I want to use cynoacrylate, super glue, to hold electrical connections in place. Will this interfere with the conductivity??
Exactly what are you planning to do with the CA. Electrical connections should be clean and dry when they are made. You should not use CA to connect wires together as in a splice or hold a connection together that should be soldered. CA will migrate somewhat into connections and insulate them so it should be kept away from anything that is supposed to pass current.
Super Glue is not a conductor so should not be used to splice wires with. Solder them or use a suitable connector for the voltage and current going through the wires. Solder the connectors to the wires.
There are NO SHORTCUTS in electrical or electronics work.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
Based on this question and your one about using a light bulb as a substitute for a circuit breaker tends to indicate to me that you are looking for all manner of shortcuts to electrical wiring that could result in a fire.
Electrical wiring is an area where shortcuts or substitutes should never be used.
Example: A person with a large HO scale layout asked me to look over his work and see if I could figure out why his trains would not run. He had wired the entire layout with telephone wire, and was trying to run multiple locomotives using an MRC DC power pack. When the throttle was advanced I could smell overheated wire insulation because telephone wire cannot handle the current draw.
cacole Based on this question and your one about using a light bulb as a substitute for a circuit breaker tends to indicate to me that you are looking for all manner of shortcuts to electrical wiring that could result in a fire.
Thanks, I needed a good laugh.
It never ceases to amaze me how people will spend hundreds on a locomotive, then cheap out on basics like adequate wiring size and circuit protection.
Now we have super glue instead of solder.
Whats next, build your own power pack using a 120 v lighting rheostat and a junction box?
Jim
Soo Line fan Thanks, I needed a good laugh. It never ceases to amaze me how people will spend hundreds on a locomotive, then cheap out on basics like adequate wiring size and circuit protection. Now we have super glue instead of solder. Whats next, build your own power pack using a 120 v lighting rheostat and a junction box?
Has been done, using a Variac. Not very practical. (weighed about 10 KG and didn't do a thing that a good MRC pack couldn't do better at just about the same cost.)
As for super glue, it's an excellent insulator. If you don't want to solder, use wire nuts or terminal strips. Of course, if your wiring has to fit inside a carbody, soldering is the only route to take.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with bulletproof electricals)
I wanted to use spade connectors to hook the wire into my stainless Gargraves track. The CA was only to hold the connection in place till the track is in place. I was thinking there would be plenty of contact between the spade and the track surfaces.
I certainly appreciate everyone's comments, this will save me from heading in the wrong direction. I was having great difficulty soldering the connectors to the stainless track. I had tried rouging up the surface with a dremel wire brush and was using rosin flux and silver solder.
Any other ideas??
Is there anyway you can attach a small screw / nut and use a ring terminal? Another idea is to take a section to a welder and have a stainless tab tack welded to it. Then use a terminal to attach to your new tab.
You could drill a hole in the base or web of the rail and tap it for a 1-72 machine screw. attach the wire around the screw or use a wire eyelet with the smallest hole you can find. Silver solder needs a lot of heat and special flux.
Is there any way you could attach feeder wire to the rail joiners? I know these used to be available in HO with a joiner and a wire attached. Maybe it was Bachmann or Tyco who made them.
The G scale folks have various rail clamps. Are you working in O gauge? I think there is a rail clamp for a smaller rail size...http://www.railclamp.com/#!/~/category/id=0&inview=category3439640&offset=0&sort=normal
Hope this helps...
ED
You can solder the join, but you need a very hot iron, 100-140 watt. You can use regular solder and rosin flux and make sure the rail has been freshly cleaned (steel oxidizes very quickly). If you have access to a resistance soldering unit that would be ideal.
You could use CA to glue the connector in place, just make sure that you scrape the surface that's going to connect to the rail clean. Epoxy would probably be better.
Jay
C-415 Build: https://imageshack.com/a/tShC/1
Other builds: https://imageshack.com/my/albums
I am not splicing wires with CA. I am just using it to hold a spade connector into the track until I get the track mounted on the table. I have done a test piece and it seems to work but I was wondering if anyone had any experience using CA around electrical.
quizshow904I wanted to use spade connectors to hook the wire into my stainless Gargraves track.
Gargraves track has been around for many years. Certainly someone knows how to make electrical connections to it. Possibly you might want to ask this same question over on the Classic Toy Trains forum where I would suspect that many use that track.
You're asking in the wrong forum. People in HO and N don't know what Gargraves track is.
I know, most use a mechanical connection!