CP Wiring / Mounting Questions

[rygar]

I've been running all over town, and I can't seem to find anything higher than 18 ga wire locally. Is this something they sell at a specialty electric store? Home Depot and Lowe's both didn't carry anything above 18. Will that work for my microswitch buttons / competition joystick / oscar spinner? I've read that it's fine for AC power and grounds, but what about controls? If not, I guess I'll have to hold off wiring my panel to order some 22 ga wire.

My next question is about joystick and trackball orientation. Does it matter how these are mounted to the panel since you can just configure them afterward? I didn't see a "this side up" mark on either.

[blue]

18 should be fine for wiring.
As for mounting the sticks it doesn't mater as long as the switch you have wired for up it point to the top of the CP.
And the trackball thats a question mine wondering myself...

[greywolf22]

Depending on where your at you might want to check your local Radio Shack...they had 22 guage wire last time I was there about a week ago.  Just a thought  

[rsoandrew]

Rygar - don't forget that wire gets smaller as the number gets larger. So for any application, you can always use larger wire (smaller number) without ill effect. The only problem with using larger wire is with connectors (different connectors take different size wire) and expense which is a non-issue with the short runs required on a CP.

On my CP, I used everything from 14 to 22 gauge wire. Just scraps that I had laying around. I actually found that i liked using the 18 and 16 gauge wire the best because it was easy to work with.

[Veinman]

I've seen ebay auctions for wiring kits that use ethernet cable (26 guage I believe). Would I be kicking myself for using that over 22 guage wire?

[rescue161]

My next question is about joystick and trackball orientation. Does it matter how these are mounted to the panel since you can just configure them afterward? I didn't see a "this side up" mark on either.

The trackball should have an arrow with wording that says "Towards monitor".  Not all will say this, but the Happs ones do, at least the ones I've seen.  Other than that, it doesn't matter as you already know you can configure them later.

If it doesn't have an orientation marker, make sure that one of the spindles for the trackball is perpendicular and the other is parallel to the monitor.  You don't want the spindles at 45 degree angles to the monitor.