Tidy Under Baseboard Wiring

[D1059]

Not long before I make a start on wiring City Basin Goods - but as this will be an exhibition layout, my usual practise of 'wires anywhere as long as it works' really needs adjusting.

 

So what do you all use to tidy the wires up under the layout ?

 

As my baseboards have integral legs that fold up underneath, I need to keep all the wiring tight up against the underside of the boards - don't want a leg to catch a loop of wire when setting up the layout. There is enough room to accommodate my point operating mechanisms (bicycle spokes through electrical chocolate block connectors) and the SEEP uncoupling magnets, but not much more than that.

 

I'll be using tag strip, but really needs ideas for the cable runs between the strips, holes through the baseboards and magnets.

 

 

Thanks

STEVE

[Brian]

Hi

I use self adhesive cable tie mounting pads through which 'zip up' cable ties are passed and the wiring is then held in a bunch and securely to the baseboards underside by the mounting pads. Sometimes its necessary to bond a pad in place with some Evo Stick etc or a hot melt glue as at times the baseboards ply underside sucks the adhesive out of the sticky pads.

 

Example of mounting pads... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/25-x-SELF-ADHESIVE-CABLE-TIE-BASES-WHITE-20mm-X-20mm-/190512843303?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item2c5b734a27 Note similar mounting pads can be obtained with a single screw fixing.

[cpman46]

Hi

I have used self adhesive cable tie pads with an integral tie as shown in the attached photo.

 

 

The ladder arrangement of the tie enables it to be pulled down tight across the wiring but is releasable if more wires need to be added. These were obtained from RS Components under stock number 404 449 in bags of 100. They also have a countersunk hole to enable fixing by screw if needed.

[Kenton]

Another vote for cable ties and sticky pads but mine are nowhere near as neat or reusable. I have used staple from a staple gun in the past but have found them to crush wires - not that it really matters much until you pull them. Remember if you bundle wires to color code them or to at least label them, for that time you need to rescue the situation.

[AMJ]

I wish that the cabling at work in the patch pannel was as tidy as that!

 

I have just wired up dad's layout. A handy tip taken from the DCC field of wiring is something I have done.

 

All rear rails are wired with say white with a coloured fleck on themand the corresponding one uses the same solid colour. This makes tracking wires fairly easy to do.

 

At present during the testing all of the white wires are into one chocolate block and the solid colour another.

 

This will probably become DCC but at present is using the good old Duette!

[Andy C]

One of the tricks i've learned is to build up the wiring loom off the base board. easy enough to do - on a piece of scrap sheet material mark out the postions where your feeds, tag strips etc etc are going and put some pins in at that point to form a a jig. Lay out your wires colour coded of course, and cable tie them together. Number the ends as well so you know which is which at a glance - you can get numbered wire collars but it tend to use a bit of masking tape folded over the wire end and numbered. Do runs of wires going in the same direction and only break out of the main cable run when you are as close as possible to where the wire terminates. Using a pin jig likes this inevitably ends up in a really neat wiring job, and its a lot easier to build a wiring loom on a bench rather than under the baseboard..

 

Then the loom can be lifted bodily and just put into the baseboard and soldered up to the connecting points. Dont forget either, as well illustrated in CPman's photo, to put a small loop in the wire before it goes into the choc block / tag strip or whatever terminal you use, this gives a measure of flexibility to the wire and can prevent things coming adrift if the wire gets tight or the boards are bounced around in the back of a van on the way to a show.

[squeaky]

I know this is DCC but the method can be used, I used a hot glue gun to hold everything in place, it's a bit messy but very quick to do.

Here's a picture of mine. I admit it's not quite as neat!

[D1059]

Thanks guys - all very neat and tidy.

 

I like the look of the ladder cable ties, especially as they can be screwed in. I already have a supply of small ties in stock to go with them as well.

 

 

STEVE

[Joe MCMLXI]

Hi Steve, my preferred method is to use small screw in hooks, then can be bought with varying sizes of hook.

I bend the loop, so that the wires cannot get out. I then screw them along the route of where the wires will go....

threading the wires from panel to points, track feeds etc, is like joining the dots! simples

They are very easy to change, can be reused many times and its very easy to remove a wire should you need to make a mod.

joe

[Brian D]

Hi Steve,

My "low-tech" solution on my layout was to use wide brown sticky tape to keep all the wires tidy and out of the way. The layout folds up into a box like structure for storage so it was important that wires didn't get snagged/damaged during erection/dismantling. The attached photo shows the lack of complexity. Wires were adequately labelled for fault tracing but so far (five years on) there haven't been any (touch wood) and the tape has not come unstuck.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Brian.

[fursty]

Hi

 

A vote for the method used by Squeaky, the hot glue gun is very quick and you don't need to plan ahead.

 

ATB

Martin

[28XX]

Cable trunking like this is expensive.

 

I use comb binding sold for making booklets etc like this.

 

Fix to underside of the base boards with double sided tape or Evostick.

[14Steve14]

To keep wiring tidy I use plastic P clips. They are available in a wide range of sizes, and can be fixed to the underside of the baseboard with a small screw. I did use self adhesice cable tie bases, but they kept falling off, and needed a screw to hold them on.

[pauln]

Another vote for a hot glue gun but would highly recommend you do the glueing whilst the baseboard is on its side or upside down. Don't try and do it from below ...... hot glue hurts. One of the benefits is that you can, if necessary pull the glue off if you need to make a small adjustment. I also use this method for attaching point motors. A few pics of my layout underside if you follow the link in my sig.

[jdp298]

I've used mains cable clips (plastic loop with a nail) and loose-ish cable-ties to run the ever-increasing wires around my old man's layout. First it was just DC and manual isolating sections, then I added a switch which drives 6 multi-throw relays to choose DC or DCC (very important the in-line HF track cleaners get isolated too). Then there's the electric points. Most recently I've been messing about with LED lighting, which has needed many break-out sections too.

 

Nothing electric has ever failed in 16 years, but I do need to add from time to time and the cable clips give you expansion space and a solid point in space. Conceptually it's like drilling a hole outside the wood.

[kevinlms]

To keep wiring tidy I use plastic P clips. They are available in a wide range of sizes, and can be fixed to the underside of the baseboard with a small screw. I did use self adhesice cable tie bases, but they kept falling off, and needed a screw to hold them on.

 

Forget the cable tie bases, just use a staple gun to attach cable ties to the baseboard & use them as per normal.

[Donw]

Rather than drilling holes through cross members which tend to hold the wires away from the underside of the baseboard. I cut some bits out of the crossmembers before fixing . It keeps the wires tight to the underside. I got the idea from Duncan of Somerset Railway Modellers.

 

 

Don

[trustytrev]

Hello,

A quick cheap and adjustable method is to staple a length of thishttp://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GARDEN-TIE-WIRE-GARDEN-TIES-WIRE-GARDEN-TIE-WIRES-GARDEN-TIES-PLANT-TIE-TIES-NEW-/270974092842?pt=UK_Home_Garden_GardenEquipment_HandTools_SM&hash=item3f1750862a where you want it then twist it to secure your wire.

trustytrev.

[D1059]

Thanks for all the ideas - have now more or less completed the wiring so have attached some shots

 

The trailing wires are temporary and show how my emergency power supply (Gaugemaster D) is attached to supply 16vAC to the Pictroller DIN socket and 12vDC to the magnets (which work on AC or DC)

 

STEVE