Hey guys,
I just had a question about how best to solder to nickle silver track rails. I have really struggled to solder nickle silver rails together and gave up trying. However, I need to learn because my feeder wires will need to be soldered directly to those same rails.
I use currently a radio shack soldering iron and the solder I use is the lead-free solder that is .813mm in diameter. It works really well for soldering in sound decoders but so far sucks for soldering to rails. What is the best technique for soldering to rails i.e. what tip to use and what is the process I should do. So you know I am drilling a hole up through the road bed and soldering to the outside of each rail and I should point out that I tried to clean area with 91% alcohol and sandpaper to clean and still no dice.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Will
What wattage is your soldering iron?
So far I haven't messed around with lead-free solder, it's not as good, needs a higher temperature, and generally requires an iron designed for lead-free use. Try some 63/37 or 60/40 standard solder, in a small diameter - .015, or .030 tops. Some non-acidic flux can help, although if you are cleaning the rail with 91% alcoghol it should be good. I use Solder Safe brand, it's water soluable. When soldering track sections together, I put a little bit on the joiner before sliding it on, this helps the solder wick into the joiner and not build up on the rail, particualrly on the inside where it might interfere with flanges and cause derailments.
Above all, make sure the iron is CLEAN. The copper foil 'sponge' cleaners are far superior to the wet sponge method, and Radio Shack has a small container of Tip Tinner which helps keep it nice and clean and shiny. When the tip gets dirty and oxidized, it takes longer to transfer heat, which means you need to hold it on the joint longer, which increases the chances of melting ties. I do NOT use any sort of heat sink when soldering track, and the only ties I've melted are when I slipped and the tip actually contacted the plastic. It takes a bit more time than doing fine decoder wires, to heat the rail enough to melt the solder, but not a whole lot longer.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Soldering nickel silver rail is not a problem.
A good, hot iron, with a chisel tip. Otherwise you lose heat too quickly. Thermal mass is important. The rail needs to be clean, but a little flux (liquid or paste, rosin only!) will make the job go a lot easier.
Forget about lead free solder, find some real tin-lead alloy. Make sure it is flux core too.
Tin the end of the wire, add some flux and hold everything in place. Put a little solder on the tip to wet it, and press it against the work. The flux will boil and clean the joint and the solder should just wick into the joint following the flux. You are done at that point.
For more, see this webpage on soldering.
Better yet try some of the Radio Shack's Silver bearing solder. It only has about 2% silver but it melts at a lower temp. And it is rosin flux too.
Liquid flux made just for electrical soldering is the best to use. Not flux for soldering copper pipe plumbing.
The difference is amazing as I found out.
Ken G Price My N-Scale Layout
Digitrax Super Empire Builder Radio System. South Valley Texas Railroad. SVTRR
N-Scale out west. 1996-1998 or so! UP, SP, Missouri Pacific, C&NW.
Thanks for all the great advice I really appreciate the help. I like the sound of switching my solder to the silver bearing solder with the lower melting point. Reason being my soldering iron is a pencil iron with a chisel tip but it is only a 15 watt model. Is this going to be hot enough to get the job done or should I get a higher watt iron. Also, with this solder do I still need to use flux.
Thanks
Will,
A 25 to 40 watt Weller,would be ideal..
Cheers,
Frank
willjayna Thanks for all the great advice I really appreciate the help. I like the sound of switching my solder to the silver bearing solder with the lower melting point. Reason being my soldering iron is a pencil iron with a chisel tip but it is only a 15 watt model. Is this going to be hot enough to get the job done or should I get a higher watt iron. Also, with this solder do I still need to use flux. Thanks Will
Fifteen watts is really not adequate for soldering rail. You want something in the range of 40 to 60 watts. If the iron doesn't have enough capacity, you will get cold solder joints and other problems. Rail is a great heatsink, so a lot of capacity is needed.
Consider investing in a good soldering iron, as you'll be using it for years to come. You want one you can get parts for, and a selection of tips.
Yes, you will need flux. Some solders don't have any, others may not have enough or it has dried out. A little additional flux goes a long way to solving the problem.
