Soldering flex track

[memsd]

What's the secret to it? I read somewhere that I should clip the tie or two before soldering, but then then do I glue the ties back on? I was thinking of splitting some 1" straights then soldering those onto the ends of two or three sections of flex track instead of soldering the flex directly to turnouts. Also, then I can use the rail joiners that have power leads attached to them.

To accomplish my layout I'm having to play with a lot of elevations. (LOVE the WS risers) Am I going to have trouble with 5% grade being too steep in short increments? I'm hoping to run 20 car trains.

[SP4449]

The secret to a good mechanical and electrical connection between sections of track is the rail joiner. Place the joiner on the joint and if the joint is in a curve, solder the joint before laying the track into the layout. If it is not in a curve, you can solder the joint after the track is laid. I have had good luck with switches such as Atlas where the ties are molded away from the joint leaving room for the joiner. You will have to cut the ties back a couple on the flextrack anyhow, just solder the joiner to the ends of the rails. Starting with clean rail ends, you should be able to get the job done without distorting the plastic ties very much. If you are going to ballast the track, it will help cover the distortions, and if the missing ties are a problem, get a package of stained wood ties, cut them to the length needed to fill the gap and glue them in place before you ballast the track.

You don't want to rely on the rail joiner to conduct power to the track. Corrosion builds up between it and the rail causing problems with dead sections, especially since you want to use the joiner with the feeder wire already connected to it. Solder all joints between sections that don't have a feeder wire soldered directly to the rail.

Practice soldering on old track you will throw away. It won't take long for you to master the task and you will have joints no one can detect. Just start with everything clean. You need to have a clean 20 Watt soldering iron and some solder with rosin core to help keep the joint clean while heating it up. You need a small file to clean any solder off the tops of the rails. The rosin will collect dirt and cause electrical problems and there will be a small lump of solder that will cause derailments especially if it is on a curve

[Anonymous]

I just tried to solder some track for the first time. I have a 100 watt gun. It seems like it takes forever (2-3 minutes) for the rail to get hot enough to melt some solder. This is a new gun and clean tip. I have read here that some of you get capillary action. How? I can't seem to get enough heat on the rail to do much good. Any ideas??? HELP!!!!
Tim

[cwclark]

Go to my webshot site..there are pictures here to show you how to solder the flex track...Chuck[:D] http://community.webshots.com/album/137793353fwcjGj/3

[FThunder11]

YOur train will never make it up a 5% grade, unless ur name is Tim Taylor. I dont think even just a locomotive would make it up a 5% grade.

[Anonymous]

I could not bring up the webpage showing how to solder flex track. I too am going to be soldering track and would love to see this. COuld you check the url and repost?

Thanks

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by FThunder11

YOur train will never make it up a 5% grade, unless ur name is Tim Taylor. I dont think even just a locomotive would make it up a 5% grade.

My old layout had a 7% grade on the mainline and I had no trouble getting either of my locomotives to pull 15 cars up it. My locos were a stock Athearn BB SD40-2 and SW1000.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by FThunder11

YOur train will never make it up a 5% grade, unless ur name is Tim Taylor. I dont think even just a locomotive would make it up a 5% grade.

I suggest you tack some flex track to some long boards as a test track, jack up one end and see what your locos can do. I can't imagine you'll find that a loco won't make it up, but you might find 20 cars to be a bit much without helper locos.

I've got a 5% grade on a 6' long section on my under construction layout.. An N Scale Atlas RS3 had no problem pulling a short , 5 or 6 car train up it. Never tried more cars than that.

Added: Also suggest taking some scrap or damaged flex track, cutting it up and practise soldering it. I did that on my first layout in over ten years and it helped a lot.

Wayne

[rexhea]

Are you sure the gun is getting hot? Using a 100 watt soldering gun should have got it plenty hot and holding on there that long would have melted the floor [;)]. I use a 40 watt pencil iron, but I make sure that the area to be soldered is clean. Try dabbing a little solder on the tip to get the heat spreading better. Place the tip right at the Joiner ends and the rail. The trouble with guns is that the heat is not even. It has to go from cold to hot. You need to get it hot before applying to rail. It should only take about 3-4 seconds or less to solder the joint.

Save the ties you cut out and take a hobby knife and cut away the cleats on them. After you make your solder joint, slip them back under your rail and cover them with white glue/ water mix. You will never know they were moved.

