Barrier Strips

1. How Many accessories are you trying to hook up and what type

2. How are you powering the setup

3. Do you have a ground bus or are you using paired wiring straight from the Transformer

4. What kind of Transformer are you using

5. Which Type of Barrier Strip are you using

 

 

 

 

 

This is a Jumper Strip for an 8 position Barrier Strip

 

 

This is an 8 position Double Row Barrier Strip

 

 

Unscrew the 8 Screws on one side of the Barrier strip enough to slide the Jumper under them and then tighten all of them up but one.

Take the Red (Hot) side of the power supply/Transformer and connect it to the one screw terminal that you did not tighten down when you do this all 16 Screws on the barrier Strip become hot.

Do the same thing for the Ground

On the opposite side of each barrier Strip run the hot wire to each of your accessories per the accessories Instructions and then do the same with the ground

 

This should explain what you need to know

 

Thank you very much for the information. I will try later this evening using your tips.

I hope that it helps you

this is the Way that I wire up my lights and some accessories

 

Bobbie

I got to take a second and compliment you on your description of how to properly use those. IMO it could not have been accomplished any better than that. I probably have 3 or more dozen of them on my layout for distribution of power/ground.

Very good tutorial Bobbie.

Larry S and Dewey Thank you so much for your kind words

Like all of us here we are here to help one another and we do the

information that is on this  forum is incredible

we all do what we can to help one another

Thanks again all

 

You can also check this website for using terminal blocks to wire your layout. www.montanarailpower.com

I used my last barrier strip 2 weeks ago, and looked in 2 local hardware stores plus a Radio Shack which added 12 miles to my trip. Very disappointed in that store. They sure have changed. 90% of the store is devoted to things like ipad and smartphone like devices. Only a small area for the hobbyist. I won't be back. I heard they are closing 1000's of their stores. I can see why. They have lost their direction.

Anyway if anyone is looking to buy some like this: (Image borrowed from Bobbie Hinton above)

   You can order them from Mouser.com, an outfit I used to deal with years ago.

The also had the #4 screws and the #22 bare buss bar wire which I could not find locally. I use the bare wire to link terminals  together instead of the jumper strip mentioned above.

Digikey and Mouser are my go to stores for electronic parts nowadays, Radio Shack doesn't even make the list.

I suggest trying Ebay. A few years back I purchased a lot of NOS Barrier strips at a good price there. I often see good prices on electrical sundries such as Barrier strips, wire, wire terminals. and such.

Where can you find the jumper stripe; HD has the terminal strips but not the jumper.

Radio Shack used to carry the 8-position jumpers. No sure about currently--I haven't been in a Shack in 5-6 years.

 

Also try ALLElectronics.

I purchased mine from a Radio Shack store here in Beckley West Virginia just before Christmas 

They still list them online at their Site

 

Mouser and Digikey, neither one as a store near me. When i need one more barrier strip to finish my project I can go get one and be back in my basement in an hour. If radio shack as the item

 

Clem

That's why you have to plan ahead.

 

I use MRC AT305 terminal strip with jumpers. I get them at my LHS.

Thanks to everyone; I found them at a local Radio Shack

 

tony

;you are very welcome

Glad I could help

wish you luck

 

I found some at Radio Shack last month, Both local stores only carried 2 strips and 2 jumpers and couldn't special order it seemed. Had to wait for the computer to reorder.

If you find yourself short a jumper for a barrier strip just take a sufficient length of bare copper wire (I use 18gauge solid) and wind it around each screw on one side of the barrier then tighten those screws down. It will act as the jumper you need.

Here's a poor drawing of what it will look like:

 

Mark

Radio Shack.com lists the jumpers and able to order many of them

they are listed for 1.99 each

 

Here is an alternate way of making a Jumper if you can not find the jumper strips or like me prefer not to have bare wire exposed under the layout.

 

 

 

 

in this situtation you would use a power or ground to the first Screw and then strip the ends off another section of wire and put the two stripped ends into a single Spade connector and continue down doing this till you get to the end where you will only have a single stripped section into a Spade.  Tighten all the screws and you have a jumper.  A bit more work but can get you what you need when you need it

 

I use the method Mark posted, I figure the barrier strip is already exposed.

 

I have nothing useful to post in this thread other than a thank you to Bobbie.  He has been very helpful to me and has explained very well the use of barrier strips and jumpers.

