I start soldering the flex track for my staging yard.I solder the join from the outside.After do you trim the solder or not?
Personally I would trim it off
In a staging yard? No, not unless it interferes with the wheels. Why bother?
It looks to me as if you are not getting enough heat in there. That looks like a joint that would just pull apart. Don’t have any close-up pictures to post right now, but at my soldered flextrack joints the solder flows neatly into the joiner area, and I do both inside and outside of the rail. The solder on the inside does not protrude above the joiner so it does not interfere with the flanges. It appears in your picture that only the rails were hot, not the joiner.
–Randy
I routinely solder two pieces of flex together to make one 6-foot piece. What works for me is to solder the bottom (upside down, on a workbench, obviously). That way I can heat one rail and the joiner, applying a bit of solder so it is drawn into the joint; then the other rail and joiner; then a very small amount on the outside of the joiner. Makes a strong joint without excess solder anywhere.
Got to agree with Randy on this one. the solder sitting on the outside of the joint like that is an indication of either insufficient heat on the joint, or the metal not being properly cleaned before soldering. The area to be joined should be clean and shiny BEFORE applying flux or heat. The metal should be hot enough to melt the solder and not be melted with the soldering iron and expected to flow into the joint.
I have to agree with Randy, I checked my photos but all of the ones showing joiners are blurry. The solder should flow into and along the joiner, not sit above it. Try holding the iron at the junction of joiner and rail near one end of the joiner. As soon as it will take solder, slowly slide the iron towards the other end. The applied solder will follow of its own accord.
The amount of solder that you have is close to correct but the placement is not quite right.
Karl
It does not look like you are getting the rails hot enough … not long enough on heat, too small a wattage on the iron, My solder flows into the gaps between the joiner and the rails to the point that you almost cannot see it. Hold the iron at the joint of the rails against the joiner and touch the solder to the top edge of the joiner. If it is hot enough the solder will melt and flow into the gap. When I weather the joint with rust colored paint it vanishes completely. Just be careful … too hot and you melt the plastic rails.
As far as the inside of the joiner. I have never felt in 30 years the need to go there. Perhaps I am a bad shot but I have gotten it in the flange area and then it is a bugger to get off and smooth it out. Just not worth the effort … we all know what fun derails are.
Practice on some old track on the bench for a while … you will get it!!!
Dave
I seldom solder, but when I do I solder from the outside. If properly done there shouldn’t be any thing to trim, the one shown in the picture isn’t bad, and could easily be filed down. However as the others have pointed out it doesn’t look like the solder got sucked into the joint. That could be insufficent heat, or not enough flux so it wasn’t clean. If one gets too much solder on the joint it can be removed with some solder wick or a solder sucker. It also looks like your joints are directly across from one another. I always stagger them. I also never trim the ties, but thread the surplus rail into the “spikes” of the next section’s ties.
Curve soldered:
Straight Not soldered:
I realised that i did not get the rails hot enough,i was afraid of melting the plastic.Also the iron is only 25w but i saw that some people does use 25w iron.I pulled the rails after soldering and seems strong.And the good part is that i started from the staging yard so i will practice enough before solder the main layout tracks.
Yes, this seems to be a nice way to go,I’ll try it.
The shiny surface on your solder tells me the joint is good - but you’ve used WAY too much solder! In a really good joint, the solder goes down between the rail and the rail joiner and is all but invisible.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan on September, 1964 - with specialwork soldered up from raw rail)
Well i made some tests and i have the impression that because the joiner is “rusty” from the factory (i use Tillig elite track) it does not has a friendly surface to the solder.Is that possible?
Well i sanded and after that it as ok.But this is going to be a big problem because for staging yard i use the stantard track from Tillig which is not “rusty” and joiners that are “rusty”.That’s why the solder did not flow in to the joiner.For the main track is going to be a big problem,because i tried also to the Elite track and i could not solder them .Now what?Any idea what to do or use?
I’ve just completed laying my Tillig Elite Track.
You should use the iron brush of your Drexel or Proxxon to clean the rails and the joiner. After that the solder should flow like water. If you find it necessary to do some afterworks you didn’t solder correctly.
It is important to have enough power (Watt) to heat both rails and the joiner but not too much heat not to burn the solder ending up with pure lead only. That will typically look as it would need some afterwork. But it’s too late. It will never last for long. You have to redo it.
That will work OK for straight sections, but on curves it can move the soldered joint pretty far into the ties of one side or the other. Then you can end up with awful looking things like this that destroyed six of the flex track ties:
Needless to say, the person who repeatedly did this “quality” of work is no longer with the club.
When you solder the joint the solder should wick down into the rail joiner. You aren’t using enough heat and heating both rail and joiner. The iron should be mainly on the rail as it has a greater mass.
Harold
Personally, I think that Texas Zephyr is the master of track joining. I have not yet had the chance to emulate this method but will be adding a section to the layout later this year and will have ample opportunity. I particularly like the technique for not requiring the removal of ties.
Why do you stagger them?Is there a reason for that?
I think this is better.
