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Hello, I have been dealing with a voltage drop issue for a few months now and I finally got some time to work on it. My layout consists of two loops of fastrack. The bigger loop has O-48 curves and the smaller loop has O-36. The loops are connected with command switches both left and right hand. (These are also in O-36) My layout is powered by a single connection to the track via a CW-80 transformer. I also have the original command base to run command equipped locomotives. I have been doing research on this issue I’ve been having on the forums and in articles.I tried tightening pins, that didn’t work. Soldering jumpers had a temporary fix but didn’t last overtime. So I finally got a MTH 12 port distribution board and need help with connections. My question is, can I run bigger wires on the distribution board to supply more power? How would I make the connections? Sorry for the long paragraph, this is my very first layout. Although I’ve been running trains on the floor for years, this is new to me.

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Use 14 or 16 gauge stranded copper wire to make your connections. If you can get paired wire that differentiates (usually color or striping) between pos and negative, it will be easier. Strip each end of the first paired wire which has been cut to length for your first connection from the distribution board to the track. Crimp a spade connector to each wire end and connect them to the #1 posts of your distribution board using a Phillips screwdriver, and note which colored or striped wire is connected to the pos and neg posts on your distribution board.

Run the wire to the first place you want to connect to the track. Since you are using Fastrack, purchase these .110 female connectors off Amazon. Strip the wire ends of your paired wire that will connect to the track and crimp one of the female .110 connectors to each wire end. Now flip a piece of standard Fastrack over (not a switch or fitter piece) and there should be two metal tabs in the middle - one for pos to the center rail and one for common to the outside rails. Slide the respective female connectors over the tabs being sure to observe correct polarity and you're done. Now repeat the same procedure for 11 more connections from the distribution board to your loops (6 connections each loop), spacing the connections out on the trackage as equally as you can.

Now connect your transformer to the input terminals of the distribution board, again observing correct polarity.

For a neater look, you can drill holes in your layout table top under each piece of track you intend to use for a connection and run the wires from the distribution board up through the table top and then to each track connection.

Hope this helps.

FASTRACK .110 FEMALE CONNECTOR

     

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I think I’ll stick with the black and red, just to keep thing simple, red for positive or hot and black for common. Keeps things simple. Another question, can the transformer connections be 14 or 16 gauge wire? They say that electricity flows like waters, the bigger the tube or pipe, the more water flows through. Kind of the same thing for electricity and wires.

Hello, I have been dealing with a voltage drop issue for a few months now and I finally got some time to work on it. My layout consists of two loops of fastrack. The bigger loop has O-48 curves and the smaller loop has O-36. The loops are connected with command switches both left and right hand. (These are also in O-36) My layout is powered by a single connection to the track via a CW-80 transformer. I also have the original command base to run command equipped locomotives. I have been doing research on this issue I’ve been having on the forums and in articles.I tried tightening pins, that didn’t work. Soldering jumpers had a temporary fix but didn’t last overtime. So I finally got a MTH 12 port distribution board and need help with connections. My question is, can I run bigger wires on the distribution board to supply more power? How would I make the connections? Sorry for the long paragraph, this is my very first layout. Although I’ve been running trains on the floor for years, this is new to me.

What you are really asking is about is resistance. The amount of amount of voltage drop over a given wire versus distance and load. Here is a simple way to find out:https://www.omnicalculator.com/physics/voltage-drop.

@ThatGuy posted:

What you are really asking is about is resistance. The amount of amount of voltage drop over a given wire versus distance and load. Here is a simple way to find out:https://www.omnicalculator.com/physics/voltage-drop.

I’ll use this after the wiring, but my layout 100 percent needs to be wired. If the fastrack doesn’t work after that, I’ll have to switch brands unfortunately. But let’s hope I don’t have to do that.

I think I’ll stick with the black and red, just to keep thing simple, red for positive or hot and black for common. Keeps things simple. Another question, can the transformer connections be 14 or 16 gauge wire? They say that electricity flows like waters, the bigger the tube or pipe, the more water flows through. Kind of the same thing for electricity and wires.

My personal preference is 14 gauge from transformer to distribution board and 16 gauge from distribution board to the underside of the Fastrack.

Attached is a picture of how the connections to the underside of the Fastrack pieces should look.

FASTRACK TERMINAL CONNECTIONS

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Good advice to date. Apparently you are wiring your layout with Lionel technology.  So the paths of the power wires that connect to the FastTack pieces doesn't matter much; just install wires along the shortest distance(s).

You may know that MTH recommends using a "star" wiring pattern with all wiring of feeder paths cut to the same length. In your case, you can ignore that point.

Carry on ...

Mike Mottler     LCCA 12394

Good advice to date. Apparently you are wiring your layout with Lionel technology.  So the paths of the power wires that connect to the FastTack pieces doesn't matter much; just install wires along the shortest distance(s).

