Edinburgh Junction Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 Hello! About time I post a topic in this area of the Advice centre, usually asking questions than giving tips. Today, I've been fiddling around with all of those hanging wires that control the signals, points and the rest of the layout, and have been bugging me, and wanted to stop them hanging, and for them to be neater than they were. Seeings I had a lot of hanging wires, I found a cheap solution, that is very useful for those modellers with hanging wires under the layout. You require: A staple gun Masking tape (the wider, the better) Thats all you need. Cut a length of masking tape, then fold it over, so sticky side to sticky side, so you have a strong piece of masking tape, but not sticky. Then, put it in place, under the wires, so its supporting them. Staple one end of the 'tape' pull the tape, so the tape doesn't hang down, then staple the end. Sounds complicated, but very simple once you know it. Here are some pictures of it done on my railway: Sorry for the blur Hope this helps! Jack Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinkmouse Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 Yikes! The Cable Fairies really have been at that lot. How on earth do you trace circuits when faultfinding? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baby Deltic Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 I always go for adhesive cable tie bases and cable tie the wires to the baseboards in cable runs. I always use heat shrink or insulating sleeve on soldered terminals. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edinburgh Junction Posted December 30, 2009 Author Share Posted December 30, 2009 Yikes! The Cable Fairies really have been at that lot. How on earth do you trace circuits when faultfinding? Yea, its quite busy under there. Mostly, they are the signals, and nothing to them really. Just a lot of Maplins green wire. Thankfully, there isn't anything complicated under there.... I have learnt a lesson for my layouts to come though.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 Why not just use a staple gun on its own? Keeps the wiring tucked out of the way and yet it's still easy to add wires or trace them round under a board. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burkitt Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 Why not just use a staple gun on its own? Keeps the wiring tucked out of the way and yet it's still easy to add wires or trace them round under a board. Wow! That's what model railway wiring is supposed to look like? That looks good enough to control the real thing. Mine always bears more relation to a birds' nest. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edinburgh Junction Posted December 30, 2009 Author Share Posted December 30, 2009 Yea, I would have done that, but my wires were all different lengths, and wouldn't be possible, If I was to be that neat. But that looks like what I wanna achieve on my next layout.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ste234 Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 That is incredibly neat Gordon. Ive seen some people store the cables in plastic trunking, like that used on to cover electrics in offices, only the smaller stuff. Ste. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenton Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 Neat wiring Gordon - now tell them its DCC - so no need for complicated wiring I'm always stunned by that image its the way that the wires all appear so regimented and in order even where there are no staples holding them, all turning away from the connector blocks at exactly the right location. As neat as I make mine they always want to twist and turn with a mind of their own. On a possible downside to the stapling - do you not find that the staple crushes the wire, weakening it? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 Neat wiring Gordon - now tell them its DCC - so no need for complicated wiring I'm always stunned by that image its the way that the wires all appear so regimented and in order even where there are no staples holding them, all turning away from the connector blocks at exactly the right location. As neat as I make mine they always want to twist and turn with a mind of their own. On a possible downside to the stapling - do you not find that the staple crushes the wire, weakening it? It may be DCC but most of that wiring is for conventional control of solenoid motors via the diode matrix. I've had no problem at all with wires getting crushed. The force of the spring action pushing in the staples is soon absorbed into 12mm ply. The only thing you have to be careful with is centreing the staple over a group of wires and making sure a leg doesn't actually go through the insulation. That's quite easy to do on my staple gun as it has split castings joined together on the centre line. As for neatness, it's just as easy to do it neatly as it is messy. I now try to do the wiring on a board before it's placed in position, so it's much easier doing it standing up versus crawling around underneath. All that is left then is joining the modules... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollywoodfoundry Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 Another method is to staple Velcro to the underside of the layout, then you can undo it easily to add more wires. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick G Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 A before and after shot of the wiring under Holland Park Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Trainshed Terry Posted January 1, 2010 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 1, 2010 A before and after shot of the wiring under Holland Park That is a very neat wiring job yogi have done there. Terry Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
28XX Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 That is incredibly neat Gordon. Ive seen some people store the cables in plastic trunking, like that used on to cover electrics in offices, only the smaller stuff. Ste. Cable trunking like this is expensive. I use comb binding used for making booklets etc like this. Fix to underside of the base boards with double sided tape or Evostick. Steve. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium eldavo Posted February 4, 2010 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 4, 2010 Another option, the hot glue gun on a low heat setting. Very quick and easy with no risk of damaging cables. You can easily modify things as the glue blobs can be levered off with a screwdriver, a sharp tug on the cable or the application of the hot end of the glue gun. Tidy wiring doesn't happen by accident, can't be done after the effect but requires you to do it as you wire up. May take you fractionally longer to actually wire things up but makes life much easier for sorting out problems and is frankly essential if you intend to transport the boards. Cheers Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 Why not just use a staple gun on its own? Keeps the wiring tucked out of the way and yet it's still easy to add wires or trace them round under a board. Cool! I am suddenly reminded of Harry Beck's London Underground map..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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