Soldering

[SimRacin40]

 I bought a soldering iron today,and attempted to solder some n scale track. I'm not quite sure what exactly to do and how to do it right. My first attempt ended with a nice little lump of metal that did hold the track together,but I don't think it's supposed to look like that.

Anyone out there that can help a first timer at soldering?

[lonewoof]

First rule: The work (whatever you are soldering) must be CLEAN. That means NO paint, dirt, oxide, ect. Scrape or wire-brush to clean.

Second rule: THE WORK MELTS THE SOLDER! THE IRON ONLY HEATS UP THE WORK.

Third rule: Keep the iron TIP clean. Wipe it on a damp sponge or old rag. Then melt a SMALL pad of solder onto the tip. Let the pad be the contact point between the iron tip and the work.

Liquid ROSIN flux might help. You don't need a lot.

If solder doesn't melt ON THE WORK after you've heated it for 10 seconds, you either need better heat transfer (rule 3) or a bigger iron.

Get some scrap copper wire and practice on it before you try to solder rail.

/Bill

 

 

[jlcjrbal]

Google soldering and look for video  I think there was a few that helped me out. IT takes time  I made the mistake and picked up a cheap iron and that was alot of the issue. I am still having issues but at least I am not burning myself anymore... J

[selector]

We all go through this...every one of us.

The previous poster clearly knows his stuff.  Flux, to my way of thinking, sure covers a multitude of sins.  I use it this way...before sliding the rails together, wipe the tips with a small artist's brush impregnated with paste flux.  I use acid flux despite the eye-rolling and foam flecked detractors who insist that I am heading for trouble by using it.  Resin flux should do well...no reason for it not to.

Slide the rail ends up tight.  Don't fit well?  File them square and try again.  Get the snug up against one another, with flux painted on them.  Just a lick of flux, not gobs of it showing.

Then, with a fully heated, tinned blade tip, press the thinnest solder wire you can buy against the side of the join opposite the side of the join to which you press the heated tip.  If you have done everything I say, you'll see solder flow into the joint within 2.5 seconds, at which you immediately withdraw the tip. 

Ideally, you have a means of holding the rails in place positively so that you can solder, getting in and out in about 3-4 seconds, and watch the join cool with the rails still held in the alignment you had intended.

The blob you see is probably due to contaminated metal surface, insufficient or no flux, and quite possibly insufficient heat to cause the solder to flow like mercury.  It should flow like mercury, but not cool like a drop of it.

The advice to try a few practice trails on some scrap track is good.  You need to get the drill of alignment, containment, fluxing, and soldering down to ...well...a drill.

By the way, if your joint looks like a bit of a mess, but is still a solid weld, you can easily file the excess with a small needle file.  I have tidied up a few messy joins in my time, and small files are the tool for this.  Really, all you need is for the rail top and the flange face to be clear.

[HHPATH56]

Selector, covered the essential points.  May I add a few more comments. Remember that "silver-nickel" track has fairly high electrical resistance, and track joiners are/become notorious poor connections.  I happen to be in the process of connecting every section of 240 yds of rail, via two feeder wires to the #14 guage "bus wires", of four power district "buses".  I have drilled two holes for every section of track, although many modelers say that one set of feeders per six feet is OK, as long as you solder the rail joiners, (which is not a good practice, due to heat expansion buckling and if you wish to separate two rail ends, later.) Be sure that the track is clean!  While soldering wires to rails, I use the smallest available alligator clips, to hold the wire solidly against the rail. The alligator clip is attached to the wire insulation, to prevent heat transfere to the clip. I clip about twenty connections at a time, and then apply a small amount of flux, with a small artist's brush. By the time I have fluxed twenty wire-rail (clipped) sections,the flux has had time to clean up the "even new", track.  Then apply the tip of the soldering iron to the "rail", and never to the "solder", or solder will form a "blob" on the soldering iron. After heating the rail for about 4 seconds, the solder should then be applied to the fluxed rail. If a blob of solder does adhere to the tip of the tinned soldering iron,"wipe it off".  If the fluxed rail-wire joint is hot enough, the solder should flow, to make a neat soldered joint.  Incidentally, if you propose to use any reverse loops in the future, connect both turnout rails with insulated joiners, and solder a wire loop bypass. One can then cut the bypass, (if so required.) To cennect the feeder wire to the "bus", I plan to use "suitcase connectors". This makes changing any connection very easy (without having to solder,or "ugh", unsolder it.) If you do use "suitcase connectors", be sure to get the proper ones for the two size wires that you plan to use.          Bob

[loathar]

Practice on some scrap rail first. There's a fine line between hot enough to make the solder flow smoothly and too hot that it melts and destroys the plastic ties. You must clean and flux as mentioned above.

[mobilman44]

Lots of good soldering advice here, so may I add something.......

