes drilled through my splined Masonite subroadbed using gap-filling CA and Accelerator, which because the layout is sectional and portable, is essential IMHO.

At shows, when buckled up to my friend and fellow crazy Gregg Cudworth's modules, which also have a feeder every piece of rail, we run up to a total of eight trains simultaneously on the mainlines, make up trains at Echo Yard and switch various industries on Gregg's sections, running two dozen or more engines at the same time, with no signal loss or any other electrical problems whatsoever.

So, in my 7 years of practical experience, 22AWG solid copper feeders (on every piece of rail) has been trouble-free.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore (finally recovered from 5 weeks of being ill!   )

[peteski]

So, in my 7 years of practical experience, 22AWG solid copper feeders (on every piece of rail) has been trouble-free.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore (finally recovered from 5 weeks of being ill!   )

Nice to have you back Bob.  I'm glad that the nasty bug is gone.    I had a nasty case of conjunctivitis earlier this year (for the first time in my life) and I hope that I never catch it again.

Good to know that your 22AWG feeders are working well. I totally expected that.    Your recommendations I've seen on TRW were actually one of the main reasons why I did the research and started this thread!

I'm 110% sure that your feeders would work just as well and be just as reliable if they were 24, 26 or even 28 AWG, and the lighter gauge wire is easier to solder and to deal with in general.  That is all I'm saying.

[robert3985]

Nice to have you back Bob.  I'm glad that the nasty bug is gone. 

I'm 110% sure that your feeders would work just as well and be just as reliable if they were 24, 26 or even 28 AWG, and the lighter gauge wire is easier to solder and to deal with in general.  That is all I'm saying.

Thanks Peter!  It's good to be back! 

Actually, smaller AWG feeders have worked well for me also, even when not soldering them to every piece of rail back in my DC days.  I have two reasons I chose 22AWG wire for my feeders:

(1) Its insulation is just the right diameter for an interference fit in a 1/16" hole, which I drill with a long, "aircraft" drill bit through both my cork roadbed and 1" splined Masonite subroadbed.  If I bend the feeder slightly, it won't fall through the hole to the floor...which is really irritating after a while!  But, its fit is loose enough I can easily slide the flattened, bent & tinned tip up to the foot of my rails.  So, for my purpose and ease of handling when installing the hundreds of new feeders to every damned piece of rail...22AWG is perfect...but not because of the diameter of the copper part of the wire, which could be smaller and work just as well electrically, but because of handling convenience when installing.

(2) When I flattened the feeder tips and tinned them for soldering out-of-sight under my already-laid trackage, I needed something that I could easily "feel" with the bent tips of my resistance solderer tweezer...because I sure as hell couldn't see 'em.  Smaller wire would have been nearly impossible to solder to the rail foot in my instance, and since you can't see the 22AWG feeders anyway after they're attached...the visible diameter of the wire is a moot point for me.

So, for my application...the larger 22AWG wire (still NOT "huge" by any definition) was the Goldilocks solution..."...just right..."

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore