I'm rebuilding and ran out of NS rail joners, is there a reason that I cant use brass joiners. I solder all joints
It does raise the question of dissimilar metals gavanic corrosion. The following items suggest this can occur, but it depends on the particular metals. In the first item note that brass and nickle silver are not so bad a combo in contact as other metal pairs can be.
http://www.zygology.com/cms/upload_area/pdf/Zyg-Anodic-Index.pdf
https://www.engineersedge.com/galvanic_capatability.htm
Having said that, there also would be two issues it seems. One could be some corrosion where the metals are actually contacting. But where solder is an interface between the two metals, the effect would be different at the 2 solder interfaces, one with each metal. I'd guess that the soldered areas, isolating the metals from each other, would be pretty good for the lifetime. It seems that there would be significant area where solder could flow between the metals, to the extent the joiner profile does not exactly match the rail profile.
The areas where the 2 metals are in tight contact, where perhaps solder does not flow in (the heat may help open up clearances) would be more susceptible to corrosion depending on the two metals.
I'm just hypothesizing, sorry. I'd await some more expert comments. I'm betting it's ok.
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
I've used brass joiners on nickel silver track and have never had a problem with corrosion or galvanic action in over 25 years. All joints are soldered. Once you paint the rail, there's no difference.
Wayne
Thats kinda of what I thought; I didn't care to drive 60 miles for a pack of jointers
Thank you gentlemen
I have soldered copper, brass, and nickel silver to one another for years with no issues.
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In my N scale layouts I soldered flat brass feeder to the bottoms of the rails to bring electricity to the rails. It was a lot of work, but no ugly wires on the sides of rails. Never had a problem.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I'm no metallurgist, but I think "Nickel silver" is just another alloy of brass containing nickel. Still mostly copper and zinc.
- Kevin
Check out my shapeways creations! HOn3 and railroad items for 3D printing:
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''Nickel silver, Mailechort, German silver, Argentan, new silver, nickel brass, albata, alpacca, or electrum is a copper alloy with nickel and often zinc. The usual formulation is 60% copper, 20% nickel and 20% zinc. Nickel silver is named for its silvery appearance, but it contains no elemental silver unless plated.''
My eldest Son, (48) Is a Metallurgist.
Take Care!
Frank
http://www5.csudh.edu/oliver/chemdata/alloys.htm