REX

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the tip. I'll try again later and see how it goes.
Tim

[Anonymous]

Also, make sure the soldering tip on the gun is clean and tight where it goes into the gun body. This is a common cause of the tip not getting hot enough.

Wayne

[cwclark]

QUOTE: Originally posted by shackscs

I could not bring up the webpage showing how to solder flex track. I too am going to be soldering track and would love to see this. COuld you check the url and repost?

Thanks

I clicked it and it came up!...well if you are having trouble getting to the page then go to www.webshots.com click community photos...do a member search for bayouman1 and then go to trains...the pictures start on page 4 with an explanation at the bottom of each picture...Chuck[:D]

[trollw]

The other thing is to make sure that the tip of the gun is tinned. After the tip gets hot, melt solder (with flux) directly on the tip (without the gun touching anything else), then wipe the tip off on a wet sponge. The tip shoud have a uniform, THIN coating of solder all over the working part of the tip. If there are places where the solder will not adhere, wipe off the tip and try again. If it still won't tin after several tries: let the gun cool, lightly sand or file the tip where it won't tin, and start over. You must have a nice uniform, thin coat of solder on the tip where it touches the rail to get good heat conduction into the rail.

John

[Paul Milenkovic]

I have one word for you young man. Flux. (or was it supposed to be "plastics"?)

I got a can of petroleum-jelly based rosin flux (it is electric wiring safe, unlike acid flux), and you brush some into the rail joiner, brush some on to the outside of the rails (don't want solder on the inside throwing off the gauge). I got it from Radio Shack, and you can check the Radio Shack Web site to see which of your local stores has it in stock.

I use a 30 watt cheapo soldering pencil type iron. No trouble at all and no tie melting to speak of. You hit the flux with that iron and it starts to bubble, hit it with the solder and it flows right in. Without the flux I was just spinning my wheels, trying to get stuff hot, solder wouldn't wet the surface even though I melted all the ties.

But the flux is in the core of the rosin-core solder people will say. But putting paste flux right on the rails where you want solder to go makes the job sooooo much easier.

[PennsyHoosier]

Chuck, the website came up fine for me. It is very nicely done and extremely helpful. Thanks for your service! [:)]

[Anonymous]

For soldering flex-track, I use a butane micro-torch. This heats it up to the right temp in about 4-5 seconds. Because you have to remove a couple ties on flextrack at the ends anyway, the flame isn't close enough to melt anything, and you're in and out so fast that nothing further along the track gets too hot. The trick is to get a little, tiny torch with a very small flame (i.e. imagine the cone-shaped end of a sharpened pencil)

[Anonymous]

PS - I use cork roadbed layed on plywood. You generally WILL very lightly scorch the roadbed just a bit in doing this -- but who cares, it's getting covered up with ballast anyway, right?

[Anonymous]

I just tried again. I cleaned the tip, checked for tightness, and went to a much smaller diameter solder. Wow, must have been the thick solder. Works like a charm. Thanks for the tips!!

[Leon Silverman]

Here is one other tip that seems to have been missed regarding replacing the ties under the rail joint: In addition to cutting away the cleats of the plastic ties, the section directly under the joint should be cut down to clear the track joiner. Otherwise, the joint will become a high spot on the rails that will cause the trains to rock and roll as they pass over the joints.

[Anonymous]

Hey all, I finally started construction this past weekend and soldered my first rail. Was using a 100-watt gun also, but instead of flux-cored solder, i used flux paste and a very thin solid solder. It worked very well. I've done lots of wiring in the past and my problem with flux-cored wire is that the flux tends to boil out of the solder before the sodler itself melts. All I did was dip the ends of the rail or the joiner in the paste, put the joint together and start heating it. As soon as the flux begins to melt, I touch the solder wire to the tip of the gun and let it melt, and VOILA! It flows right into the joint like water. Just thought I'd throw in my two cents' worth.

[trollw]

mcrowe00,
I'm glad it worked for you, but if you really did it the way you described, take another look at your joint and be sure it isn't grainy looking. It could be a cold solder joint. ALWAYS touch the solder to the piece being soldered -- never to the gun tip. The solder will melt from the gun tip temperature but if the piece being soldered is not hotter than the melting temp of the solder, the solder will not bond to the piece -- it will flow into the cracks but will not be a good joint.

[Anonymous]

Radio Shack has a product for cleaning and tinning soldering iron tips. It comes in a small container that you can stick directly to any flat surface. I use it every time I solder and never have problems with dirty or corroded tips.

John Timm