That can work, but electrical tape gets gooey and miserable over time and can fall off. Also, why go through the hassle of soldering upside down under a train layout?. Why not consider the Wago Lever Nuts discussed earlier?
@bmoran4 posted:I enjoy using Wago lever lock connectors. They are infinitely better than suitcase connectors or wire nuts and less hassle to install than crimps. They are worth the extra costs hands down and are reusable! They also are good at joining varying sizes of wire (in this case AWG sizes 28 to 12 which is just perfect for our trains).
Here is are two assortments - one is the 222 style, the other 221 (40% smaller footprint):
https://www.amazon.com/Wago-22...rtment/dp/B01GVTVY12
https://www.amazon.com/Wago-22...018MGMFDI/ref=sr_1_3
Just be sure to get real Wago ones and not the off brand knock-off lever nuts as the knockoffs do not meet UL or other safety standards and are of inconsistent quality. That is not to say that one may not find that certain knockoffs are just fine for this low voltage purpose, but I can't justify taking the chance after getting burned.
@bmoran4 posted:With the WAGO connectors, they actually act like mini terminal strips, but use surprisingly strong levers instead of screws to retain the wires. So yes, you need to cut/terminate your bus wire, but this is not a big deal at all. For illustrative purposes, the thick red wire could be the 14AWG BUS wire, the green could be 16AWG feeders:
In terms of command control signals or even just plain power delivery, the connectors themselves don't matter, but the quality of the electrical connection does matter, and that IS influenced by the connector type. Use of suitcase connectors are not typically used for connecting different gauge wires. Each gauge combination needs its own specific connector. The suitcase connectors actually sever the wire and can nick or even cut the copper conductor creating an intermittent hard to find wiring issue that can wreak havoc on command signals and power delivery. As such, I find suitcase connectors make a poor choice for quality electrical connections, especially compared to WAGO connectors that do not have these issues at all. Sure, some report success with suitcase connectors, but why invite the potential headache?
@gunrunnerjohn posted:I used lever nuts to do my wiring, they were easy to use and allow for changes with no soldering and secure connections.
I used three position and five position models.
Lever Wire Nut 5 Conductor Combination
Lever Wire Nut 3 Conductor Combination
