I saw a Lionel video suggesting the use of telephone wire for switches. The benefits are that such wire is cheaper and is already color coded. I am wondering whether others on here have used such wire for either switches or as a bus wire for lamps. If so, is there any wattage or length limit. Also I am interested in using it for LED lights with DC power. Thanks.
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I've used it on my current layout for the track switches and the block signals with no problems, as you have said about the color coded wires are really great for this type of application. My longest length is about 20'
I have used it on my former layout & i will be using it on my new layout,go for it you won't have any problems.
Telephone wire comes in 22 gauge and 24 gauge. It's best to try to find the older wire, called "quad" which is the one that most people think of when they visualize telephone wire. It has the old color code of Red, Green, Yellow, and Black. Since it is 22 gauge, generally, it will easily handle the momentary load of track switch machines. 24 gauge is fine for LED circuits which draw very little current.
The newer phone and data cable is Category 3 or Category 5. These are 4-pair (8 conductor) 24 gauge and can carry less current. They should be avoided for any load over 3 amps for any single conductor, but you can double up the conductors to get a larger current rating.
Cat6 data wire is an odd size. It is 23 gauge and can carry a bit more current per conductor than 24 gauge. But beware of the Chinese version, which is made of "CCA" which is copper clad aluminum. Try to find solid copper.
These wires are easy to obtain if you know an alarm, telephone or data installer. We throw away many scraps of this stuff on every job, because it's too tedious to collect the scraps and then take them to the scrap dealer. Houses under renovation are another free source of this type of wire, especially quad wire.
None of these is recommended for traction supply or uncoupling/unloading track sections. You will very quickly let out the smoke if you use it for those applications.
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I have a whole roll of cat 5 somewhere LOL but I use telephone wire also.
Telephone wire comes in 22 gauge and 24 gauge. It's best to try to find the older wire, called "quad" which is the one that most people think of when they visualize telephone wire. It has the old color code of Red, Green, Yellow, and Black. Since it is 22 gauge, generally, it will easily handle the momentary load of track switch machines. 24 gauge is fine for LED circuits which draw very little current.
The newer phone and data cable is Category 3 or Category 5. These are 4-pair (8 conductor) 24 gauge and can carry less current. They should be avoided for any load over 3 amps for any single conductor, but you can double up the conductors to get a larger current rating.
Cat6 data wire is an odd size. It is 23 gauge and can carry a bit more current per conductor than 24 gauge. But beware of the Chinese version, which is made of "CCA" which is copper clad aluminum. Try to find solid copper.
These wires are easy to obtain if you know an alarm, telephone or data installer. We throw away many scraps of this stuff on every job, because it's too tedious to collect the scraps and then take them to the scrap dealer. Houses under renovation are another free source of this type of wire, especially quad wire.
None of these is recommended for traction supply or uncoupling/unloading track sections. You will very quickly let out the smoke if you use it for those applications.
You say none of these recommendations are for uncoupling/unloading tracks. My understanding is that 22 AWG if fine, and was planning on using is it for my uncouple/unload track. The Lionel uncouple/unloads tracks come with what appear to be 22 AWG wire. Why do you say it's not good for this application?
-rog
RE: the comment above "it will easily handle the momentary load of track switch machines. "
When controllers are in the mix, and those controllers have lights like mine do, I think of the load as constant. Those lights have to get the electricity from somewhere, and those wires are it.
I'm not sure if I use PC wire or telephone wire, but it is what I use. There are 4 pairs of wires inside the cable. Each colored wire intertwines with a white wire. I consider and treat a pair as a single wire, much like parallel wiring. I have used this type of wiring on my switches for over 10 years now, and some of my runs are 20' long.
- walt
GG1-fan
I, too, use telephone wire for my Fastrack switches. In fact, I connect to the switch a short length from under the table that I terminate in a male phone connector. To the male connector I plug in a female to female adapter. To this I connect a three way female adapter. To the female adapters I run three male ended wires: one from each of my switch control panels; and one from my SC-2s. Wire lengths are up to 25 feet.
What I just described works perfect for me and does not require a lot of small wire connections and gives me great flexibility. The purpose of the post is to illustrate that phone wire works perfectly even when you make many connections through complicated physical paths.
I believe that the concern for using 22 gauge on uncouplers is due to the current draw from the magnet. I suggest that you try 22 gauge on your workbench and hold the uncouple button for up to 15 seconds (no more) and see how it performs. You will not hurt the UTC but the 22 gauge wire may get mighty warm. If it doesn't heat up then you know your answer. Check the controller for the UTC. I think that it is more like 20 gauge. I am in Germany now about 4000 miles from home and cannot check it for myself.
Cheers
Denny
To on the safe side, I think I'll use the telephone wire just to power LED lights in my buildings that will be wired in parallel. I'll also combine two each of the four small wires so that they are doubled. That way the entire wire will have a positive and negative, each consisting of two smaller wires twisted together. I trust this should work out so as not to overload the wiring. I really appreciate your suggestions as I continue on with my project.
When I had Lionel switches on my layout, I used 3-conductor thermostat wire. Readily available from Home Depot.
Just wanted to throw this in.Be careful stripping phone wire.If you NICK it, the ends will break off and not always be visible, causing a potential problem to be night-mare-istic.Nick
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