Soldering?

[Anonymous]

Is this a necessity? I know it helps the connection, but why wouldn't using terminal joiners on every connection be adequate? Do they come apart easily?

[Anonymous]

Is this a necessity?
I can think of several that would yell at me, but no it's not necessary.
Would it be more reliable?
Yes, absolutely, especially around the curves to prevent kinks and the inevitable derailing coming from them. On the straights tho leave at least some unsoldered to allow for expansion and contraction.

Chris

[Jetrock]

The problem with terminal joiners is that with time they start to come loose, and they also oxidize, and all sorts of gunk and goo can get stuck in there, especially if you paint your track, which can cause continuity problems later.

Soldering is pretty easy after a little practice, and will save a lot of headaches later...

[challenger3802]

Soldering will also help with continuity, one of those things that comes into play when track joints start to get loose! Dead easy to do but best left until all track is in the places where you want it to stay. Desoldering a soldered track joint can get a bit messy!

Ian

[Anonymous]

Personally, I do NOT think soldering is necessary. I soldered 22-gauge stranded feeders to the bottom of each metal joiner and used a Q-tip to put a small amount of a conductive solution (I used RailZip, there are others) on the bottom of the rail ends before placing the joiner. In the ten years this layout was up (we moved house), I had zero problems with electrical conduction. And by the way, I have no fear of soldering, in fact there were a few spots where I did solder in order to have a secure physical connection. Instead, I don't like the aesthetic appearance of the soldered joints and especially don't like the absolute permanence of it. For example, I'm re-using about $600 worth of Shinohara turnouts alone, which I doubt would have been possible if soldered. Furthermore, its no big deal to go back and solder later if you develop problems - much easier than trying to UN-solder because you have decided to make a track change.

[rrinker]

I do the same thing, make up batches of my own 'terminal joiners' at the bench, and I use them for EVERY joint except where they are extremely close, or the feeder drop would interfere with a benchwork crossmember. Since the DCC power bus more or less follows the track line anyway, it's no big deal to connect all these feeders, not with one of those good quality stripping tools. Plus if I decide to cut more gaps for occupency detection, I alreayd have adequate power to each isolated section.
I DO solder two sections of flex track together when the joint will fall in the middle of a curve. I don't trust the joiners themselves to hold the track in alignment with all that sideways pressure on it.

--Randy

[camarokid]

I've been making my own terminal joiners for 30 years. Same as Randy. Why you ask? Because it's cheaper than buying them at your LHS. Every piece of track gets one no matter if it's only a 1/4 inch or 3 feet long. I want no interuptions in electricty to my track. You too will discover the usefulnes of soldering your own. Be sure to use a fan when you do or you'll be sucking up all that solder smoke through your mouth and nose. Not a good health issue. I don't know if a respirator would work or not. I would not solder any joints between my turnouts and track at all. Turnouts fail and easy installation and removal are a neccesity. Solder your curve joints and have fun laying track.
Archie

[theswitchman]

I agree with Torino390.
You will get away with mechanical joints for awhile but they will eventuallly start to cause intermittant electrical connections. Better off soldering. If you have no experience, ask somebody or get a book. It is real easy.
Miked[^]

[Anonymous]

[:I]This may sound a little awkward, but I was reading the forum on soldering, Do you mean it's better to soder each peace of track together?, I've only been soldering the wireing to the track ?
William

[joebraun]

Personally, I have never soldered joints but use feeder wire soldered beneath each length of flex track and connected underneath by #14 wire. I use Shinohara rail joiners and these have held up well over the years. With some added spikes at the joint I have had no problem with the joints holding firm and staying nice in line, even on curves.

[james saunders]

i think if you are running a large layout you should solder rails and feeder wires because of its reliability but if it is only a small layout i wouldn't worry