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Here are some tips. 1. Move the first two or three ties back from the end of the rail. You have to cut a litle bit of plastic that spaces the ties from the underside of the track. Be carful not to break the tie plates. 2. Shine up the metal that are to be soldered with emory cloth or fine wire bush. That's necessary for brass but nickel silver is usually doesn't need it unless it's dull or dirty. Use a Q-Tip to clean oils off the surfaces with rubbing alcohol. 3. Use a soldering gun (140 / 100 watt). The higher the wattage the faster the metal will heat up in a small area. Anything less will only melt the ties. 4. Use very small diameter (32 AWG) rosin core wire solder. The same stuff you use to solder electrical wire. Smaller diameter solder makes it eaiser to control the amount of solder on the joint. Don't use acid core solder or acid flux.That will only cause corrosion no matter how well you clean it off. If you do want to use a flux, use a rosin flux. I only use flux on rally big things like plumbing or metal that will not need to make electrical contact. 5. Use hemostats for a heat sink. You can find them at tool supply stores. Buy a large enough one so it won't damage the rail. There shouldn't be a lot of pressure to close the clamp. Clamp it between the joint area and the ties to protect the ties fom melting. If you are fast enough at solidering, you might not even need it. 6. Keep the gun tip clean. Wipe excess solider off the tip by swiping it quickly with a damp (not wet) sponge. There only needs to be a thin film of solder on the tip and it must be shinny when hot. If not, the heat will not tranfer well at the point of contact but will cause the parts to heat up enough to melt plastic, not the solder. 7. Tin the parts separately. Tinning means to prepare the part for soldering by applying just a thin coat of solider on the parts. Doing this assures that each part has taken the solder. Only solder the outside of the rail and joiner. First heat up the soldering gun then touch the tip to the area where you want solder. Touch the solder close to the tip but NOT on it. The instant the solder melts, back off. The important point here is to heat the part to melt the solder, not the tip of the gun. Solider flows towards the heat sorce. That's the trick in solidering. If you apply too much solider, wipe the melted solider with a damp sponge. Electronic supply stores sell de-solidering wicks and other devices that remove excess molten solider. They are handy but are used mainly for de-solidering PC boards. Next, connect all the parts. If you can't slip the joiner on the rail, apply heat to rail just long enough to melt the solder as you are slipping the joiner on. Once the two sections are connected (be sure there's no bump), heat the joint in the middle and from the bottom. Add just a DAB of solder. The important thing here is not to move the parts untill they are cooled. I use two pieces of 2"x4" wood to raise the track off the workbench and weights to hold the track down. Bottom line is clean the parts and the tip of the gun, use high heat and be fast, tin the parts first with as little amount of solder as possible, assemble the parts carefully and use only a dab of solider. If the solder on the joint doesn't melt within a few seconds, stop. Something isn't right. Either the tip of the gun is dirty or it's not getting hot enough. Be sure the nuts that hold the tip on are tight and making good clean contact. Replace the tip when it looks worn down. Another thing that I use is magnifying goggles and lots of light. It really helps to see what your doing. G.
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