Fixing MTH RealTrax?

[Anonymous]

I recently purchased a friend's train collection. Not much - a few starter sets, MTH RealTrax and switches, buildings, accessories all on a 4X8 layout that he never completed. He gave up the hobby because he was frustrated and did not have the time to work on the layout. He hardly used the stuff that he had. It is practically new.

I've discovered the source of his frustration - he would take apart and put together the RealTrax in different configurations and in doing so, he bent some of the connections on the track. Well, not some but most. He just wasn't careful in pulling them apart.

I can bend the connections back carefully with needle nose pliers and some fit together and work fine. Some others don't carry the circuit but the connections seem to be ok. Nothing is broken. I want to use this track to make a layout. What are some other ways that I can fix the connections? Has anybody tried to soder them together? Will that adversely affect the circuit?

I have yet to try the switches and I'm dreading that time based on the experience with the track. I'll need patience, but I believe this all can be salvaged.

Suggestions and shared experiences are greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Michael

[willpick]

Yes, it is possible to solder jumper wires from one section to another. As long as you solder with a 25-35W soldering iron, the plastic should not melt. It is possible that the fingers are making contact, but the weld that makes contact with the rail may be broken--
The fingers and the welds are the weak points of Realtrax-but you can fix them. As long as you are going to use the Realtrax in a permanent configuration, the problem should not crop up again. The switches should be fixable in the same manner as the track(if you find more opens).
Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply, Will.

So, are you suggesting to solder jumper wires from track to track rather than solder the fingers together (which was my original intention)? I might have to do this to most of the tracks, so that's a lot of jumpers.. Is it possible to solder the weld to the rail on each track instead?

Michael

I have the iron, an inexpensive one from Radio Shack that should do fine for the job.

[Anonymous]

You can drill through the fingers into the bottom of the solid rail. If you use stranded wire, you can wick molten solder down into the track and restore continuity. I'm not sure the track is really worth the expense/effort.

[wrmcclellan]

MAst,

If you have digital or analog volt/ohm meter, you might try measuring the resistance from the fingers to the rails. If it is zero then the problem is the fingers not making good contact with each other. If it is anything other than zero, then do as will and chuck suggest (e.g. fix the contact of the fingers to the rails). You can also solder small wire jumpers on the inside web of the rails when looking at the track from above (be careful not to melt the plastic).

If the problem is just the fingers, then you can solder them together as you originally thought if reshaping them does not work. Make sure the surfaces are clean and use some extra paste flux.

Good luck and welcome to the CTT forum!

Regards,
Roy

[Anonymous]

hi-my son bought mth real trax against my warning-he started to have electrical problems-i removed all accessories from the track and where there was a voltage drop, i drilled holes into the middle rail at the jointing section and placed a small wire into each hole to link both track sections and soldered the wires to both tracks-i then ran feeder wires off the transformer and all his electrical problems were eliminated-have fun.

[jimhaleyscomet]

The best way to identify which rail is the problem connection is to use a jumper wire to jump from rail to rail. First discconnect one piece of track just before the transformer track. Then working on the other side of the transformer track run a conventional engine or a lighted car. If it stops jumper the inside track. If it works that is your problem. If not jumper the outside track and then the inside track. This way you can figure out which finger is not making contact or has a broken solder.

Jim H