I've been setting up the Atlas N signal system on my layout after receiving a lot of helpful tips from members on this forum. However, I encountered a small problem. One of the wires on one of my signals broke. It broke right where the insulated wire joins the non-insulated wire. It looks like the solder joint that was there failed. Can I just re-solder this, or will it damage the plug and/or signal? I've always wondered this, but what keeps the wires on these signals from shorting out because there's no insulation on them? Do they have some sort of clear insulation? It seems like the wires on N scale signals are really fragile. I try to handle them as carefully as possible. I used to just drill through the 1 1/2 inches of foam I have and the 1/4 plywood and just run the wires through that, but that became problematic because the plug on the signal plus the wires would get caught on the foam. I've been using 1/2" tubing to run the signals through, and I use caulk to hold the tubing in place, but I've noticed that after I drill through the plywood, it is often rough and jagged around the edges. I try to smooth it off, but I suspect that the signal wire might have got caught on that and that might be why it broke. Any suggestions?
I don;t have any of these, but if it's very fine wire that looks like it is not insulated - what it is is commonly called 'magnet wire' and has a clear enamel insulation coating on the outside. It breaks very easily, and the insulation cannot stand up to repeated rubbing agaisnt other wires or other surfaces. Where you need to get a bunch of wires in s small area, with low current draw (say, something like railroad signals...) though, it can;t be beat. I'll bet the solder joint didn;t fail, it probably flexed too much and the wire broke off right at the joint. To solder a replacement wire to the free end, you'll have to remove the enamel. Sometimes just heating with the soldering iron is enough, but another common method it to fold over a piece of sandpaper and gently pull a couple of times, supporting the other end of the wire with your fingers if there's enough room or flat tweezers.
It's not tough - you just have to very VERY gentle and careful. The bits are small and delicate, just the nature of the beast.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Thanks, I'll try to solder it. I was concerned because of how fragile the signals are. I didn't know if the heat from the soldering iron would damage it. I know that most people have layouts built on a single sheet of plywood, and every time you drill a hole to run the wires for a signal or track, the hole is always a little jagged and rough. I've seen the HO signals, and they don't have that really fine wire, so it's not a big deal, but with N scale, I've often worried about those wires and the roughness of the hole that goes through the plywood. However, I've been handling this signal quite a bit and have moved it around a lot, so all of that constant handling might have broke the wire, it might not have anything to do with the hole that I drilled.
Ok, this is what I did. I took the signals out and the plastic tubing that I had in place. I cut some new tubing and made sure it was long enough to go through both the foam and the plywood with at least an inch left on the bottom. Of course, the hard part was trying to figure out how to secure the tubing so that it wouldn't fall out. So, I got the hot glue gun out and poured a bunch of hot glue down the side of the tubing from the top. I had to cut out a little of the foam on the sides so the glue would run down and have something to grip to. Then, I applied a bunch of hot glue on the bottom of the plywood, making sure the glue covered both the plywood and the tubing. I hope the tubing will stay put and won't work loose. If it does, I'll have to use some small nails or pins to push through the sides into the foam to keep it in place. By doing this, the wires don't rub against the foam or the rough plywood at any point.
It might not be magnet wire but good ole fashioned wire wrap wire. It used to be very common in the earlier days of electronics and is still in use in some applications today. You can get it in different colors or clear as randy noted.
Just google wire wrap wire. and you'll get plenty of sources.
Springfield PA
I posted this before, that I went to hobby lobby in the doll house section they sell wire for the doll houses it is a 50 ft roll of 32 or smaller wire. It is white but i used magic markers and made my own colors .It fits into the tubing real well and you can make your own lengths to fit below the table.
Thanks for the information about the wire. The Atlas Signal System is great, but it's not as easy to set up as they make it look. Before I switched to N scale about a year and a half ago, I bought one of their HO signals to experiment with. I just had plywood with no foam, and I made the mistake of nailing the signal down using the hole they had pre-drilled in the base. That was a big mistake. I almost ruined it when I took the old layout down. In addition, I didn't know where or how to secure the block detector. I just let it hang in mid air because I really didn't have a good place to put it. With N-Scale, there are more issues with the signal system because they're so delicate and have those fine wires we've been talking about. At least with this layout, I use foam and just use a track nail to push through the pre-drilled hole through the cork I laid for the signal base. There are a lot of things you'll have to do to set up this signal system that are not discussed in the manual. Another issue is the length of the signal cable. The cable is only about a foot long, and I decided to place all my signal boards in one location under the layout. I have a board running across with another board below it and a panel behind it to place all the circuit boards, but I had to buy a telephone cable crimper, 4-wire cable, and phone connectors to run extension cables to the circuit boards. Basically, in my opinion, the Atlas signal system is great, but it does take a lot of work and is not as easy to set up as what it appears.
ALSO... I forgot to mention that those extension cables have to be straight through, not crossovers. I just use a 4 wire white extension connector to connect the extension cable to the signal's cable. For the signal boards to communicate to each other, the cables have to be crossover cables, just like regular phone cables. I found this out through trial and error.