Internal Loco Wiring

[Stainmore Summit]

Could someone please recommend where to purchase a suitable wire for replacing the internal wiring of a DMU. I recently purchased one which someone had removed the wiring from I assume to convert to DCC. When I try ordering thin core wire it comes with rather hefty insulation making it thicker than the wire I already had.

[P-Henny]

Try here.....

https://wicknessmodels.co.uk/product/fine-decoder-wire-choose-colour-quantity-copy/

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=fine+dcc+decoder+wire&_trksid=p2380057.m4084.l1313

I acknowledge that your model is DC and not DCC, but the DCC wire suppliers above provide wire that is both thin, stranded, flexible and coloured. Thus, eminently suitable for your use. Stranded Burgler Alarm cable can also be de-sheathed to provide a range of colours with stranded wire, quite cheaply. I would advise against using de-sheathed telephone cabling as the internal wires are solid conductor.

[Topcat2018]

Perhaps if you supplied some actual details of the type of wire you need people might be able to help you. How many leads are there in the wiring harness? Do you need multiple colours? What is the overall diameter of the wire? What is the diameter of the core? How many strands in the core?

[ColinB]

I know exactly the issue, I spent months trying to find decent wire. A lot of people use PTFE wire because it is quite thin but you can't bend it. On EBay some people do "wire wrapping" wire but it is single core and not very robust. I eventually bought some from Eileen's Emporium which for me was perfect, I think it was 10/0.1. YouChoos also do coloured wire, but to me it seemed a bit thin, but if for lights perfectly ok.

[96RAF]

7/0.1 cores springs to mind. As stated the insulation has a great deal to do with how flexible the wire is.

[Brew Man]

I've just bought some 7/0.1 for converting some old locos I've purchased to DCC. Got it from CM3 Models and they stock all of the decoder colours.

[AndyMac1707817969]

Is that not the question he is asking, what type of wire, surely if he knew the external / core diameter then he would not have to ask the question? It not unreasonable to assume the wire required is that which links the pickups to the motor. As most wire is supplied in a large range of colours I don’t see why that would need to be stated either, I am guessing red and black would be the obvious or just black as used in most locos, DCC was not mentioned. I would assume ratings wise 12v at approx. 1A would be more than sufficient so just about any type.

[ColinB]

No, AndyMac the issue is the thicker the wire the less likely it is to bend. When I started fixing locos I used 7/0.2 wire. Yes it works but it is a bit bulky and if you use it between a bogie and the chassis it has a detrimental effect on how the bogie moves, hence why I spent so long trying to find reasonable wire. There are a lot of suppliers on EBay that sell wire that is suitable for DCC but when you get it and it is PTFE sure it works but it is a pain to strip (yes I do know how to do it properly but it is still a pain) and does not bend very well. Great for Avionics (where I first used it) where it is laced together but not that good in an enclosed space.

[Stainmore Summit]

Thanks for all your replies. In the past I have used 10/0.1 wire and it has slightly restricted the movement of the bogies so I was looking something a bit thinner. I shall try buying a meter or so from the places you have mentioned and see what works best for me. Thanks again.

[Rog RJ]

Try using the wires from old usb cab!es, HDMI cables and so on. Some of them are really flexible.

[ColinB]

Yes Rog tried that. I used IDC ribbon cable, trouble is because these cables are generally crimped rather than soldered, they use lower melting point PVC as insulation, so when you try to solder the wire a lot of the insulation burns away.

[The son of Triangman]

Most of the big electronics suppliers have the required wire in stock by the reel. I was looking at some 0.5 Amp multistrand the other week, it was around £12 for a 100 meter reel.

[Rog RJ]

Ribbon cable is far too thick and stiff. USB cables and HDMI etc are far more flexible.

[Topcat2018]

Rather a sweeping statement. Ribbon cable isn't necessarily stiff and thick. I have ribbon cable that I use for wiring accessories as it can be laid flat on the baseboard and easily disguised. The overall thickness is 0.45 mm and a strip 10 leads wide is 6.2 mm. The only drawback is that it's not multicoloured, just grey with a red stripe down one edge.

You can also strip the internal wires out of multi-core audio cables (look on Ebay) where the individual wires are quite thin (I have some with an O.D. of 0.8 mm) and many of these have the advantage of being multi-coloured. Cheaper and more useful than buying a 100 metre reel of one colour.

[508006]

Another option is the phone charger usb cables, if you have a charger cable that does not work, these can be a very handy source of wires suitable for locomotive wiring.

The 4 internal wires are colured red, black, white & green and are all seperate wires, simply chop off both connectors, carefully open up 1 end of the cable about 1 - 1.5 inches with a stanley knife or similar tool to expose the 4 wires, grip the wires and pull them with 1 hand and the outer casing with the other hand. Within a few minutes you'll have wires available for rewiring locomotives and its a lot cheaper too.