Soldering Stainless Gargraves - Am I a fool for trying

[chuck]

Those are a lot of really good reasons on why NOT to solder stainless steel, particulalry with lead/tin.  Thanks for the info.  And that's not meant to be tongue and cheek, providing info on how/why NOT to do something is often as valuable as how to!

[webenda]

Soft Soldering of Stainless Steel

All grades of stainless steel can be soldered with lead-tin soft solder. Soldered joints are relatively weak compared to the strength of the steel, so this method should not be used where the mechanical strength is dependent upon the soldered joint. Strength can be added if the edges are first lock-seamed, spot welded or riveted. In general welding is always preferable to soldering.

Recommended procedure for soldering:

1. The stainless steel surfaces must be clean and free of oxidation.

2. A rough surface improves adherence of the solder, so roughening with grinding wheel, file or coarse abrasive paper is recommended.

3. Use a phosphoric acid* based flux. Hydrochloric acid based fluxes require neutralising after soldering as any remnant traces will be highly corrosive to stainless steel. Hydrochloric acid based fluxes are not recommended for soldering of stainless steels.

4. Flux should be applied with a brush, to only the area being soldered.

5. A large, hot iron is recommended. It will have to be applied to the surface for a longer time than for copper because of stainless steel's low thermal conductivity. The stainless steel must be hot enough for the solder to flow onto its surface.

6. Any type of solder can be used, but at least 50% tin is recommended. Solder with 60-70% tin and 30-40% lead has a better colour match and greater strength.

*CAUTION: PHOSPHORIC ACID

Toxicology :Corrosive - causes burns. Harmful if swallowed and in contact with skin. May be harmful through inhalation. Very destructive of mucous membranes, respiratory tract, eyes and skin.

Personal protection: Safety glasses, adequate ventilation, rubber or plastic gloves.

Reference:
http://www.azom.com/details.asp?ArticleID=1178

The reference gives instruction for silver soldering, but they are more complex than for soft soldering.

[phillyreading]

lckiii,

I find the Gargraves switches to be more reliable than the Lionel switches for O gauge track.

Lee F.

[lckiii]

 

Thanks for the advice.  I am pretty happy about being excused from soldering the track together and will use the auto clips for my power feeds.  Bent my first curve this morning after being a logn time sectional track user.  A lot easier than I had been making it out to be in my head.

 GLad to finally be on the Gargraves band wagon.

[sir james I]

Two afterthoughts. the old Marx lockons will also work well....and if you still intend to solder sections together you will need to solder a peice of bare wire across the gap as the solder will not hold the track together without a support such as the wire.

[phillyreading]

Soldering stainless anything is tough, need lots of heat plus the items mentioned above. Another way is to go to auto supply,Lowes,etc and buy flat spade lugs, solder wire leads to them and slide them in place from underneath. This topic came up on another forum and went on until the topic got lost. GG Co. sells track clips and doesn't say anything about having to solder. Push in spade lugs will do the job regardles of what the diehards say.

I have to agree about soldering GarGraves track, track clips or spades from an auto parts store work great.

Lee F.

[sir james I]

Soldering stainless anything is tough, need lots of heat plus the items mentioned above. Another way is to go to auto supply,Lowes,etc and buy flat spade lugs, solder wire leads to them and slide them in place from underneath. This topic came up on another forum and went on until the topic got lost. GG Co. sells track clips and doesn't say anything about having to solder. Push in spade lugs will do the job regardles of what the diehards say.

[phillyreading]

After cutting GarGraves track test fit loose pins into the cut track sections to make sure the pins will be able to go in properly.

Like I mentioned before I am not the best authority on soldering, but I know a few things.

Lee F.

[chuck]

A) You can't easily solder stainless steel.  You would probably want to silver solder instead of lead/tin

B) Flux is required to thoroughly clean (aka chemicaly clean) the surfaces you are trying to solder.

C) "Dive Bomb Soldering" is not a recognized technique.  You are supposed to heat the work and then apply the solder.  If you have concerns about melting stuff, use clamp on heat sinks.

D)  I prefer to bend gargraves in-situ.  This means tracing out the center rail and bending the track a small pices at a time and fixing it down as you go.  When you are about 6-8 inches from the end of a section, use a square to mark the rails and a cutoff wheel on a dremel to slice track t make it easier to attach next section. 

[phillyreading]

Maybe others can add more but I don't heat the rails with GarGraves track as this tends to melt the plastic ties rather quickly!  I would hold the solderering gun about three to five inches from the track and let the solder drip onto the place that requires soldering, put flux on there first, this is how I soldered Lionel 031 track.  When soldering near plastic you want to keep the heat away from the plastic as much as possible.

You can buy a good soldering gun from Home Depot or Lowes(Radio Shack solder guns break down on me) for around $25.00.  Maybe you can catch a sale on solder guns at a discount tool place, I bought one from Harbor Freight(don't know if they are still in business) in Stuart FL for $15.00 and it works great has 150 watt heating capacity.

With GarGraves Track I use the little track connecters that GarGraves sells in packs of three, I have never soldered my GarGraves track just ran more power connecters.

Lee F.

[lckiii]

Was up late last night due to the heat and decided I would try soldering two pieces of flex track together so they woudl be ready to bend.  (Going with 72 inch diameter curves requiring two sections to complete 90 degrees)

 Being a relative newbie to soldering I did almost everything wrong (as I learned from Google thsi morning) First I was using Rosin Core solder (heard I need silver solder for stainless)  I did not use any flux.  (Do not know anything about flux other than it is used to draw the solder into the joint somehow) Lastly I was trying to heat the rails with a 40W iron (which may not be hot enough)

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.