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Tips For Soldering Track
The techniques used for achieving good looking and reliable solder joints are not difficult to master. Yes, it will require some practice, but anyone can do it.
There key points for creating high quality solder joints on track are:
1. Keep your works surfaces and tools clean.
2. Use acid based solder paste flux.
3. Purchase a good quality soldering iron (with a replaceable tip). A small diameter solder – a .020 inch or smaller works best.
5. For soldering track a 35W to 45W pencil type iron works well.
2 Responses to Tips For Soldering Track
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Your tips for soldering tracks (or anything electrical, for that matter) are right on, except for tip #2. It’s not a good practice to use acid core solder or acid flux when soldering anything electrical. It’s much better to use rosin core solder or rosin flux. The acid can eat into the thin wires used and can also disrupt the electrical connection even though the solder connection looks good. The acid core solder and acid flux isn’t a problem with plumbing connections because of the massive amounts of copper or brass used compared to the relitively tiny amounts of copper or brass used in the model train hobby.
To avoid damage to sleepers from too much heat, it is best to add heat sinks to the rails one inch from the joint. I have seen an expert use pairs of right angle pin-nose pliers with elastic bands across the handles to keep them in place.
Don’t solder every joint else buckling can occur with changes in humidity and temperature.
Solder flex track at one end before bending then try to end/join to the next section on a straight.
If running wires to each section of track for better power feeding, try soldering wires to the bottom face of 2 rail joiners before installing them. Run the wires through small holes in your board.