When soldering sections of HO track together, is it best to solder a few strands of wire (or one thick strand) along the edges of the track? Sorry if this is a dumb question but I really muddle through these things. Lately, I've simply been soldering blobs of solder along the sides of the track but I remember reading somewhere that it's better to solder strands of wire alongside the tracks.
If so, do you use some sort of clamp to hold the wire in place while you're doing the soldering? as it could be difficult holding 3 things in place -- the solder iron, the solder wire as well as the wire being soldered onto the track.
Also, my eyesight isn't as good as it used to be and I get frustrated that I have trouble seeing what I'm doing!
Thanks in advance,
Rob
I don't add wire at the joints and I try not to have blobs of solder -- it should disappear inside. If you had wire jumpers it would be around expansion joints and the actual joint shouldn't be solid.
When I solder feeder wires I have a ton of assorted clips. There are soldering tweezers made of some material that doesn't take solder; I've found that most other tweezers will solder up. When I'm soldering up I may have a ton of metal bits around the joint -- tweezers, clamps and heat sinks. I like to tin the wire and the side of the rail. I take the straight bare end of the wire and make a slight bend in it so that there is a spring that holds the wire against the rail; sometimes I spike the wire to hold it as I solder.
For clamps, you can try alligator clips from the electronics store, small "binder clips" from the office supply store, and I have found some small spring clips in the discount bin at the hardware store that work great after you peel the rubber grips off.
I like to tin the wire and the rail first with a little solder, then all I need to do is hold the wire to the rail and heat.
Rob,
Maybe I missed something, but aren't you using rail joiners to hold your track together? If yes, you can add solder for electrical conductivity. If you are soldering separate feeders to each section, then the rail joiners are mainly for physical alignment, not electrical conductivity, and do not have to be soldered.
Andrew
The problem with soldering at the rail joints is that it leaves no room for track expansion with variations in room temperature which can, in extreme cases, lead to track buckling.
Here's a video showing you how to solder droppers for track feeds. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1YkdrYlGbM">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1YkdrYlGbM</a><!-- m -->
poliss Wrote:The problem with soldering at the rail joints is that it leaves no room for track expansion with variations in room temperature which can, in extreme cases, lead to track buckling.
Here's a video showing you how to solder droppers for track feeds. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1YkdrYlGbM">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1YkdrYlGbM</a><!-- m -->
Gotta agree.
I soldered all my connections when laying my flex track. The layout being in the attic, it never occured to me about expansion or the heat in the attic. One day, I went up to do some scenery work and found at least twenty feet of soldered flex track kinked, some parts actually lifted off the ballast.
Replacing the track, and any new line layed, doesen't get soldered.
As far as drop downs, Atlas sells drop downs, already attached to joiners, for maybe $2.00 USD each. I use these also. saves a lot of work.
nachoman Wrote:For clamps, you can try alligator clips from the electronics store, small "binder clips" from the office supply store, and I have found some small spring clips in the discount bin at the hardware store that work great after you peel the rubber grips off.
I like to tin the wire and the rail first with a little solder, then all I need to do is hold the wire to the rail and heat.
Thanks -- these are all good suggestions. I can certainly use some of the small binder clips -- they should work very well. Rob
MasonJar Wrote:Rob,
Maybe I missed something, but aren't you using rail joiners to hold your track together? If yes, you can add solder for electrical conductivity. If you are soldering separate feeders to each section, then the rail joiners are mainly for physical alignment, not electrical conductivity, and do not have to be soldered.
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
Yes, I am using rail joiners but the layout often has loss of current problems. Often, a loco will suddenly stall but it moves again after I push on or move the track. This pushing can either be horizontal nudging or even pushing down (then the loco runs). So all of this means that electricity isn't adequately flowing between the rail joiners. As noted, I'm going to try to solder some feeders to the problematic sections.
Thanks, Rob
poliss Wrote:The problem with soldering at the rail joints is that it leaves no room for track expansion with variations in room temperature which can, in extreme cases, lead to track buckling.
Here's a video showing you how to solder droppers for track feeds. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1YkdrYlGbM">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1YkdrYlGbM</a><!-- m -->
Thanks -- I'll check out that video.
I was going to ask if anyone could post some pics of well-soldered track but maybe this video will do that.