You may know that MTH recommends using a "star" wiring pattern with all wiring of feeder paths cut to the same length. In your case, you can ignore that point.

Carry on ...

Mike Mottler     LCCA 12394

Although I’m using Lionel Technology, can I still use the star wiring method? I’ve seen a video on that about a week ago. It looks a lot simpler than the bus. Plus it’s fastrack so I pretty much don’t have to solder due to the connectors you can use.

@Richie C. posted:

My personal preference is 14 gauge from transformer to distribution board and 16 gauge from distribution board to the underside of the Fastrack.

Attached is a picture of how the connections to the underside of the Fastrack pieces should look.

FASTRACK TERMINAL CONNECTIONS

Send like a lot of wires, how much wire would I have to buy in order to complete this? Maybe 100 feet or more, I’m not sure. I’ll try to keep you guys updated as I begin this process.

You don't need a bus line - the MTH distribution box ("d-box") replaces a bus line. Just connect your CW-80 transformer outputs to the red and black terminals of the d-box and then connect the 12 terminals of the d-box to your two loops about equally spaced apart as explained above.

One way to get close to a star pattern is to mount your d-box to the underside of your table top in the middle of the layout and run your transformer outputs to it. Then just run the d-box terminal posts equally around the layout from underneath.

Attached are two pics showing the transformer connection to the d-box and then the output wires from the d-box to the track. Also, a layout diagram with only 5 connections for illustrative purposes, but you'll need at least 8 (four for each loop).

I can't explain it much better than this. It has nothing to do with whether you're using Fastrack or any other type of track system.

Without knowing the size of your layout it's impossible to know how much wire you'll need. At a minimum, you'll need 8 lengths of red wire and 8 lengths of black wire to run from the central d-box location to each of the 8 track connections. How long each wire length needs to be will simply be a reflection of how long the run is from each d-box terminal to where you connect to the track. That's why I earlier suggested using paired wire, since you only need to make one run (and split the wire) for each track connection. You'll also need wire to connect the transformer to the d-box.   

You can see in the marked photo with the yellow circle how using paired wire makes the wiring job much easier.

ELECTRONICS MARKED 11ELECTRONICS 4ELECTRONICS 11

   

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Last edited by Richie C.

I found some paired wires on Amazon but I think they were made for cars, could this work for my layout as well? ...snip

It's been strongly recommended here on the Forum to avoid that type of wire.  It's copper clad aluminum.  Maybe you don't intend to solder it now, but it you ever do, it's a poor choice.  I suggest spending a little more on pure copper stranded wire, like speaker wire.

@SteveH posted:

It's been strongly recommended here on the Forum to avoid that type of wire.  It's copper clad aluminum.  Maybe you don't intend to solder it now, but it you ever do, it's a poor choice.  I suggest spending a little more on pure copper stranded wire, like speaker wire.

I found another example of wires, this time it’s copper but it’s tinned, I also have a description on the wires themselves. Sorry if I am bringing up different types of wires, I’m just making sure I buy the right thing.



IMG_4187

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Have you had success with these and crimped connectors? Just thought I would ask before buying them. I was busy again so I couldn’t do anything with the layout for a little bit.

Yes, I've had success with low strand count wire and crimped connectors.  A few things help improve the long term reliability rate:

  1. Follow the crimp connector manufacture's guidelines for selecting the correct size connector for the wire gauge to be used.  Industry standard is blue for 16 gauge wire.
  2. Good crimpers really help.
  3. When stripping the insulation, I like to barely separate the cut piece of insulation and temporarily leave it on the end of the wire.  Next I twist off that piece of insulation, kinda like removing a screw.  This twist gives more for the crimp to grab and keeps salt and oil from my fingers off the copper.

If you want the ultimate low resistance reliable connection, tin the wire ends and solder on the connectors.

Adding the extra terminal feeds should resolve the issue.  Im still perplexed why the soldered jumpers don’t work.  Here’s a pic of what I did, just because for me it was simpler on a large permanent layout to solder rather than add terminal connections every piece of track.

Reliable trains are more fun!  Glad you are persisting!

IMG_2086

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Adding the extra terminal feeds should resolve the issue.  Im still perplexed why the soldered jumpers don’t work.  Here’s a pic of what I did, just because for me it was simpler on a large permanent layout to solder rather than add terminal connections every piece of track.

Reliable trains are more fun!  Glad you are persisting!

IMG_2086

I’m shocked I didn’t work for me either, but at least I can learn some new skills along the way. I’m not sure if it’s because they were 18 gauge. I had no issue with the 16 gauge at the r that one was soldered, but I think this method will distribute the power better. I’m also trying everything I can because it’s not the engines themselves. Both of my command engines started  acted erratically ever since I had this issue. Maybe I just got a bad set off Amazon? Hopefully when this is all finished, I can run my trains like I intended.

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