Lots of good advice on this thread. Let me add some more.
1. When stripping wire try not to nick any of the strands, 'cause the nicks serve as stress concentrators, and a few flexes of the wire will fatigue it and break it.
2. Tie melting is the big problem in soldering on feeders. A couple of alligator clips (Radio Shack) will serve as heat sinks, confining the melting action to but a single tie. They also can hold the feeder in place while you solder it. If the joint moves before the solder cools, the joint will go sort of frosty looking ("cold solder joint") and doesn't conduct electricity well. Cold joints are also weak.
3. The secret of a good solder joint is getting the work, NOT the iron, hot enough to melt the solder. Heat the rail and feeder until the rail is hot enough to melt the solder.
4. Rail must be shiny bright to solder well. A wire brush in a Dremel will cut thru the crud.
5. Tip of soldering iron or gun MUST be tinned. That means a smooth and shiny coat of melted solder the covers the entire tip. Wipe the hot tip on a wet sponge to keep it bright and shiny. If (when) the tinning burns off, you have to retin. Starting with a cold iron, file the black crud off until bright copper shows. Flux the bejesus out of the bright copper. Turn on the heat and get solder to melt and bond to the tip before the hot tip turns all cruddy. Repeat until tip is tinned.
6. Use flux. The flux core in the solder isn't enough flux. Get a can of flux.
7. Deflux the joint when all is finished. Easier said than done, the only solvent that actually cut thru rosin flux was Freon. Which they don't sell any more 'cause it eats the ozone layer and will kill Mother Earth. Do the best you can with a stiff brush and the strongest solvent you dare to use. Flux is corrosive and over time it will eat thru the wire. Always use rosin flux, never acid flux.
8. There isn't much point to tinning the rail. It is hard to get the rail hot enough to melt solder without melting ties. Once you have the rail that hot, might as well make the joint so you don't have to heat the rail twice.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
Larry
http://www.teamtrinity.com/
the flux really helps with getting a good result from your soldering attempts.
For me, once I see the flux to start boiling, that is when I touch the solder to the area to be soldered. You do not want to overheat the solder. The whole thing should only take a few seconds of applying the heat and hitting it with the solder. If the solder gets overheated, it gets a grainy appearance, and ultimately, it does not conduct electricity very well. Plus, appying heat too long to the rail can lead to melting of the ties.
Soldering under the rail would be difficult unless the track was not already laid. I cannot imagine trying to solder under a section of track that was already tacked down. You would need to remove the ties in the area you planned on soldering. I would think 2 or 3 ties would need to be removed. Otherwise, you risk melting them. If you are using foam roadbed, forget about it. You will end up melting it with the soldering iron tip (assuming the track is tacked down).
If you solder it to the outside of the rail and have the wire penetrate just under the track, it is not very noticeable. Especially, one you "weather" the rail and then apply the ballast.
Real tracks have some type of cable attached to them. I have seen them, but don't know what they are there for. I assume for some sort of monitoring where trains are along the line. If you can see your feeder wires, assume they are those cables that exist on the real ones.
Agree with both of the above, and want to add a note on cleanliness. Any surface to be soldered must be CLEAN! No paint, corrosion, oil or traces of drawing die lubricant (which is frequently present on new-out-of-the-package rail.) I file-burnish the surface, than swab it with a Q-tip dipped in isopropyl alcohol.
Actually, if you enter soldering in the forum's search function you'll get back at least a morning's worth of reading.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - on specialwork soldered together from raw rail)
Pre-tin both the wire and the rail. It will make life even easier.
The mind is like a parachute. It works better when it's open. www.stremy.net
HO, N, or ??
Generally:
Trim off about 1/4" of insulation from the wire.Twist the strands together.Touch it to the soldering iron and put a tiny amount of solder on it (this is called tinning).Press the wire in place against the rail and hold it there (I often use the blade of a hobby knife).Apply heat until the solder in the tinning melts, then apply solder to the joint.When the solder flows in remove the heat.When the solder freezes remove whatever is holding the wire against the rail (the hobby knife).
Hints. Use very thin solder. Use rosin core solder. If the solder isn't flowing well clean the rail with some paste flux before attempting the solder. This is easiest done with three hands
You can solder to the bottom of the rail but it is harder to hold there. Remember the wire should make a good contact to the rail to pass the electricity, and then the solder just holds that connection in place.
Hi,
I need sime pointers on how to sodder stranded 22 gauge wire to track? Can
you sodder wire to to bottom of the track?
Sincerely,
Chris