Even if you’re not using new flextrack (rail), it is still a good idea to clean the rail web with a small wire brush to be sure that the oxides are removed.
Cody’s right, a small iron- quick in quick out. Nice job
Cody did not mention which flange web (inside or outside of the rail) was the attachment point for the feeder wire. Probably outside of the flange to avoid possible truck interference, right?
I too use red wire for the furthest rail but prefer live frogs.
Keep on truckin guys.
can someone comment on the minimum wattage iron to use in soldering the wire?
Hey Guys:
Excellent presentation as always. Noticed Cody now has a beard. Looks good. I have had a beard for 40 yrs., always hated shaving, now it gets trimmed once a week whether it needs it or not! LOL
How do you determine the spacing between feeders? Can stranded wire be used as well, if you already have it on hand? Is there any reason not to solder the feeders to the main buss wire rather than use special connectors?
When I drill the holes for the feeder wires, I use a 6" or 12" drill bit, keeps from any possibility of hitting the rail.
When soldering anything with plastic ties, I always use a heat sink on either side of the solder. Made heat sinks by fastening (little screws) a short strip of aluminum to the sides of a spring type clothes pin.
I had problems with insulated frogs, my 0-4-0T engine would often stall on the insulated space.
Nice layout guys, keep up the great work!
I found Steve’s explanations for the rationale of what was being done was very helpful.
I would suggest a 30 - 40 watt iron and don’t forget to clean the track sides and use a liquid flux. The finished joint should shine and be bright. I like to use a small chisel point solder iron tip (1/16 - 1/8")
Great show. If I lived in the area, I would sure enjoy working with you gentlemen.
Love these little video hints on “how-to”. I even try some of them out just to learn along with the videos. Now one day you might address the use of Kato Uni-Track and wiring without using Kato switch controls, etc. Ah some day…
Very nice video presentation of the proper way to solder.
As to soldering iron wattage, 35 watts with a pencil tip is more than sufficient. As the first three rules of soldering are: 1) Clean, 2) Clean and 3) Clean – always use a non-acid flux made for soldering electrical connections. Acid flux WILL later rain on your parade. Heat sinks, metal objects laid across the rails on each side of the soldering location will help save those plastic ties; I use flat car weights, commercial heat sinks (metal spring clips), large nuts, pliers --whatever is handy to dispate the heat beyond the joint. While stranded conductor wire is better (and more expensive) than solid conductor, either will perform equally well for the short run track leads.
Is old tele phone wire ok for feeders only? Thanks, jim
It is important to also clean the flux from the rail after the feeders are soldered. All flux, even rosin, is somewhat acidic and could cause corrosion problems over time. Besides, you don’t want the residual flux to get onto the wheels!
I use denatured alcohol and a nylon brush to scrub the solder joint and clean off all flux residue. You could also use commercial flux cleaner (available from Jameco, Mouser, etc), however, it may attack plastic ties.
My thoughts are the same the other readers, I would like to know where to find the answer to the questions asked, if you actual answer them, individually, or if there is no feed back?.
I would not rely solely on soldered rail joints to carry electricity forever. I found that expansion and contraction will eventually fracture the solder rail joints. I run a set of feeder wires to every piece of track.
Solder is good for making light electrical connections like feeder wire to rail. Solder is not so good for mechanical connections like soldering rails and rail joiners.
If you have a question go to “our magazine”. Click on contact us. You will see a heading that says “Contact the magazine” Click on " submit a question for our information desk". Give them your name and your question. Be patient there are a lot of us and it will take a couple three days to get your answer. But somebody on the staff will give you an answer. About a month ago I had a track laying question. Three days later I got a email from Jim Hediger with the answer to my question.
Hi: My background in Airforce electronics tells me that a bit of rubbing alcohol on a stiff brush might be needed to clean the area where the feeder wire is to be soldered and then when the soldering job is done, to remove the remaining flux. This leaves a clean non-sticky joint. 70% rubbing alcohol will normally work fine and will not attack the plastic ties.
Be aware, if we had already weathered the ties with a water based acrylic, the alcohol will likely remove more paint than just in the small area that we intended to be cleaned and soldered!!!
If we follow Cody’s order of things, and don’t paint our ties/track until some time after the feeders are soldered, we won’t have these kinds of problems.
But with model railroading, as in other areas of life, the order of things are very important.
I really like your video updates on the various MR projects. They offer great insights on how to build a model railroad
But I’m wondering if it might be possible to provide an expanded explanation on how you connected the Bus leads to the feeders. It seem there has to be intermediate connections from the 14 gauge to the 18 gauge to the 22 gauge. And I’m not aware of 3M connectors that can cross the gauges mentioned here.
Might be an interesting article in itself.
Hi there from Switzerland, I just solder feeder wires to all rail joints prior to installing track. I prepare a bundle of each color on the workbench. This method also worked fine on my N-scale layout DENVER North Yard while converting to DCC.