So... this is a thank you

Thank you Mike

all of us here on the forum are here to help in any way that we can

when we dont know something we ask and someone offers us the insight to help us with our issue.  I personally have learned a lot from this forum and in certain instances I am able to give back some of what I have been given

 

All of the guys on the forum are one of a kind and I am glad to know and be associated with every one of them

Bobbie,  I just joined the forum today after reading blogs for the past 3 years.  I hooke up barrier strips  with home made jumper wires and a positive and  negative terminal,

thinking that was the way to do it.  It does work.  But now thanks to you I understand how it should be hooked up.  So I must rewire.........

 

Maybe you can tell me why all my ac lights are blinking in sequence with 2 life like

flashing crossbuck signals I just installed?????  Thanks very much!

Need some more information on how you wired the crossbucks and what type of lights you are using.

What are the lights in

I have a feeling that you have wired and crossed the crossbuck signals with the lighting and the flashing part of the cross buck is causing the lights to blink.

My Suggestion would be to isolate the Crossbuck from the Lightinng source wiring to see if it stops.  I am no electrician but this is what I am Guessing.

Also if you are using a Barrier Strip for this isolate the Crossbuck hot to only the crossbuck and the ground to the crossbuck and then wire the lighting seperately from the crossbuck and you should be alright.  This is an educated Guess.

Hope it helps

 

Thank you very kindly...I appreciate your help and advice........

Quarter Gauger

Please post an answer to my above questions and we can see if we got it right.

Also if you work on this please post a followup and let us know if the information I gave  you worked or didn't work.  For Future discussions of having this problem.

 

like i said above we are all here to help one another out.

I hope that this is a simple fix 

Bobbie,

It appears that the blinking is caused by the wiring being in series instead of paralell.

Which makes sense.  The blinker bulbs in the crossbucks brakes the circut and that

also brakes the circut to any thing else that is wired on that line......I have to put the flashers in paralell.............I kinda knew this but I thought I'd take a short cut and wire them in to exhisting lights previously installed to save a littke time.....   

thanks

good luck to you

 

I found these strips at www.alliedelec.com  Look up CMB4.  They are available in multiple lengths.  The CMB4-10 is about 3"X1"X1" and has 20 terminals.

Jim, do these work like the other mentioned strips?  Or do you think these are better?

And do you wire them up the same as the other strips..........

Thanks so much.  I looked on the site you mention, not bad...was looking at RS when I saw your post.   Put it all on hold til I hear back from you..

I think they work better.  You need to add the jumper to the blocks.  The wire slips into the side and there is a screw that tightens the connection.  Sort of like the European strips.  I added one wire from the transformer and have 19 other connections available.

I use these.  They are made to put in an electrical panel for a ground or neutral bar.  Big wire holes, lots of taps, already interconnected, easy to mount to a wood base.

 

 

Available at HD, Lowes, or an electrical supply house in different lengths for about $7 each.  Use 2, one for black, one for red.  Empty holes between screws are for mounting.

 

Ed

Just thought I would mention that another easy way to jumper standard barrier strips (if you don't have the correct jumper plate handy) is to simply use bare #14 solid copper wire, such as that found in standard house wire.

It is pretty easy to thread it from screw to screw and wrap it around each. Presto; done.

 

Rod

Jim, good morning...snowing again in CT and the gutters are on the way down from ice............anayway............

The jumpers just snap in if I am looking at the correct ones on the bottom of the page
under the CM410's.  It seems that are many different types of barriers out there.

I kinda like idea of this type.  The jumpers look very solid with a really secure connection....Right now I have a mess of wires under the layout.  I'm 6' 51/2" tall, and not as flexible as I once was.  So when I get under their, I am looking for a quick

hook up......I need to get these wires cleaned up.  Now I need to re wire the crossings I installed from series to paralell.   I have lots of scratch built structures I've built over the past 2 1/2 years with the leads hanging through the layout waiting to be hooked up to power......lots of leads............I am getting a little over wehlmed....at this point

 

QG 48,

 

Welcome to the forum!  Where in CT?  I'm near the coast and we only got about 2-3 inches.

 

Wonder if you've visited us at the Boothe Memorial Railway Society in Stratford.

 

I was going to send an email, but you didn't list one in your profile,

 

Ed