Speaker Wire

Speaker wire should work very well, it is stranded and usually has a marking for the positive wire on the outside insulation. You should not need larger than 16 awg for acccessories. You may want to put a six or seven amp fuse in the circuit as well.

 

Lee F.

We're using CL2 twisted pair 14/2 speaker wire for all the track wiring on our 26 x 17 layout. 500' was $90 shipped. We running TMCC/Legacy and DCS.... no problems what so ever. You won't have any problems with the wire.

It works fine, I have used it. My only suggestion is pick one that you can clearly tell the differences between the conductors. Some have the same color jackets with only some ridges to tell them part. This can be hard to tell the difference sometime, especially in poor light under a layout.......don't ask me how I know.

How long are your wire runs going to be?

Using 16 gauge speaker wire wouldn't hurt anything, but it sounds like overkill to me.

If you prefer to use 2 conductor wire, you might want to try 18 gauge lamp cord.

One conductor is typically marked with ribs, so you can keep track of polarity.

I have used both 16 and 18 gauge speaker wire on quite a bit of my layout with no problems.  It's inexpensive and easy to use.  But I agree with Rich, make sure you can easily tell the difference between conductors and be consistent in which you are using for what polarity.  As Rich said don't ask how I know.

 

Kevin

I have used lamp cord and speaker wire on my layouts thru the years. While it can be hard to identify the "hot" & "common" sides, I simply use a red sharpie and mark the cord every foot or so. I'll sometimes also use a black one, too. And I also label the wire too.

Lamp cord has one side of the insulation ribbed to identify the leads.

Most of my layout is wired with speaker wire. The CL2-Inwall stuff works great because its 2 wires (or 4) in an outer jacket, which keeps it nice and neat, and the wires inside are color coded. If you use the lamp cord style wire, usually there's a colored line or some other indicator on one side (company logo, one wire silver/the other gold, etc...) to indicate the polarity of the wire. 

IMO for accessories,  you can probably use 18 gauge, or do a long run of 16 gauge and then branch it off with smaller wire into each accessory.

IMO speaker wire is overkill, not as flexible as zip cord and not as many strands per conductor plus it's more expensive.  I buy my lamp cord (18 ga x 250') in a bulk spool for $70.00 delivered.  That's only $.28 per ft.

 

Home Depot has 250 foot rolls of 18 gauge SPT-2 lamp cord for $42.70.

They also have 250 foot rolls of 16 gauge SPT-2 lamp cord for $62.50.

 

As I posted earlier, I think that under most circumstances 16 gauge would be overkill.

One would probably have trouble getting it to fit the the accessory's terminals.

 

Several people have noted that lamp cord does carry polarity markings, either ribs, colored conductors, etc.

Call me a groupie but I am a big fan of the 16 guage wire that our host OGR sells.

Guess I'll be going to HD next time.  That's pretty cheap.

You might want to take a look at our wire. It is 2-conductor, RED and BLACK, and it has been tested with DCS, TMCC and Legacy.

 

Yes, it is a bit more expensive than plain old speaker wire or zip cord, but the convenience of the RED and BLACK insulation and its excellent track record (over 100,000 feet of it in service now) may be worth the additional cost.

"Track record" - that's a good one!

Thanks for all the feedback. I am using O Gauge RR Mag Wire for track power, and speaker wire for accessories. I am hoping this system makes it easier to keep my wiring organized. I found some great two color 16 gauge speaker wire for $0.27 a foot at my local hardware store. I like the O Gauge RR Mag wire, although the16 gauge wire I have seems more like 18 gauge wire.

Hi All,

I couldn't resist adding my two cents worth to this post and perhaps save everyone a little money along the way.  Having done a fair amount of computerized Christmas lighting, I can offer the following information.  It IS lenghty but worht the read; specially the part about amperage rating.  If you are simply lighting buildings, etc. perhaps a lighter gauge wire would suffice.   Consider asking for SPT-1 for additional savings.  Here's the scoop:

 

We frequently get questions regarding the difference between SPT-1 and SPT-2 wire. There is a lot of confusion and even long time professional Christmas installers don’t fully understand the difference and what makes one better than the other.

 

When installing Christmas lights and decorations, zip cord and light line are often used. These are usually made from 18/2 wire. However from time to time 16/2 cord may also be used and in some cases a very thick 14/2. But since most Christmas lighting and decorating projects utilize 18/2, we’ll focus on that for now. When looking at the two numbers for the zip cord, 18/2, the 18 refers to the size of the wire, which in this case is 18 gauge. The 2 means there are two wires that make up the cord. The smaller the number, the thicker the wire. So a 16 gauge cord is thicker than a 18 gauge.

 

As far as the SPT rating, this is simply the thickness of the insulation that surrounds the copper wires. 18/2, SPT-1 wire has an insulation thickness of .030″ and 18/2, SPT-2 has insulation that is .045″ thick.

Because of the thicker insulation, SPT-2 wire has a higher maximum amp rating than SPT-1, which means it can power more lights and decorations. 18/2, SPT-1 is rated at 7 amps and 18/2, SPT-2 is rated at 10 amps.

 

Because SPT-2 is thicker it is often recommended for cold conditions where the insulation tends to get brittle and cracks. However, in our own testing as well as feedback from other pro installers, we’ve found that the thicker insulation actually tends to crack easier when it gets cold whereas the slightly thinner SPT-1 tends to be more pliable which reduces cracking due to cold temperatures. Like many issues within the Christmas lighting field, this is a topic of much debate and everyone seems to have their own opinion regarding which option is better. However, SPT-1 is still the most often used type of cord and we sell it about 10 to 1 over SPT-2.

 

For most installations, our recommendation is to go with SPT-1 unless you are looking to run longer lengths of incandescent C7 or C9 lighting. If you’re using LEDs, then the 10 amp rating on the SPT-2 cord is not necessary. The reason why is due to the lower electrical requirements of LED bulbs. With a 10 amp rating you could run over 1100 bulbs on a single run. However the issue is that the amount of footage of perimeter cord it would take to hold this many bulbs would be so long that you would get extreme voltage drop and all the bulbs would not be properly illuminated. Typically we don’t recommend running more than 400 feet of 18/2 cord. Otherwise you will start to get voltage drop. By going with18/2, SPT-1, you’re saving money upfront and the 7 amp rating is more than enough for most applications, especially when using LED Christmas lights.

 

Here are some prices at a Christmas lighting site:

http://www.christmascarolina.c...ire-while-lasts.html

18 Awg Lamp Cord, 2con <acronym title="Stranded Parallel Thermoplastic">SPT</acronym>-1 Wire 250 FT Spool, one roll $30

16 Awg Lamp Cord, 2con White <acronym title="Stranded Parallel Thermoplastic">SPT</acronym>-2 Wire 250 FT Spool, $45

 

Perhaps you really don't even need 18 gauge but can use 20 or 22 for just lighting.

Best,

Dave