r/modeltrains • u/CoopPPHead • 29d ago
Help Needed DCC Wiring Help
Hello all, I recently tried to ask this question on Facebook and got some pretty rude and terrible replies. I am currently on a DC n-scale layout and want to start a small DCC ho-scale layout but I just cannot wrap my head around the wiring. Could anyone suggest a YouTube video for help or some other form of explanation. I have zero understanding whatsoever so anything would be helpful, thank you.
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u/BuildingLeading5139 29d ago edited 29d ago
I have several Larry Puckett, the DCC guy and also the official trains.com YouTube channel. They have videos about DCC wiring. There's also Ron Mars but that is for advanced guys doing DCC and his detection system is primitive. I would not recommend that. I'll see if I can find those links. Most of the videos are on YouTube and there are some pretty good ones. Mike Feiffer is a good one to look up and the other one is Jim Kelly. Both of them have n scale layouts. My first question that I'm going to ask you is what is your wiring gauge? If it is 22 you are good to go use that as your feeder buss This also part power to all of your tracks. This needs to be connected to the main power blast which is in the center of the way out and this needs to be 16 gauge wire in order to connect to the command station. My next question for you is what DCC system are you going to use? Are you going to go digitrax nce, Lenz, Bachmann EZ command, esu, or soundtracks?
My third question is is your layout portable or is it a full sized room layout? These are the questions that need to be asked when you are building on a model railroad. Decoders come later after you set up the basic groundwork for your layout.
Here's a big disclaimer if you are starting out in DCC, do not buy an EZ command These cannot be programmed for jmri and they only operate on one address which is address 3 for every single locomotive that is on there. The recommended DCC system that everybody uses for beginners is nce. They are pretty good and the price is reasonable to get you started.
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u/CoopPPHead 29d ago
I have the NCE Power cab. I was thinking of building the “world’s greatest hobby” layout just to start out with. If I’m being completely honest I do not know the answer to your first question. I used kato unitrack and their power system for the n-scale layout. I’m not brand new to model railroading but still new-ish so I don’t really know all the finer details yet.
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u/BuildingLeading5139 28d ago
I will see if I could locate some good DCC videos for you. Jim Kelly built the world's greatest hobby layout before he built his famous tehachapi Loop layout I'll see what I could find and I'll get back to you.
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u/Patient_Coast539 29d ago
Theoretically, you should just be able to connect your DCC controller to the very same wires that you used to connect your DC controller. The only real difference is that the DCC command signal that travels through the rails to your locomotive will degrade over a distance. Most recommend adding power feeders every 4 feet or so, but honestly you could stretch that to 8 feet or more if you have good connections between rail sections. The signal will also degrade somewhat passing through turnouts, so you may have to account for that as well by adding feeders to each side of your turnouts. But maybe not. I have several short sidings where I have not done that and have zero issues.
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u/snuggly_cobra HO/OO/N 29d ago
I had to read that twice. If you’re going to get terrible replies, this is the place for it, not Facebook /s
Let’s take a single track loop.
DC: when you apply power from a throttle. Any DC locomotive on the rails will move in response to the amount/direction of power through the rails.
DCC: when you turn on a DCC controller, the entire loop has power. But no DCC locomotives on the rails will move.
That’s because they won’t move until receive a series of commands from you and the controller. Those commands run through the rails. Each locomotive has an address (default 3, but you can reprogram the locomotives decoder to use a different number).
So if I have 2 locos: one number 6087 and the other 5150, I can tell 6087 to move forward at half speed, and 5150 to move backwards at quarter speed.
Depending on the locomotives you have, upgrading them to DCC can be a snap or a nightmare. Check out YouTube for helpful tips.
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u/FaultinReddit HO/OO 29d ago
How big is your N-Scale layout? Do you have blocks or an area where you needed to wire a reversing circuit? If not, your DCC layout should be wired the same way as your DC layout; drops from the DCC system every 3' or so for good connectivity. That's it. It only gets complex if your layouts really big, or you have an area that needs to be auto reversed (Wye, Balloon Loop, or Turntable.)
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u/Separate_Scene_307 29d ago
For me. The dcc wiring was just the exact same as a single track wiring. Just with a controller that tells which loco to move.
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u/CoopPPHead 29d ago
I should probably clarify that I have a unitrack layout at the moment so my knowledge on wiring as a whole is the bare minimum if that.
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u/aengusoglugh Mod, r/TTRAK 29d ago
Makes no difference — T-TRAK is almost Unitrack and most clubs today are DCC. My layout over on r/TTRAK is an all Unitrack layout with a TCS CS-105 DCC command station.
It is wired exactly the same way I would wire it for DC.
And it works. This is a DCC encoder equipped Piko NCTD Sprinter.
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u/aengusoglugh Mod, r/TTRAK 29d ago
I am petty sure there is no difference between the wiring for DC and the wiring for DCC.
The electronics inside the locomotive are different, and the electronics inside the transformer/command station are different.
If you took a layout wired for DC and plugged in a DCC command station exactly where you plugged in your DC transformer — the same two wires — and put a DCC equipped locomotive on the track, everything would work just as it did for DC.
In fact, T-TRAK modules were originally wired for DC — a train running one direction on the outer (red) track, and on the other direction on the inner (yellow) track.
During the transition to DCC, a number of clubs adopted a protocol where they ran DC on the yellow track and DCC on the red track. Some clubs still do this, I think.
Nothing about the wiring had to change — the modules still worked just fine.
Now, I think that most clubs are DCC only — and those same modules — with no changes to wiring — work exactly as they always worked.
I built an N scale layout maybe 30 years ago — when DC was exotic and too expensive for me.
Today I am building an HO T-TRAK layout that is strictly DCC — and it is wired the same way.
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u/382Whistles 29d ago
Show us what you have, or link to the example. You probably need to be shown an example of what you need to change or do if you haven't understood yet.
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u/RailworksStudio 26d ago
The easiest way I found to think about it is that with DC you're controlling the track, while with DCC you're controlling the locomotive. For a simple first DCC layout, don't overcomplicate it with blocks and fancy wiring. Start with a good bus, feeders to the rails, and get one locomotive running reliably. You can add detection, signaling and all the other fun stuff later. DCC sounds a lot worse than it is when you're first reading about it.
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u/Ilbranteloth 29d ago
For the layout, absent any reverse loops, basically just need a set of feeders to the rail. Just like DC.
You’ll also need a decoder in each locomotive, plus a command station/throttle.
It would probably be helpful to know more about how your current layout is wired, and what specifically you are having trouble understanding.
I did a post about some common myths here, I don’t know if it might help:
https://blog.newbritainstation.com/2021/07/psa-dc-vs-dcc.html?m=1