Can BT telephone cable be used for layout wiring?

Tony Cleather
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Can BT telephone cable be used for layout wiring?

Postby Tony Cleather » Thu Feb 04, 2010 5:14 pm

I have inherited a reel of surplus BT telephone cable. It has a black outer sheath and contains 6 internal conductor wires, each individually insulated in different identifying colour combinations. Can anyone tell me the current rating for these conductors and whether they could be used for layout wiring in 4mm scale? I am working in analogue, not DCC.

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Tim V
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Re: Can BT telephone cable be used for layout wiring?

Postby Tim V » Thu Feb 04, 2010 5:41 pm

If it's single core, don't bother, but if it's multistrand should be OK for normal DC on a small layout. However, if at a later date you wanted to upgrade to DCC, it wouldn't have the capacity.
Tim V
(Not all railways in Somerset went to Dorset)

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grovenor-2685
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Re: Can BT telephone cable be used for layout wiring?

Postby grovenor-2685 » Thu Feb 04, 2010 6:53 pm

Tony,
Current rating as such will not be a problem, but volt drop maybe if you are using it in long lengths, and drawing a lot of current for heavy trains.
I have had ready access to surplus phone wire in the past and used lots of it on my layouts.
If the wire is the 0.5 mm dia that is most common then:

1. For droppers from rail to track feed bus its ideal, even with DCC.
2. In general for DC analogue reasonably short feeders I used the twisted pairs for each wire, ie doubled up. If you are going a long way, more than 5 metres say, then I would double it up again.
3. For control wiring, signals, tortoise motors etc. it will be fine, but not for the high current circuit to a solenoid point motor.

If the wire is the larger 0.9 mm you don't need to bother doubling up and it would be Ok for point motor solenoids over a short distance.

The fears often expressed that it will break because it is single strand are much exaggerated, how often does your phone fail? But is is suitable for fixed wiring only, on boards or control panels, not for flexible leads to plugs and sockets, you do need multi strand wire for that. Also practice stripping the ends to make sure you can do it without nicking the conductor, it is such nicks that cause failures, not the single strand of itself.

Regards
Keith
Regards
Keith
Grovenor Sidings

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Penrhos1920
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Re: Can BT telephone cable be used for layout wiring?

Postby Penrhos1920 » Fri Feb 05, 2010 12:59 pm

grovenor-2685 wrote:Also practice stripping the ends to make sure you can do it without nicking the conductor, it is such nicks that cause failures, not the single strand of itself.

Regards
Keith


Get yourself one of these automatic wire strippers: http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=4254
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Richard

Tony Cleather
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Joined: Fri Oct 03, 2008 9:57 am

Re: Can BT telephone cable be used for layout wiring?

Postby Tony Cleather » Fri Feb 05, 2010 5:24 pm

Thanks for very helpful info. I have checked the cable I have in more detail and it is 0.5 mm dia., single strand. I am building a very small layout so, on the basis of what's been said, I think it is worth giving it a try but I will avoid using it point motors as recommended.


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