I also use a 25w pencil type soldering iron, from Radio shack. I find that a clean tip on the soldering iron works the best. Clean the work surface to be soldered, make sure the joint is tight, apply a dot of past flex and let the soldering iron come up to full heat then press the soldering iron against the rail solidly, count to five, touch the solder to the tip, if it melts add another touch of solder to the joint, remove you soldering wirer and watch the joint suck the melted solder into the joint and remove the soldering iron as soon as the solder flows into the joint. If you are new to soldering I would practice on some scrap first.
Clean surfaces
Tinned tip
Rosin core 60/40 (or 63/37) solder only
Any iron of around 35 watts.
If it takes more than three seconds, then something has gone wrong.
How big is your tip?
What temperature is the tip?
Sounds a lot like the iron isn’t hot enough to heat the work to a point where the solder will melt.
A little rosin flux will help too.
You need a hot iron, with a large tip, otherwise the rail will soak up the heat faster than the iron can produce it.
http://www.dccwiki.com/Soldering see for more info.
I am aware that it’s possible to solder steel and/or dissimilar materials - the key word was “satisfactorily”, as the amount of heat needed to get a good bond to the steel rail will likely have a detrimental effect on the plastic ties. In any case, the mass of the steel rail will not heat as quickly as it would were it nickel silver or clean brass, which might explain why the OP was having problems.
Wayne
In 35 years of electronic repairs and thousands of feet of track soldering I have never used anything bigger than a 40 watt iron.
The regulated soldering stations do not in fact limit the power to the tip of the iron, quite the contrary, as you heat up the joint the tip begins to cool and the power increases to maintain a constant temperature.
The tip cleaner from Radio shack is just as important as the flux. when you start and just before soldering a joint, dip the tip in the cleaner and give it a twisting motion, then wipe the crud off with the damp sponge, then apply a little fresh solder to the tip, again wiping with the sponge, then you’re ready. I also melt a bit of solder to the tip before contacting the joint and then adding a bit more as the joint begins to bubble. Soldering a track joint should take about 3 to 5 seconds. If it’s taking longer, pull the heat away and check for dirt (black crud) on tip or joint or both.
QUOTE: **''solder won’t melt" (**Your heat is not transferring). Are wires tinned & insulation stripped?
1. Soldering-Iron tip must be ‘tinned’. 2. try ‘tinning’ wire , 3. use flux.
As people have informed you … Iron must be ‘tinned’ and areas recieving solder need to be clean. Wire brushing is usually not necessary, but can’t hurt.
I always use 'flux (resin, not acid) and two heat ‘sinks’ when soldering onto rail with plastic ties - like Atlas. 4. HOLD long enough for solder to flow. GOOD joints are shiny.
I prefer 20-24 gauge solid wire for multiple feeders (one per track section. It bends easily and tucks right into the web.
whoa, big feeder in that one pic, does the job but detail!! heh
You could drill a small hole in the rail for a feeder wire to go thru, and solder it to that, that may be more low wattage friendly soldering, drill thru the base only, and feed the wire thru.
The club I was in had huge feeder ground wires, and no small iron soldered to it, I got a silver solder iron. Its super hot, heats the soldering area fast. The metal spreads the heats away preventing it getting to melting temperature and prolly melting your plastic ties first. Thats why I got the silver solder iron, hot, heats the local area fast, wattage means nothing in this case, its how hot it is. Pretty fast vs regular heat irons on rail.
What makes a little more effective soldering, get solder on the rail where you want the wire to be, put some solder on the wire, then “sweat-solder” the 2 together. 3 hands not needed… 8-D
I use a small pair of toilet paper wads saturated with water as my heat sinks (learned that from a previous posting on soldering) and they work great. Soldering certainly does do a lot to improve operation. I had a few intermittant dead spots in my new yard after all the ballasting and scenery was done, and soldering cleared them up permanently. Soldering has also eliminated a number of “slow spots” in other sections (one that’s annoyed me for a few years until I finally got off my butt and fixed it).