All good advice so far.
If you have a Radio Shack near you, the stores carry everything you will need including a variety of higher wattage soldering irons, a good selection of solder, and flux if you need it although I don't bother with flux.
As betamax pointed out, soldering nickel silver rail is a no-brainer with the proper soldering iron and solder. I use a 100 watt soldering iron for rail. It all happens very quick. The diameter of my rosin core solder is only 0.032".
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062711
The silver bearing solder works great too and is only 0.015" diameter, although I only use that on circuit boards.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062725
Rich
Alton Junction
Instead of buying more soldering irons, consider spending $50 and getting this:
http://www.howardelectronics.com/xytronic/lf369D.html
I and others here have the older model that didn't have the digital readout, but this is a true temperature controlled soldering station, which means the tip doesn't keep hetting hottr and hotter as long as it's plugged in, which really helps keep it from oxidizing. There are repalcement tips available, but I bought mine 6 years ago and still am using the original tip - also the one that comes with it is fine enough for decoder installs yet big enough to solder track with no problem. The only thing it won;t do is solder feeders to my bus wires, it doesn't really have enough power for that, but I have a 150 watt soldering gun for that work. Plus you cna turn the temp down to the lowest setting and shrink heat shrink on the decoder wires without melting it. This has replaced my array of multiple soldering irons, a 15, a 25, and a 40 watt.
I do think that's the main issue, that little 15 watt Radio Shack iron is great for circuit boards and fine decoder wires but its not quite strong enough for HO track.
LION is expert at soldering. Him goes through pounds of solder and buckets of soldering paste. My father had a tin of soldering paste from the 1940s and still has it today. And he is a radio engineer, he made radios in the days of metal chassis and vacuum tubes.
There is right way, and wrong way and LIONS way. Since LION paints his tracks as soon as he lays them, it is necessary to scrape the paint off of the rails before cleaning them. A file works the best for this. A brush in a motor tool will finish the job, but you do have to turn the power to the track off before using this brush otherwise you will short out the tracks. [Don't ask how LION knows--LION just KNOWS!]
Put a little glob of the solder paste on the cleaned track, You probably do not even need that much, but LIONS have big furry paws and so finds difficult to maneuver little bits of stuff. Do not get the stuff on your nice fur, it is icky. Touch the heated iron to the side of the rail and apply a little bit o solder. It should run nice and smooth. Next tin the wire if needed. LION happened to buy some tinned wire, which works real good. Touch wire to track where is the solder, and apply a bit of heat.
It is better that you can see the joint, so you should put it on the side of the rail that is facing you even if it is inside of the gauge. It should settle in well clear of the wheel flanges, but sometimes it is necessary to file down a solder joint with a jeweler's file. I'd use an FBI file, but then the CIA would come out after me and I do not need that.
And for pity sake WATCH OUT FOR MOVING TRAINS! LIONS do not stop the trains just because he is soldering on the tracks. You need to set out flagmen to warn you of the approach of a train so that you can stay clear of the tracks to let the train pass. It does not do to be soldering away and then to have a train run into the back of your hand or worse yet into the hot soldering iron.
Always LOOK at the soldering iron BEFORE you pick it up. and ALWAYS lift it by the plastic handle and not by the pointy metal end. (Gota 'splain everything these days!)
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
As stated by others... a clean chisel tip iron is much better and no more than 25-30 watts is necessary. Avoid lead-free solder like the plague..use 60-40 lead-tin solder. As an alternative to lead-tin you can use tin-bismuth (around 50-50) which has an equivalent melting point/soldering temperature to tin-lead. Lead-tin may get hard to find as time goes on.
I always "scratch up" the railweb before soldering with a narrow bladed screw driver. Micro-mark sells a "bristle brush" for the same purpose but I haven't tried it yet. I don't think just fluxing the rail does as good a job as the 'scratching and fluxing". With a 25 watt iron I never have a problem with melting the ties (unless I slip like some of the other respondents have described).
I have tried resistance soldering and although it can work it's a real pain lugging the equpment to the worksite...so I prefer the 25 watts chisel tip soldering iron.