For those who solder their track: At what point do you solder? When the track is still laying put together but not secured down with your glue/track nails? Or do you secure the track to your roadbed with glue/nails and then solder?
Also, what solder do you reccommend? I have an iron and a gun but plan to use my iron as Im a bit for familar with it in tight places.
And do you solder both rail joiners or is just one side sufficient?
Thanks-J1
I solder mine after it’s secured and in it’s finale position. I like to use a gun, but use an iron too. Main thing is to use an iron that is hot. you want to heat and solder before the ties have a change to melt. You can also put a damp cloth on ether side of the joint to act as a heat sink. For solder I use a solder for electronics. I hope that this helps.
Paul
Use Ruby flux, then rosin core solder for electronics. Never use acid core! Best bet is use solder on joints in curved sections but just use joiners on straight. Allow about .020 at each joint for expansion. Also solder #20 electrical feeders to each 36-39" section of flextrack from #12 bus wires underneath for good DCC power distribution without voltage drop.
If I am laying flex track on a curve, I prefer to join two 3 ft sections and solder them before I lay them.
The trick to soldering track is actually two fold. First, the track needs to be clean, clean ,clean. Second heat, heat, heat. Make sure the area you are going t solder is spotless. Otherwise, the solder will just ball up on the rail. Apply heat to the rail. wait a few seconds, then touch the tip with the solder. This will cause heat transfer. Remember, solder follows heat. After you think the track is hot enough, touch the solder a little ways in front of the iron. I fit is infact hot enough, it will flow to the heat. The trick is to get the tack hot enough to flow the solder and not so hot that it melts the plastic ties. A good solder joint will be shiney not dull.
It really pays to take some old rail and practice before you attempt to solder on the layout. This way you will not mess up your good track.
Thanks for the great info everyone.
Johncolley where do I find ruby flux?
Thanks, J1
I use 60-40 solder that have a lower melting point .
Buy and électronic type solder like Kester five core flux.
The flux is inside the soldwe
check out the pictures at my site…the first 7 pictures on page 4 describes how to solder the track… http://community.webshots.com/album/137793353fwcjGj/3 chuck
A lot of good information here. I will comment that a good soldering pencil will work fime. I have a 80W and a 35W iron - both work fine. The key is to clean the joint first. I use a combination of small files and a small solder ‘scraper’ brush. It is sort of a small paint brush with ‘wire’ bristles. It is very nice for scratching/scaping the side of the rail so all of the oxidation is off of the rail and you have a clean surface to solder to.
As for soldering the actual joints, I do solder the curves, but I leave the joints on the straight sections- you do need some expansion relief! I then solder #22 feeders(one to every section of rail not soldered together). You can use 50/50 or 60/40 solder, just make sure it is rosin flux, not acid core! Even though the rosin core sort of has ‘flux’ in it, I use a good solder ‘paste’ - I did 86 solder connections to the track over 2 evenings using this method.
Jim Bernier