What is the wire gauge for N locos?

[n9]

2 minutes ago, KingEdwardII said:

Note that the wires listed are for mains voltage - i.e. 600V. These require greater thickness of insulation than wires designed for low voltage.

 

Yours, Mike

Great catch! Thank you. Looks like I'll be ordering proper decoder wire from Germany

Edited December 29, 2023 by n9

[KingEdwardII]

When I hard wired a decoder into my older Hornby County 4-6-0, I got decoder wire & shrinkwrap from DCC Concepts.

 

They are showing £3.95 for 6m of any one of a range of colours, £4.95 for 6m of twin Red/Black, or £29.95 for an assorted pack with a range of colours. 32g. All in stock as far as I can tell.

 

https://www.dccconcepts.com/product-category/decoders-and-installation/dccconcepts-decoder-wire-and-special-fine-wire/

 

Yours, Mike.

[n9]

2 minutes ago, KingEdwardII said:

When I hard wired a decoder into my older Hornby County 4-6-0, I got decoder wire & shrinkwrap from DCC Concepts.

 

They are showing £3.95 for 6m of any one of a range of colours, £4.95 for 6m of twin Red/Black, or £29.95 for an assorted pack with a range of colours. 32g. All in stock as far as I can tell.

 

https://www.dccconcepts.com/product-category/decoders-and-installation/dccconcepts-decoder-wire-and-special-fine-wire/

 

Yours, Mike.

Thanks, I'm sure that's a good option but that probably means customs and import duties for me. Hence Germany.

[WIMorrison]

What’s wrong with Amazon? Cheaper than DCC Concepts (mind you that isn’t hard 😀) and delivery tomorrow 

 

Fermerry 30 AWG Electrical Wire 0.05mm² Flexible Silicone Tinned Copper Wire Hook up Kit Stranded Wire Spool 25ft Each 6 Colors Gauge

 

https://amzn.eu/d/acxiNxA

[melmerby]

I've got two decoder harnesses in front on me.

1) Lenz 20+ year old decoder = 0.7mm outside diameter.

2) Recent decoder = 0.37mm outside diameter.

 

I've also some wire bought as "decoder wire", one is 0.75mm outside diameter, the other is 0.48mm outside diameter.

 

All are multi strand wire, I would never use single core wire due to it's lack of flexibility.

[n9]

3 hours ago, WIMorrison said:

What’s wrong with Amazon? Cheaper than DCC Concepts (mind you that isn’t hard 😀) and delivery tomorrow 

 

Fermerry 30 AWG Electrical Wire 0.05mm² Flexible Silicone Tinned Copper Wire Hook up Kit Stranded Wire Spool 25ft Each 6 Colors Gauge

 

https://amzn.eu/d/acxiNxA

That's the one that says the diameter is 0.8mm. Just mesured the wires again on both my locos, one is definitely 0.5mm and the other seems closer to 0.6mm. So other than a preference to go smaller in tight spaces rather than larger, I'd happily go with that one from Amazon. That said, the freebies from DM-Toys, which is where I'd go otherwise, can be quite compelling, especially with a bluk order of stuff...

 

2 hours ago, melmerby said:

I've got two decoder harnesses in front on me.

1) Lenz 20+ year old decoder = 0.7mm outside diameter.

2) Recent decoder = 0.37mm outside diameter.

 

I've also some wire bought as "decoder wire", one is 0.75mm outside diameter, the other is 0.48mm outside diameter.

 

All are multi strand wire, I would never use single core wire due to it's lack of flexibility.

Thanks. Definitely agree on multistrand for locos. Solid core can be nice until you bend it one too many times. Although for locos, I do wonder if PVC coated are better than silicone in the sense that PVC coated wires might keep their shape better when conformed in tight spaces. Then again, I can also see the softness of silicone being a plus just because it can compress slightly. Fine gains either way I'd imagine, and probably splitting hairs.

[WIMorrison]

3 hours ago, melmerby said:

I've got two decoder harnesses in front on me.

1) Lenz 20+ year old decoder = 0.7mm outside diameter.

2) Recent decoder = 0.37mm outside diameter.

 

I've also some wire bought as "decoder wire", one is 0.75mm outside diameter, the other is 0.48mm outside diameter.

 

All are multi strand wire, I would never use single core wire due to it's lack of flexibility.

I have just measured some decoder wire that is cut off during hard installation and it varies from 0.33mm OD to 0.75mm OD. With 0.5mm being the most common.

 

What this shows is that there is no standard wire OD, and given the minuscule voltages and currents involved I can imagine that OEMs just use the cheapest they can lay their hands upon when ordering stock.

[melmerby]

2 hours ago, n9 said:

I do wonder if PVC coated are better than silicone in the sense that PVC coated wires might keep their shape better when conformed in tight spaces.

Silicone is heat resistant PVC isn't, hence soldering iron mains leads using silicone.

[melmerby]

2 hours ago, WIMorrison said:

I have just measured some decoder wire that is cut off during hard installation and it varies from 0.33mm OD to 0.75mm OD. With 0.5mm being the most common.

 

What this shows is that there is no standard wire OD, and given the minuscule voltages and currents involved I can imagine that OEMs just use the cheapest they can lay their hands upon when ordering stock.

The smaller the diameter, the easier it is to feed through tight spaces.

Most of my recent harness decoders do have thinner wire than those from 20+ years ago.