G’day everyone.
This may seem an incredibly dumb question, but when I solder track, where EXACTLY do I put the solder?
Any suggestion would be most welcome!
Take two sections of flextrack and remove a few ( 1or 2 ) ties from each end ( keep them for use after ). use a good quality joiner i:e tight!! solder the track together when straight and on a flat surface, then curve to suit your layout.
This is the most popular method I think it keeps the track from kinking. smooth the tops of the ties you removed before and slide them underneath the track when ready, before ballasting.
Oh!! [#welcome] to the forum. You’ve found the place to be.
Ken.
The question was, WHERE does the solder go?
After applying a lite coat of flux to the OUTSIDE of the rail at the rail joiner, I carefully heat the rail at the joiner and let the solder flow into the joiner.
It make take a little practice, but once you get the hang of it, you can do it without even thinking about it.
Good luck,
gtirr
gtirr has the answer. Hot iron. I use a little flux. Some times I put the solder on the iron and hold it on THE OUTSIDE of the track until it flows. Sometimes I heat the track and apply the end of the solder roll until it flows. Both work, and would work better if I practiced more, but most of the track is down now.
Practice helps. Remember, you will probably do a lot of it over in a year anyway, so don’t be too hard on yourself.
The solder is to hold the rail joiner to both rails so the solder has to go in and around the rail joiner and both rails. You want it on the outside of the track so the wheels don’t hit it.
And to help get yourself a good RAT TAIL file to clean up the OOPS factor. I swipe my wifes emery board to clean the top of the rails from OOPS.
P.S. Welcome to the forum. Remeber there are NO DUMB QUESTIONS you are looking for knowledge which is smarter and CHEAPER than trial and error.
George P.
Can I thread jack for a moment. What is the prefered wattage of iron for soldering rail joiners to track and the best wattage for attaching 22ga feeders to the rail ?
Thanks in advance
Tim
The consensus is a min of 30 watts, but some of the more experienced guys say that a 60 watt iron is great for quick work if you are steady and skilled. Just be careful not to let the tip lie against the rails for more than a second or two. You’ll run the risk of melting adjacent plastic ties.
[#welcome] Welcome to YOUR forum.
Lots of great people and excelllllent advice here. You might want to practice on a few short pieces first, perhaps even build a quick rail sodering jig. One thing i highley suggest is a good rail cutter such as the Zuron…money well spent.
allways soder the outside to not interfear with wheel flanges. Good Luck and dont get flustrated on your first attemps…Ya can do it…take care…John
One thing that I noticed everyone has left out of the above: clean the rail and joiner before assembly. Do NOT depend on the soldering flux to do the full cleaning. I prefer the old style typing eraser, the type you sharpen like a pencil. Buff the metal of all pieces until shiny, then assemble the joint. Apply flux VERY LIGHTLY then apply heat. As soon as the flux completely vaporizes (don’t breathe these fumes) touch the solder to the joint and allow it to flow in around the metal parts. Remove the heat and don’t disturb the joint until it hardens. The time you have the iron to the rail should only be about 5 seconds, the flux should completely vaporize in one or two seconds.
All the other advice above is good, just not complete.
To follow through with a really dumb question/observation, I read that one is supposed to solder all flextrack before bending and laying it. So I did, including turnouts on either end. Then I realized that the inner sliding rail was going to be wayyyyy too long and needed to be cut … so back to the drawing board.
Question, if one needs to solder while close to cork bed, what does one insulate with?
[D)]
Jake,
I keep an old ceramic tile around my workbench to solder on. I also use another to keep electrical tape on as you can usa a utility or hobby knife to trim it down to just the size needed.
Jake, the sliding rail, wherever it ends up, is always right!!! You’ll be wrong if you don’t solder the sections together when they are aligned straight, end-to-end. So, about the sliding rail…just use a fine cut-off tool to nip it at the same length as its partner if you really feel you must. However, what many modelers do is leave that rail long and sticking out and do the next solder where it ends after each previous solder. In other words, stagger the joins. It makes for stronger track all around. You will, of course, have to cut that sliding rail at some point where you join the final rail ends, say on your main loop, but otherwise leave the sliding rail soldered joins where they end up without the cutting. Just feed the long rail into the appropriate ties on the next piece each time.
Unless you are really sloppy at it (practice on scrap sections til you get the hang of it), you can solder both sides with no problems. The solder wicks down in between the joiner and track, it’s not a huge blob across the track gap, so even on the inside it is below the wheel flange.
If one of the ends you are soldering is cut - make sure it fits squarely tot he other side. Use a file to square up the end, even with the good quality rail nippers the ‘flush’ side sometimes still has burrs that should be removed to create the best joints.
–Randy
So, you’re saying that the rail sticking out is pushed into the next section of flex track? Do you still use connectors on both sides?
Also, how does one go about making the ties under the connectors smaller or putting grooves in them?
You have to remove the ties near where you are soldering and joining. You use an exacto to nip the spike ‘heads’ around the flanges of the rails and remove one set. Slide on a joiner, solder the joint, and place the set of altered ties under the join.
So, yes, you should use a joiner wherever the gap ends up as you fit the sections around curves and what have you. Supposedly, this staggered series of soldered gaps makes the whole system stronger. At the last, when you want to close the loop, you cut the one rail to fit, cut out a tie set, slide on a joiner, solder, and replace the ties under the joint. You’re all done but for fixing the track in place.
Crandell - OOPS! I forgot to put in the message[:(].
I have been putting the fixed side of the flextrack to the outside and bending so the flex side gets much longer on the curves. On all 4 corners, the flextrack leads directly into a fixed turnout. That is where I need to cut and solder… correct??
[?] Cheers, Jake
I solder rail joints very rarely, and never solder to switches or crossings. On any layout, especially the large club layouts, I’ve always run a buss wire below the roadbed and have electrical drops for each 3 foot flex section. I solder rail joints only for mechanical alignment. For electrical, I only solder rail joints for quick repairs, like during shows, to be properly done later.
As far as soldering near cork roadbed, I’ve never had a problem. The iron is on the joint for such a short time, I don’t even discolor the cork. If your soldering iron is on the joint more than 6 or 7 seconds, you need to check your technique. A properly prepared joint will solder VERY quickly.