What size wire do Atlas Code 80 Remote Turnouts use?

[Bart1701]

3 part question here..

I am working on wiring the Atlas Code 80 remote turnouts I use in one of my staging yards.

1) What size wire does Atlas use for the wires coming out of their "switch machines" (the ones that are track-level alongside the turnouts)?

2) I need to extend these wires over to a control panel. What's the easiest way to connect these wires to some 22 gauge stranded wire?

3) Are wire strippers available that can easily strip these tiny wires? One of my wire strippers doesn't adjust to be that small, and when I use my other wire stripper I usually end up cutting through the insulation and the wire 

Thanks,
Bart

[peteski]

Bart,
I don't know the AWG spec for those wires but they are fairly thin. Maybe 26 or 28 AWG?  Should should be able to easily find wire strippers which handle down to 30 AWG wire. I picked up a  pair at Home Depot few years back.  The kind I have has a separate cutting surface for each gauge of wire (not the universal adjustable kind).  This type is more precise than the adjustable kind.  Yes, $20 seems a lot to spend for a pair of strippers, but it is a good and useful too.

This is what I have: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-Kurve-Wire-Stripper-Cutter-for-20-30-AWG-Solid-and-22-32-AWG-Stranded-Wire-11057/100352112

Using heavier gauge wire to extend those wires is a very good idea (to minimize voltage drop). 22 AWG seems a good size to use if that is what you have handy.

[Bart1701]

One question still unanswered...

How do you reliably connect the 22 gauge wire to these tiny wires?  Terminal strips, crimp-style connectors, soldering,or some other way?

Bart

[C855B]

Crimp - no. Barrier block terminal strips - maybe. What I would do...

...is strip about 1/4" in from the turnout lead, 1/4" from the #22, thread a 1" length of 1/16" heat-strink tubing onto the #22, twist the wire ends together, solder (lightly - no globs), fold over, center the heat-shrink over the joint, then shrink by bringing the barrel of the soldering iron close to the tubing but not touching, applying the heat all the way around and the entire length of the tubing.

It sounds complicated in words, but in reality after you've done a couple this goes real fast and results in a secure joint.

[mark.hinds]

Crimp - no. Barrier block terminal strips - maybe. What I would do...

...is strip about 1/4" in from the turnout lead, 1/4" from the #22, thread a 1" length of 1/16" heat-strink tubing onto the #22, twist the wire ends together, solder (lightly - no globs), fold over, center the heat-shrink over the joint, then shrink by bringing the barrel of the soldering iron close to the tubing but not touching, applying the heat all the way around and the entire length of the tubing.

It sounds complicated in words, but in reality after you've done a couple this goes real fast and results in a secure joint.

+1   

This is similar to how I do it, except that I tin each of the 2 wire ends first, and then melt them together, to ensure a compact and permanent joint.  Since I use my resistance soldering tweezer for under-layout wiring, I shrink the heat-shrink using a piece of scrap brass held in the tweezer. 

MH

[Jon898]

Bart:

I had similar questions last year when I was hooking up the control wires on my layout.  The following is what I arrived at:

1.  I asked Atlas through their "contact us" facility and was advised (eventually) that the wires are 24 gauge.  I also had some older turnouts (pre-China manufacture, circa 1995 vintage) that I found by measurement to be 26 gauge. (Incidentally, I've also found that the frogs on the newer turnouts are grooved slightly shallower than the older ones and cause old pizza-cutter stock to bump as they transit).

2.  I will be the first to admit that my soldering skills are essentially non-existent, so I needed a mechanical way to extend the wires.  I did the extension of the wires from the switch machines using 4-pair cat 5 cable, which has 24 gauge solid pairs.  I twisted each pair together and then used barrier strips from RadioShack to make the connections  https://www.radioshack.com/products/radioshack-6-position-dual-row-barrier-strips?variant=5717453381 .  Each cat 5 cable then holds 3 active pairs and one spare.  This seems to have worked quite well, and the cat 5 cable is a lot neater/easier to support than bundles of individual stranded wire.

3.  The wire strippers I bought look very similar to the ones Peteski linked although they are from Lowes.  I don't see them on their website any more, but they are Southwire #S1626STR designed for between 16 and 26 gauge stranded.

Hope this helps,

Jon