Where to go from Plug and Play

First I'll say welcome to the Forum.  You're on the right track in wondering whether to keep adding more daisy chained Plug-n-Play accessories to to a single port.  I would suggest not doing that because the small wires in the first port of the chain would eventually become overloaded by running too much current (power) through them.  However, there's no real issue (besides cost) to adding more P-n-P if wired directly to the transformer or to larger accessory bus wires, like 14 gauge.

The ZWL has more than plenty of power to add more lights and accessories to the same channel (handle) if you wish to operate them at the same voltage, as long as they are wired to either a heavier gauge bus or directly to the transformer.  I also like to use more than one channel be able to power certain different types of accessories with different voltages to optimize the way they operate.

There are quite a few good and relatively easy ways to connect multiple accessories on the same bus, including lever nuts and various types of terminal strips.  More on those later if you like.

@SteveH posted:

First I'll say welcome to the Forum.  You're on the right track in wondering whether to keep adding more daisy chained Plug-n-Play accessories to to a single port.  I would suggest not doing that because the small wires in the first port of the chain would eventually become overloaded by running too much current (power) through them.  However, there's no real issue (besides cost) to adding more P-n-P if wired directly to the transformer or to larger accessory bus wires, like 14 gauge.

The ZWL has more than plenty of power to add more lights and accessories to the same channel (handle) if you wish to operate them at the same voltage, as long as they are wired to either a heavier gauge bus or directly to the transformer.  I also like to use more than one channel be able to power certain different types of accessories with different voltages to optimize the way they operate.

There are quite a few good and relatively easy ways to connect multiple accessories on the same bus, including lever nuts and various types of terminal strips.  More on those later if you like.

Thank you Steve! This forum continues to be an incredible resource, I really appreciate it.

The potential for overloading the first connection in the chain definitely makes sense, I did not consider that. Especially after I just spliced my first 3-port extension this afternoon, adding connectors to the red & black, and taping off the white- those wires are tiny!

You bring up a great case for using a second modified 3-port extension rigged to the ZW-L independently. The only accessory I currently have that does more than just illuminate could probably use more juice than the latter, and I could use this as an opportunity to address that. I appreciate the ah-ha moment here! 😁

Bus wiring and items such as the ASC-2 are now just about the last total blind spots for me on my new found O Gauge journey.. I don’t think my 8x7ft oval warrants any of that just yet, but I’d love to learn so I can make sense of expansion.

Thanks again!