I've found a 45 watt iron to work very well with track and wire soldering.  Anything much bigger will do more harm than good - like melt ties, etc.  Anything much smaller won't do the job.

As someone earlier said, the iron heats the track/wire or whatever is being soldered.  That in turn melts the solder and allows it to free flow throughout the joint.

And of course, a clean iron and a clean work surface is a must.

Oh, two more things - maybe the most important.....   DON'T Forget to unplug the iron when you are done!!!  And, keep in mind that a lot of burns are caused by bumping the iron or handling the work too soon after it is soldered (been there, done that)!

Mobilman44

 

[Seamonster]

First rule: The work (whatever you are soldering) must be CLEAN. That means NO paint, dirt, oxide, ect. Scrape or wire-brush to clean.

Second rule: THE WORK MELTS THE SOLDER! THE IRON ONLY HEATS UP THE WORK.

Third rule: Keep the iron TIP clean. Wipe it on a damp sponge or old rag. Then melt a SMALL pad of solder onto the tip. Let the pad be the contact point between the iron tip and the work.

Liquid ROSIN flux might help. You don't need a lot.

If solder doesn't melt ON THE WORK after you've heated it for 10 seconds, you either need better heat transfer (rule 3) or a bigger iron.

Get some scrap copper wire and practice on it before you try to solder rail.

/Bill

That just about covers it.  I just want to add, use 60/40 rosin core solder.  NEVER use any kind of acid flux or acid core solder.

 

[Walter Clot]

Lot's of good advice!   You can made a good iron holder with a tuna fish can and the iron holder bolted to it.  Be sure to weight it down.  It will keep your iron from moving and accidently burning something. 

[jlcjrbal]

Great advise... I keep a small piece of marble tile to use as a tray when I am working. I also found that my dremmel with a wire brush tip cleans up the excess very well if I go over board with solder... J

[loathar]

Lots of good soldering advice here, so may I add something.......

I've found a 45 watt iron to work very well with track and wire soldering.  Anything much bigger will do more harm than good - like melt ties, etc.  Anything much smaller won't do the job.

As someone earlier said, the iron heats the track/wire or whatever is being soldered.  That in turn melts the solder and allows it to free flow throughout the joint.

And of course, a clean iron and a clean work surface is a must.

Oh, two more things - maybe the most important.....   DON'T Forget to unplug the iron when you are done!!!  And, keep in mind that a lot of burns are caused by bumping the iron or handling the work too soon after it is soldered (been there, done that)!

Mobilman44

 

on the 45 watt iron. I use one of those with a spade tip for track and feeder wires. I found a 15 or 20 watt iron just took too long and damaged the ties more.

[Beowulf]

All the above is good advice!

Also --

A fiberglass cleaning brush (sold by Micro Mark) works great.  Nothing else does as good a job getting under the railhead to clean the rail's side before soldering.  If you are old enough, you may have a few of these brushes in the back of your desk drawer.  They used to be used to correct the heavy ink deposit on ditto masters.

Those little wads of cotton your lady hides under the bathroom sink can be soaked in water and placed over the rails about 1/4 to 1/2 inch each way from where you you are soldering so you don't melt the spike heads off too many ties.

Try very low melting point solder.  Radio Shack sold little tabs of solder to be wrapped around twisted wire ends and then melted with a match to form a solder joinrt.  In HO, I use this product to solder additional parts to an already soldered joint. But in N they could solder rail without melting tiny spike heads and ties.  Unfortunately, Radio Shack no longer carries this solder and I havent' found a new sorce yet.

Glue a piece of fairly stiff wire to the back of a small mirror a couple inches square to serve as a leg so you can prop it on the far side of the track to see the far side as you soldeer.

As fellows suggested erarlier, PRACTICE.  Put a piece of track on your bench and practice until you like your results.  Then do it on the layout.

[jim22]

I use either 400 grit sandpaper or a dremel with a wire brush to clean the ends of the track which will be inside the rail joiners.  Apply a bit of electronics flux - not the acid kind used for plumbing -  to the rails and put on the joiner.

I've had good luck with a relatively low wattage iron with a pretty large tip.  Mine is temperature controlled, and I jack it up to about 700 deg F for track work.  Keep the tip very clean by wiping it just before using it.  I have a damp sponge nearby to wipe the tip on.  Then immediately tin the iron tip with a little solder.  That keeps the tip from immediately oxidizing again, and also, the liquid solder transfers heat to the track rapidly - a must to get the job done before cooking the plastic ties.

Unlike previous advice, I like to hold the flat of the iron tip against the joiner and rail where the joiner meets the rail.  I simultaneously feed solder between the iron tip and the rail.  Again, the liquid solder will help transfer heat from the tip to the rail.  Once the rail and joiner get up to temp, the solder should flow like walter right into the joiner - it will almost get sucked in.  Then I immediately move the iron to the opposite side of the same rail and solder that side - it won't take much more heat.  Then get the iron away and blow on the joint to cool it.   

