Solid or stranded ??

[eja]

Which do you scholars of model railroading prefer - solid or stranded wire for use as feeders ?  What is you wire gauge of choice ?

thanks .........


eja

[ryan_wilkerson]

Personally I like 22awg solid.

[Hamaker]

Same as Wilkerson...............solid.

[robert3985]

Solid copper wire.

22 AWG

Red & Black insulation (Red for rails on track that are closest to me, Black for the other rail.

A feeder on every piece of rail.

No 22 AWG feeder longer than 6".

NEVER trust rail joiners to carry either electrical current or DCC signals, even soldered ones.

Here's a photo of my Echo Yard when I had ripped out my old rat's nest of DC wiring and was intalling my new, high-speed/low-drag DCC wiring.  What you're seeing are just the red feeders.  In this photo, the black feeders and the frog feeders haven't been installed yet:


I also soldered mine to the bottom of the rails using my resistance solderer, which is a lot more difficult to do than soldering them to the sides of the rails.  But, they "disappear" which is great until you need to find or test one.  I make sure the joint if fully tested by pulling on the feeder to make sure it's secure, then testing with my ohmmeter for continuity.  Another way to do this is to drill a single hole on the centerline of the track between ties and install red & black feeders in the same hole, bending them to their respective rails and soldering them.  All this would have been a LOT easier if I'd done it before painting, ballasting and weathering and putting in my scenery base, but, even at that, it was worth the effort as my electrical continuity is now flawless.

[jdcolombo]

Same here:

Solid 22 gauge, red and black insulation. 

I put feeders about every 3-4' and as needed in yard ladders (I try to feed every turnout separately).

John C.

[John]

stranded .. black toward the layout edge ..

[packers#1]

I like stranded for bottom-track mounts, any of the lower gauges like 20 or 22; I simply flatten the copper strands with a pair of pliers to make them flat and then trim and solder

[mmagliaro]

Stranded, 22.
In my experience, solid wire is more prone to breaking off.  If you aren't bumping or moving things around too much
under the layout, and I'm sure that's usually the case, it works great.   But I don't see any downside to
stranded wire, and since it's easier to route and more break-proof, that's what I use.

[Zox]

NEVER trust rail joiners to carry either electrical current or DCC signals, even soldered ones.

Can you expand on this? In my experience, soldering makes the three pieces involved (two rails, one joiner) electrically (and to some extent mechanically) a single piece. And unless you're talking a very long stretch with no feeders, the resistance of the nickel-silver shouldn't be significant.

My general standard is that every joint should be either:

• soldered;
• insulated; or
• have feeders on both sides of the joint.

[PAL_Houston]

stranded .. black toward the layout edge ..

Stranded, black toward the middle.   
Either way, it is important to be consistent on YOUR layout.

[PAL_Houston]

Can you expand on this? In my experience, soldering makes the three pieces involved (two rails, one joiner) electrically (and to some extent mechanically) a single piece. And unless you're talking a very long stretch with no feeders, the resistance of the nickel-silver shouldn't be significant.

My general standard is that every joint should be either:

• soldered;
• insulated; or
• have feeders on both sides of the joint.

Actually, I solder the leads to the rail joiners.  I do this in batches of colored+black pairs.  Then I install the paired rail joiners where they need to go.   Generally one or 2 leads per 6 to 8 feet module of track.  This works fine for me, but I caution that my layout is in a temperature-controlled environment (e.g. heat in winter, A/C in summer keep the layout +/- 10 degrees) so there is little thermal expansion/contraction, and I am willing to concede that this may not be the most robust solution for everyone's layout.

[mmagliaro]

Can you expand on this? In my experience, soldering makes the three pieces involved (two rails, one joiner) electrically (and to some extent mechanically) a single piece. And unless you're talking a very long stretch with no feeders, the resistance of the nickel-silver shouldn't be significant.

My general standard is that every joint should be either:

• soldered;
• insulated; or
• have feeders on both sides of the joint.

I agree that soldered joiners should be fine, but I do think you are overstating.  A solder joint does not make the
3 into a "single" piece.  But it is very strong.  As for feeders, you would be surprised at how short a stretch you need
with code 55 nickel silver rail before you can see a big voltage drop.   I first discovered it when
I had two diesels pulling a string of lighted passenger cars.  Together, that all drew about a full amp of current.

When the train got 8 feet away from the nearest feeder, I could definitely see the train slow down.    So after that,
I made sure I had feeders no more than 4 feet apart.

Code 55 rail has a resistance of about 0.110 ohms/foot  about 7 times as much as #22 stranded copper wire (.016 ohm/foot)
At 1 amp, an 8 foot run of track (16 feet of conductor) will drop 16 x .110 = 1.76 volts, whereas the wire will only drop .256v
That's a huge difference.

[Zox]

I agree that soldered joiners should be fine, but I do think you are overstating.  A solder joint does not make the
3 into a "single" piece.  But it is very strong.

Agreed; that's why I said "electrically (and to some extent mechanically)."

As for feeders, you would be surprised at how short a stretch you need
with code 55 nickel silver rail before you can see a big voltage drop.

My experience is primarily with Code 80 (and Code 83 or 100 for HO scale), so that's probably where our perceptions differ. Also, I'm generally dealing with blocks that fit within a four-foot module, so your eight feet would definitely qualify as a "long stretch of track" for me. 

[Sokramiketes]

Interesting to see so many people using #22 wire... I've never used anything larger than #24 and generally prefer stranded on the modular layout.

[Ike the BN Freak]

I used 20, but only because I couldn't find rolls of 22 or 24 at any of the big box stores here in town.