New to garden installations. Just starting G gauge layout with LGB brass track. Have completed first circuit 49 feet long and found many points of bad and non-existant electrical continuity. Plan to overcome this by soldering 3 inch long wire between each section of rail.
Hope someone can help please?
Hello John.
Soldering jumpers between each section of track is by far the lowest cost way of improving continuity.
Single strand bell wire is not adequate.
You will need at least 2mm 7 strand for each piece. That is roughly 20 gauge.
Soldering irons will likely not be able to get the heavy rail hot enough to sweat the cable to the rail.
It is best to solder with a torch with wet tissues either side of where you actually solder and do it quickly before the heat spreads along the rail.
If you decide not to go to the trouble of soldering each joint and opt for mechanical clamps, before you dive in, check thoroughly how much it is going to cost against the cost of other, alternative methods of power and control. Especially if you have expansion plans.
Welcome to the forum John:
Since you did not state, I’m making the assumption you are using standard sectional track. Like Tony said a 20 ga. (or larger) multi-strand wire will be best. If you are using sectional (fixed) track then you have a lot of soldering to do. If on the other hand you are using “flex” track the job will be greatly reduced. To REALLY emphasize what Tony said, you will NEED a heat sink (wet cloth, etc.) to protect the plastic ties. Just an option for the sectional track, as I did before getting the “flex” track, using the standard rail joiners, some good flux, and a small torch, I soldered up sections, 6 foot long straight sections, quarter of a circle and such, These sections are now connected together with rail clamps. These clamps provide excellent conductivity, AND give a great connection point for the power feeder lines. Rail clamps are very reliable both mechanically and electrically, and I love them. They may not look very prototypical, but a little extra ballast and they can’t be seen. On the flip side they are much too expensive (at least for me) to use with sectional track. Their cost is the only down side I can see for the rail clamps. Use them on all switches (turn outs) as they provide an easy way of lifting out the switch for any needed cleaning/repairs without disturbing the rest of the track.
It cannot be over emphasized, protect the plastic ties with heat sinks (wet cloth) on the rails. Like a dummy I did not listen to these guys, had to go out and buy a half box of tie sections for flex track to replace the ties I had melted.
To solder a wire to brass 332 track, you must use a wire brush and clean the rail and then use either liquid or paste flux (NO ACID ). I use a 325 watt Weller soldering gun . Anything smaller will does not work well.
A blow torch with a soldering tip could work here as long as the flame does not reach the ties.
Also, doing this in hot weather is better as the sun will preheat the rails.
Hi there,
Another method:
Drill a hole just large enough for the wire to fit through in the outside base of the rail. Strip the stranded wire far enough to insert from the bottom and bend it over to touch the feeder. The section through which you thread is small enough ( just a bit more cross section than the wire) to heat up very rapidly and looping back to the feeder will give you a very strong connection. The solder will also flow into the hole! Chances of melting ties: practically nil.