# Under table wire management?



## jstudrawa (Mar 20, 2008)

How did you all organize and run the power wires under your tracks?

Staple gun? Those plastic U's with a nail on one side, for holding a coax against a baseboard? Some Ikea stuff? 

Any ideas will be welcome.

Info: 30V PSU from TrakMate on a MaxTrax track. 3 power taps, 4 driver stations. TrakMate lap software and hardware as well as gantry wiring.


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

jstudrawa said:


> How did you all organize and run the power wires under your tracks?... Any ideas will be welcome.


For temporary hollow-door layouts, nothing beats duct tape - it's fast, it organizes _and_ anchors the wires.

For a permanent layout, I think I'd use cheap screw-in cup-hooks or screw-eyes. Pinch them almost closed and you can remove/add wires easily. I got a dollar-store _Picture Hanging Kit_ with a bunch of small screw-eyes, sawtooth hangers, picture hooks (make good track clips, says Swamper Gene), wire nails, a roll of wire and a compartmented plastic parts box for a buck. Another $1 _Screw Hooks and Wall Plugs Set_ scored 3 medium cup-hooks, 6 brass screw eyes, a pile of little steel screw-eyes and handfuls of wall-screws with plastic anchors. And the parts box. Can't beat the price, and I'm a cheapskate. 

But the first time I raise my head suddenly and hit a metal screw-eye, I'll wish I'd paid the ten bucks for the 3M cord organizers. They click open to let wires in and out, are adhesive backed, flat and soft plastic (insulated). Come to think of it, forget the screw-eyes.

There are small hammer-in insulated staples for wire, but I hate hammering upside down. *Don't* use a staple gun - they develop a LOT of force, can cut thru insulation and cause shorts.
-- D


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

*Wire Anchors*



> Come to think of it, forget the screw-eyes.


Oops, don't forget them entirely. You're going to need a few screw-eyes for wire anchors. Wherever a wire or wires come down from the top of the table to connect to a long feeder wire, put a small screw-eye by the hole and tie the wire (or the feeder wire) firmly around it. Then, connect the two wires. Also put anchors at the driver's station or any other device or electronic box. 

That way, if something snags the feeder wire, it won't pull your track connection loose or break the track (lamp, station, whatever) or pull the guts out of your electronic device. To make it less of a head-hazard, you can bend the screw eye parallel with the table undersurface.
-- D


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## Crimnick (May 28, 2006)

I used plastic romex staples....all my main runs are 14/3 or 14/2 cables anyways...I only dropped to 16 for doing the final track tap jumpers.

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=217161


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## hojoe (Dec 1, 2004)

Aside from the power wires I light all my buildings and have street lights. So I have many wires under my table. I put a staple in the middle of a twist-tie and then you can just twist the wires up into the twist-tie. This makes it real easy if I have to change something.
hojoe


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## rudykizuty (Aug 16, 2007)

I used the 1/4" variety of these

http://electrical.hardwarestore.com/14-46-wire-connectors/plastic-clamps-601597.aspx


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## SwamperGene (Dec 1, 2003)

Wire threaded through 5/8" holes in the framing, with wire ties securing the bundles in between. Any branches off the main bundles use the staple gun/wire tie method hojoe previously mentioned. :thumbsup:

For color management, i.e. what goes where, I use only two wire colors (hot/ground) with lane color tape markers on any ends...wayyyy more cost effective than lane-colored wire throughout.

Any two-wire spade-connection joints should be keyed to avoid mis-wiring, for example a pos/neg supply pair would have 1 male and 1 female spade connector, with the receiving pair matched to those.

Avoid separate long runs to each tap, use splitters to your advantage to cut down on the length of overall wire in the circuit. 

And speaking of splitters, don't forget to use a heavy (8 or 10AWG) pair of wires from your PS to the lane junctions...that one stretch carries the load of all four lanes.


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## jstudrawa (Mar 20, 2008)

Thanks all, for the myriad of options! She's almost done!


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

I use "wire management clips" like these that I found at a home improvement store (http://www.itw-fastex.com/catalog/i...no&PHPSESSID=a6321f95251bf1e41bbb2daa781e2769). I wouldn't trust anything that's adhesive based, they always seem to come loose. I much prefer a screw mounted clip and one that can be opened to add, remove, or reroute the wires.


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## brownie374 (Nov 21, 2007)

Heavy duct tape with staples


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## neophytte (Sep 14, 2006)

+1 for duct tape!


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## Tycoarm (Jan 7, 2006)

Pipe cleaners and hot glue. Just cut about a 4" piece then hot glue it in the center, now just place the wires and twist.


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## pshoe64 (Jun 10, 2008)

*Plastic Flexible Conduit*

I use the underside of my track for storage, so I used plastic conduit to house the wires and keep them from getting snagged by anything getting pulled or shoved under the table. The conduit is split the entire length so getting to the wires at a later time for maintenance or repairs is still fairly easy. I held it in place with the plastic "U's" and a nail.

Thanks,
Paul


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

This place has lots and lots of wire management solutions, some of which are affordable.

http://www.electriduct.com/


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