My understanding is that Warley club require Portable Appliance Testing of all mains electrical equipment with a layout /stand at their show at the NEC , and this is because of the requirements of the venue (the NEC) - everything that passed gets a sticker I believe. This is a test of the insulation/earthing. It is not a testing of the low voltage wiring on a layout - though if you've bolted an uncased mains transformer under the layout , you'll fail (And if anyone ever touches the thing while its under power they'll die by electrocution - uncased transformers are literally lethal)
I've been round this one, at some length, both with an electrician in the club riding a hobby horse (facing off with another electrician in the club) , and in an exchange on one of the websites with an anti DCC nut who claimed DCC layouts were fire risks and was visibly making up scare stories as he went along ( I recall he claimed that if you used dropper wires it would be unsafe unless you fitted an individual fuse to each dropper. ) Neither can be ranked among the more sensible discussions I've had, and I'm assured by folk who have spent many years working with electrical and electronic equipment professionally that both were talking rubbish
I've never heard of any suggestion that the low voltage circuits require certifaction or checking, though it's a good idea to ensure all wiring is rated adequetely for the loads carried. Quite apart from anything else, the thicker the wire , the less voltage drop you get at a given current, and voltage drop is a Bad Thing. The one area that does worry me is the suggestion often made that a layout can be converted from DC to DCC just by connecting up[ a DCC system and turning on all the section switches. What's widely sold as "layout wire" seems to be 1.3A rated; the typical DCC system pushes out 2.7A - 5A depending on brand , and I do worry about the implications . I'd argue that long wiring runs (eg main feed return, connections) should be at least 3A rated wire, or higher regardless of whether youre using DC or DCC
Gary
QUOTE It would not surprise me if in a few years time all model railway electrical wiring has to be certified by a qualified electrician prior to powering the system up. One advantage of DCC is that you don't need any!
The last time I looked under either the club project or my own little layout, there was quite a bit of wire actually . The wire free system was Exactoscale's Red Arrow, which involved rechargable batteries in the loco and an infrared control signal , and which seems to have died with Bernard Weller
I'd assume it was the mains side that caused the fire here - and one would expect it to be wiring on the workshop side or the mains supply. I believe it is now illegal to carry out mains wiring yourself - unless you are a certified electrician already
I've been round this one, at some length, both with an electrician in the club riding a hobby horse (facing off with another electrician in the club) , and in an exchange on one of the websites with an anti DCC nut who claimed DCC layouts were fire risks and was visibly making up scare stories as he went along ( I recall he claimed that if you used dropper wires it would be unsafe unless you fitted an individual fuse to each dropper. ) Neither can be ranked among the more sensible discussions I've had, and I'm assured by folk who have spent many years working with electrical and electronic equipment professionally that both were talking rubbish
I've never heard of any suggestion that the low voltage circuits require certifaction or checking, though it's a good idea to ensure all wiring is rated adequetely for the loads carried. Quite apart from anything else, the thicker the wire , the less voltage drop you get at a given current, and voltage drop is a Bad Thing. The one area that does worry me is the suggestion often made that a layout can be converted from DC to DCC just by connecting up[ a DCC system and turning on all the section switches. What's widely sold as "layout wire" seems to be 1.3A rated; the typical DCC system pushes out 2.7A - 5A depending on brand , and I do worry about the implications . I'd argue that long wiring runs (eg main feed return, connections) should be at least 3A rated wire, or higher regardless of whether youre using DC or DCC
Gary
QUOTE It would not surprise me if in a few years time all model railway electrical wiring has to be certified by a qualified electrician prior to powering the system up. One advantage of DCC is that you don't need any!
The last time I looked under either the club project or my own little layout, there was quite a bit of wire actually . The wire free system was Exactoscale's Red Arrow, which involved rechargable batteries in the loco and an infrared control signal , and which seems to have died with Bernard Weller
I'd assume it was the mains side that caused the fire here - and one would expect it to be wiring on the workshop side or the mains supply. I believe it is now illegal to carry out mains wiring yourself - unless you are a certified electrician already