In case you get a bit too much solder on a joint, try to smooth it down and outwards from the outside of the rail, and get your fine scenic material and Elmer’s out. Oh the things you can hide with Elmer’s and Woodland Scenic!
Actually there appears to be more solder and bigger wire in the photo than there really is. Probably the flash and the camera angle. Very little solder is u
A lot of people misinterpret the word “clean” in this context. Just because it is a “new” piece of rail to you, there’s no telling how long ago it was manufactured or how many people have handled it. A few people above glossed over this, but it should be a main point for successful soldering: mechanically clean the joint. Don’t expect the flux to do anything but the final cleaning for a joint. Years ago when I did a lot of PC board work, my tool box always had a typing eraser in it, the type you sharpen like a pencil. “Clean” in this context means polished to a shine, the end of the eraser will shape and get into the rail web to clean the side where you want to solder. Then, bend the wire so it presses into the web and stays there without clamipng, a drop of liquid flux (the A-West dropper bottles are great for this), a bubble of solder on the iron tip, touch it to the joint area, and faster than you read this sentence, it’s done.
Tom, you hit on a key point. Brand-new, fresh from the box rail is frequently coated with the dregs of oily drawing lubricant. If it isn’t removed, it makes soldering almost impossible. That’s what I was had in mind when I said that all oil must be cleaned off the metal to be soldered.
As for heat transfer, it isn’t the wattage of the soldering tool, it’s the size and temperature of the copper. A 25 watt iron with a hefty chisel tip will be more effective than a 100 watt tool with a needle tip. If the tool is a gun, the tip must be allowed to come up to temp BEFORE touching the work.
Just because I overkill my hand-laid specialwork doesn’t mean that everyone should rush out and buy the biggest gun Weller sells (250 watt, I believe.) The key for me isn’t the big transformer in the handle, it’s the big chunk of hot, tinned copper that heats the joint. A 25 watt iron can have just as big a tip. It just takes longer to come up to temperature.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
That’s how I learned to solder too. A couple NS rails ain’t no big thang after doing slot car chassis!
This is something that still doesn’t make sense to me. On the one hand I hear that the solder should never touch the tip, and here I’ve read from several people that they put the solder on the tip of the iron and let it melt off into the joint. How would I even do that?? Won’t the solder just drip off if I try to apply it to a hot tip?
Solder is your iron tip’s best freind. If your tip is clean, it shouldn’t ‘drop off’ (unless you flood it). Go back, and read the recommendations on cleaning and tinning the iron.
I don’t have a soldering gun or the funds to but one at this time. Is there another way to insure good contact between rail sections? I’m goint to be using rail joiners and thiught that if the joiner was on tight that would be good enough?Thoughts? Bob
Bob,
Soldering is the only way to assure that the joiners are tight. They will loosen up over time and there is no mechanical means (e.g. squeezing them with a pliers) that will work for sure.
Moreover, if you paint the rail or put down ballast with diluted glue, the liquid will flow into the joiner and act as an insulator.
The best way to assure electrical continuity is to connect every section of track, including turnouts, with a pair of feeders. For the sake of rendundancy, I both solder the feeders and wire every section of track and have absolutely zero problems with stalling engines.
John Timm
Don’t have the funds to get one? I just bought a new Weller 100/140 watt soldering gun from Radio Shack a month or two ago. It cost about thirty bucks.
A little theory… Heat is transfered to the joint mostly where the metal of the iron is contacting the metal being heated. Remember that air is an insulator. A dry iron has very little contact area, so the heat is transfered slowly allowing a lot of the heat to travel down the track melting and bending ties as it goes, but won’t easily get hot enough where the joint is to melt the solder or if it does you may get a cold solder joint. Having a small drop of solder on the tip of the iron increases drastically the contact surface allowing heat to be transfered quickly from both the drop of solder and the entire (very hot) soldering iron. The result is a lot of heat right where you need it. You are done quickly and before the heat travels away from the joint to do damage. That phenomenon is the reason several people have recommended a larger and flat tip on the iron. More contact area, quicker, better, and safer results.
If you do it right, you should be able to solder a rail joint in four seconds.
Or less! I usually am in and out in 2 seconds.