I am relatively new to the “forum” world. I don’t know if unasked-for advice is appreciated or not. But, in case there are some out there that have wiring difficulties, then maybe this will be of some value. It also might help those that reject soldering because of bad experiences. If it is out of place, Mr. Moderator, please let me know. Well here goes.
I picked up these tricks when I was working with electronics in the audio-visual field.
In small gauge wiring ( # larger than #14), good quality connectors (spade, terminal and butt) are hard to find and usually pretty expensive. If the lower quality ones are used, future “broken circuits” will generally be found at the place where the wire meets the connector. At juncions these little guys sometimes get out of line and touch, causing hard to find shorts.
Soldering is required to implement any of these ideas. If you are not a “solderer” you might want to read on anyhow. These procedures are a good place to practice soldering and reach that skill level where you get to experience the “flow”. Once you see solder flow, you will be hooked. H&N Electronics is a great place for soldering supplies and info. (http://bart.ccis.com/home/hn/). I discovered the place from another link here. The owner is a modeler. He is quite helpful if you have questions. His product is Excellent and reasonably priced.
First, let’s deal with the butt connection. To start you need to have on hand a soldering iron, proper solder, proper flux, and, a can of liquid electric tape. As to the soldering stuff, the proper items is a subject that I’m sure has been covered elsewhere. Regarding the liquid tape, your local hardware store or marine hardware store can supply. It’s a little expensive . But a 4 ounce can will probably last the life or your layout building. You also will need to have handy a pocket screwdriver - either phillips or blade. The shaft of the screw driver is just the right size for making the loops that are mentione