Wiring neatness?

wiring what???

Wiring starts out very neat.  Take photos of it after the first day of work.  Accept that it will never again look that good.  Wiring is inately, genetically prone to "rats's nest' syndrome.  Trying to keep it neat beyond the first 24 hours is a futile battle against an inherent law of the universe.  Acceptance of the tangle as a thing of beauty, is the only way to inner peace.  

 

Loops, DCS, lights, accessories, turnouts and so on.  It just becomes a scrambled web mess underneath.  

Look for posts by Mike CT.  He is the king of neat wire setup.  My advice is begin immediately to keep it neat. get some of these black wire split flex tubing. It comes in a lot of diameters to hold differing amounts and AWG wire. 

 

I put the track bus in one, the common in another, the SW bus in another, the Lite bus in another the wires for the OTC are a bit more difficult, but they can ride along the SW bus. Think it thru...it will all payoff in the end

 

Ralph

My father is an electrician. He will not look under my layout because it has such a bad case of rat's nest syndrome.

Wiring starts out very neat.  Take photos of it after the first day of work.  Accept that it will never again look that good.  Wiring is innately, genetically prone to "rats's nest' syndrome.

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I have NO IDEA what you are talking about?! Greg

 

There is material that allows for the large number of wires a modern layout might take.  This plastic wire tray is availble in different sizes and allows for some organization.  Please note that on my original install, I under-estimated the size of tray needed and did some tear-out and redo.  Adding Atlas 6924 universal switch control boards added another dimension, a lot of additional wiring,  to the project.  

Wire management file. Early.

Control Center finished, I think??

Click on the underlined phrases to link. 

There are only two photos there....no idea what happened in that last post!

Greg

The important first step is to have a plan for the total amount of wire you think you will have plus a third more. There is always more wire than you think. A good wire management system at the get go is key. Keeping the wiring neat is not too hard, but you do have to stick to it.

Neat wiring is relative.  As a retired electrician I like loops near my terminations for flexibility in relocating.  I also prefer my wiring to be loosely bundled by track power, turnout wiring, accessories, and lighting.  Color coding is vital.

 

See examples with photos of Buss Wiring, Wire Management, and Control Carts on my website.

John

Mark's got it covered, then look at MikeCt pictures. I use an Excel spreadsheet or 15 of them to document my wiring. What is connected to what will be important later when the trouble starts.

 

Ralph

Mike CT has the neatest wiring I ever saw 

John,

 

It takes Planning, Patience & Perseverance. But most importantly: Lots of Terminal Strips, Cable Clamps & Cable Ties (Zip Ties)!!

 

See attached photos!

 

Fred

Fred thats nice....I'm jealous.

 

Chris

John,
  RJR and I were just joking about this very thing a little while ago in one of the other threads, in my case under my platform is a lot neater than above board around my transformer desk.
I got into using the gray PVR hangers, running my wiring thru them in different directions because I was always drilling holes in the layout, for switches, house ect.  These guys are right it really does pay to start from the beginning with the hangers, keeping the wiring half way neat, especially if you are always adding to your layout.
PCRR/Dave

The transformer station, does however with a couple of the larger MTH Terminal Blocks, switch contols and TIU, does look pretty messy, however I knew just were every single line traced too.  No doubt I should have been much neater setting this transformer station up.

 

Neat wiring uses more wire. I am concerned with voltage drop, expenses, etc.

I try to keep my wires under control in rows where possible, use different colors, tags, and secured to the underside of the table. I am not going to use 2 - 3 extra feet of wire or more in order to have a "pro" look. IMO when I started to use barrier strips in the appropriate places, the wiring task started to feel like another hobby or even like work. I don't need another hobby or another line of work. 

bigo426,

   You can see by my transformer desk, that I live by your theory!