Rob
BR60103 Wrote:I don't add wire at the joints and I try not to have blobs of solder -- it should disappear inside. If you had wire jumpers it would be around expansion joints and the actual joint shouldn't be solid.
When I solder feeder wires I have a ton of assorted clips. There are soldering tweezers made of some material that doesn't take solder; I've found that most other tweezers will solder up. When I'm soldering up I may have a ton of metal bits around the joint -- tweezers, clamps and heat sinks. I like to tin the wire and the side of the rail. I take the straight bare end of the wire and make a slight bend in it so that there is a spring that holds the wire against the rail; sometimes I spike the wire to hold it as I solder.
Thanks, David.
As noted below, I think I'll try using file clamps as I have several of those.
I wasn't sure what you meant by saying that the solder "should disappear inside" -- do you mean inside the track or inside/onto the rails?
Good point about not keeping the actual joint solid. I can see how that would be a problem when temperature/humidity changes cause the track to expand or contract -- I guess I'm going to have to fix some of my track-joins where I HAVE actually soldered them as one solid join. :cry: Instead, I'll experiment with soldering some wire jumpers around the joins, and do so via using these clamps.
Thanks again -- this is helpful.
Rob
Although you can buy rail joiners with droppers attached it's still not the best solution as after a while, maybe a year or even longer, *resistance will increase and your trains could stop moving.
*Carbon builds up at the joiners as the electricity jumps the gaps.
Rob: I think what I meant was that the solder would disappear into the joint or the joiner.
You can get away with soldering rail into lengths up to 6 feet, possibly 10. If your house keeps a fairly constant temperature, you shouldn't have too many worries.
If you have to push down on a loco to make it run, look to cleaning the wheels and track, then check pickups.
I avoid soldering joints and feeders at switches and crossings as these are a bit more expensive. Most of my blocks aren't more than a couple of lengths of flex long.
I've only had one expansion incident: we have this electric fireplace under the long bridge and the heat was cranked up. The unsecured flex on the bridge rose up about an inch in the middle.
I soldered
all of my track together, then added electrical gaps where necessary. Since the temperature in the unheated basement is pretty-much constant throughout the year, I've had no issues with expansion and contraction of the rails. I also didn't have to add feeder wires, as I didn't bother using bus wires either.
Wayne
RobertInOntario Wrote:MasonJar Wrote:Rob,
Maybe I missed something, but aren't you using rail joiners to hold your track together? If yes, you can add solder for electrical conductivity. If you are soldering separate feeders to each section, then the rail joiners are mainly for physical alignment, not electrical conductivity, and do not have to be soldered.
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
Yes, I am using rail joiners but the layout often has loss of current problems. Often, a loco will suddenly stall but it moves again after I push on or move the track. This pushing can either be horizontal nudging or even pushing down (then the loco runs). So all of this means that electricity isn't adequately flowing between the rail joiners. As noted, I'm going to try to solder some feeders to the problematic sections.
Thanks, Rob
The loco stopping and then running again when nudged or pushed down on may be more of an indicator that the electricity is not flowing from the track to the motor rather than problems from track section to section.
You may need to clean the track and/or loco wheels/pickups. You may also need to add weight or properly balance your locos.
If you want to solder track together and you are using sectional track (I think you are), you might consider soldering only 3-4 pieces together, and the soldering a feeder to this "super section". Use the rail joiners instead of wire jumpers between sections - the solder will flow into this joint as David suggests. Use rail joiners (unsoldered) between "super sections" to keep things in alignment. Then go under the layout and hook all the feeders into a bus wire that runs from your power supply.
Andrew
BR60103 Wrote:If you have to push down on a loco to make it run, look to cleaning the wheels and track, then check pickups.,I avoid soldering joints and feeders at switches and crossings as these are a bit more expensive. Most of my blocks aren't more than a couple of lengths of flex long. I've only had one expansion incident: we have this electric fireplace under the long bridge and the heat was cranked up. The unsecured flex on the bridge rose up about an inch in the middle.
Thanks, David & Andrew. Re the loss of current, it's the track that I have to push down on (not the loco) to restore the current. Sometimes when a loco stalls, if I move the track slightly -- whether it's horizontally or by pushing down on the track -- the loco starts moving again. This indicates a current problem in the track while the loco itself is fine.
Rob