Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
Something all of you folks forgot to mention (though lots of good tips guys) : keep the solder gun or iron tip TIGHT. That means, after every few solders, retighten those nuts (on a gun) or that little screw (on an iron). When you solder, the tip is expanding and contracting and those nuts or screw loosen ever so slightly over a few on/off cycles. The result is the heat transfer from the gun/iron to the tip drops off. So you hold the tip to the rail longer and so the ties melt before the solder flows. If you keep the tip very clean, tin it, and retighten the tip every few solders, you will find you can touch the joint and solder it so fast the ties don't melt. Use rosin core solder, solder on the outside of the rails, lightly clean (I just file it lightly) the joint before soldering. At critical loactions where you want to make sure soemthing adjacent doesn't melt, wet paper towels as a heat sink works great, but again generally not required if yoiu follow the advice above. I would discourage the use of heavy heat sinks like pliers or metal weights. They suck up too much heat and can backfire, requiring you to hold teh gun on the rail longer and possibly melting ties. I find a dual wattage gun as ironrooster describes is fastest and I don't ever have a tie melting problem following the above. Note: I do remove 2 ties on each side of the joint, as typically recommended, before soldering.
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag

Update Reply

Subscriber & Member Login

Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!

Model Railroader Newsletter See all

Sign up for our FREE e-newsletter and get model railroad news in your inbox!

Subscriber & Member Login

Edit post

Post Body

Tags (Optional)

Subscriber & Member Login

Users Online

Search the Community