PCRR/Dave

Kinda worked out similar for me,  I thought 4 holes in all 2 x 4's was enough

Nah,  never was enough in the 5 house I have built also ,  I have gone back just to

be sure, I did put the red wire on the correct end,  was always going back to light

switches, to see if I did connect that ground,  and if you crossed something up,

the sparks all look the same to me, train layout or house,  and why those wires tangle up right in front of a drilled out hole,  beats me ,  Oh, I sweep, after every hole, on the layout,  had to wait end of the day on house,  Yep very much alike,

Had to have a little help on formulas was told I could put 14-15 lights on 1 circuit,'

I have kept at 12,  and I would like to know how many LED's, on 1 HO hobby shop transformer,  120 volt

In addition to colored wires i use colored tape to further subdivide groupings.

 

Before installing the decking I like to pre route as many of  the basic runs as I can.

My advice would be keep it neat but loose.  I like to use loosely tied (big loops) large tie-wraps running along major routes under the table.  Makes it easy to add wiring at a later date.  Keep the wires loose enough that you can easily get at them to add a wire or trouble shoot. 

 

If you can, be consistent in color coding your wiring.  For instance if I find a white wire under the layout, I know that it is tied to all outside rail - layout ground.

 

Finally, be sure you keep good records.  Write down what is attached to the terminals of your AIU and your terminal blocks.  Keep your records in pencil or on your computer, as they will change over time.

 

Good Luck and have fun!

Document, document, document what wire goes to what item! 

 

When I started on my layout, one of my friends, an aerospace engineer, reminded me, "Watch your configuration management of your wiring; you'll need it years from now."  I took his advice, spending a few bucks for Staples to print out a large size version of my track plan which I mounted to a piece of foam board. 

 

 

As I installed the track, the metal pins and the insulating pins, forming blocks, I marked on the drawing where each block began and ended--then gave that specific block a name that related to it's location on the layout.  I did the same with each switch (turn-out).

 

As I strung wiring, I used a small printer to create paper labels that I placed every 18 to 36 inches to identify its purpose.  This label correlated to the blocks and switches (turn-outs) I identified on the drawing.  This paid major dividends when we installed a hinged control panel.  (BTW--Sylvia designed it, cut the wood, installed the hinge and laid out the tape version of the layout diagram.)  When I wired the control panel and installed the various occupancy lights and activating switches, knowing which wire went to which item was essential.  The labeling of the wires from end to end paid off.

 

 

 

The bulk of that work was done in 2007 and 2008.  Since then I've added accessories, uncoupling tracks, street lights, etc.  Every wire is similarly labeled every 18 to 36 inches.

 

Fast forward to today.   I just returned to active work on the layout after completing a 14 month long course for work that consumed about 20 hours a week of my spare time.  If none of the wiring under the layout was marked, I'd be totally lost trying to figure out which wire goes where (or even finishing the hook up of a couple of soda machines). 

 

Take the time to label your wiring now; it'll pay off in the future.

Don said a very important thing above; neat but loose. Neat keeps the wiring from getting caught on everything when working. Loose allows one to pull and tug on the wire so as to trace a line when all else fails.

 

But the most important thing you can do is to draw a wiring plan and stick to it. All your terminal strips should be labeled such as TS-1, TS-2, TS-2a ect,ect and this should be reflected on your drawing.

The next most important thing that needs to be done is that all your wires need to be labled at each termination and this too needs to be reflected on your drawing. Radio Shack has such lables, or white electrical tape flags with a very fine tip marker will work also.

 

Remember a job can be the neatest piece of handy craft in the world, but when you come back to it in a year or so to trouble shoot something you don't wont to have to relearn everything from jump-street.

 

A well planed and executed wiring system is worth it's weight in gold.

Pat's post just hit before I got done with the above and all I can say is that I love it!

With those lables and a good drawing I can come behind the man and follow everything he did.

 

Oh yea, notice the loose wires on the door swing, no "Banjo-Strings". One thing a technician hates to hear is twanging wires when he opens an access panel.

Most times the framing grid itself serves as as an adequate "wire loom" and keeps the wire runs fairly neat and safe from damage.

Adding or removing cables from tightly stuffed holes is a pain.  Consider using briddle rings like these:

Just screw these to the underside of your platform structure.

 

Jan