The most important parts are shiny clean rail and flux.

After the joint is well cooled, use a little alcohol on a brush to completely clean the remaining flux - it will eventually corrode the rail if you don't get it off. 

 Jim 

[stokesda]

I use either 400 grit sandpaper or a dremel with a wire brush to clean the ends of the track which will be inside the rail joiners.  Apply a bit of electronics flux - not the acid kind used for plumbing -  to the rails and put on the joiner.

I've had good luck with a relatively low wattage iron with a pretty large tip.  Mine is temperature controlled, and I jack it up to about 700 deg F for track work.  Keep the tip very clean by wiping it just before using it.  I have a damp sponge nearby to wipe the tip on.  Then immediately tin the iron tip with a little solder.  That keeps the tip from immediately oxidizing again, and also, the liquid solder transfers heat to the track rapidly - a must to get the job done before cooking the plastic ties.

Unlike previous advice, I like to hold the flat of the iron tip against the joiner and rail where the joiner meets the rail.  I simultaneously feed solder between the iron tip and the rail.  Again, the liquid solder will help transfer heat from the tip to the rail.  Once the rail and joiner get up to temp, the solder should flow like walter right into the joiner - it will almost get sucked in.  Then I immediately move the iron to the opposite side of the same rail and solder that side - it won't take much more heat.  Then get the iron away and blow on the joint to cool it.   

The most important parts are shiny clean rail and flux.

After the joint is well cooled, use a little alcohol on a brush to completely clean the remaining flux - it will eventually corrode the rail if you don't get it off. 

 Jim 

That's pretty much the way I do it, too. I experimented with a few different ways at first, including using a 100W gun to heat one side of the rail while applying solder on the opposite side. I've finally settled on what works for me, which is my trusty el-cheapo 35W Radio Shack pencil iron, using pretty much the same procedures that jim22 described. The only difference is I don't use any additional flux - I find the solder itself has enough in it to do the trick. I have some paste flux I could use, but just haven't felt the need to yet.

But the best advice of all is to practice, practice, practice. You'll eventually get the hang of it and figure out what works best for you.

[markalan]

I, too, am getting ready to begin soldering feeders to my track.  I've read this thread and also Alan Gartner's article on soldering at DCC Wiring.  In that article

( at    http://www.wiringfordcc.com/solder.htm  )

he said:  

 

RECOMMENDATION #1-11: Use the Right Size Soldering Iron or Gun.

Use a soldering iron of 25-35 watts to solder everything except bus wires, rail, or large switch solder tabs. Don't use anything large to install any decoders or any other electronics into your locomotives!

Use a 150-250 watt gun to solder wires to buses, car tail light bulbs (read on), track, or large switch tabs. Using enough heat is important, too. These cases have a lot of metal to heat. Without enough heat, such as when using a 25 watt soldering iron, things will get hot, but not hot enough to melt solder - but probably enough to melt plastic parts or your fingers!

 

He seems to be talking about much higher wattage to solder track than has been mentioned here so far.  I'm curious about the differing opinions.

 

Thanks,

Mark 

 

[Trekkie]

I found this to be helpful over at Fast Tracks on how to solder track. They're focusing on hand made switches but it was good to see for a non-soldering person. Shows a tip that needs to be replaced, talks about the right kind of soldering iron, lots of nice tips.

[fisker76]

the "fast tracks" website has outstanding advice and tutorials for soldering track.  they also have some pretty neat products that wil make laying track easier and fun.  I highly recommend this site to everyone.

[viperj]

I use KESTER AQUABOND LEAD FREE SOLDER PASTE with non corrosive flux you can get this at GRAINGERS and the PART # IS 6A473  this stuff is fantastic in fact they use it for surface mount circuit board assembly. Apply with a paint brush and hit it with your iron and solder and it flows great and cleans with water not that you would want to do that though.

[larak]

I, too, am getting ready to begin soldering feeders to my track.  I've read this thread and also Alan Gartner's article on soldering at DCC Wiring.  In that article

( at    http://www.wiringfordcc.com/solder.htm  )

he said:  

 

RECOMMENDATION #1-11: Use the Right Size Soldering Iron or Gun.

Use a 150-250 watt gun to solder wires to buses, car tail light bulbs (read on), track, or large switch tabs. Using enough heat is important, too. These cases have a lot of metal to heat. Without enough heat, such as when using a 25 watt soldering iron, things will get hot, but not hot enough to melt solder - but probably enough to melt plastic parts or your fingers!

 He seems to be talking about much higher wattage to solder track than has been mentioned here so far.  I'm curious about the differing opinions.

 Thanks,

Mark 

 

All I will say Mark is that I use a name brand properly tinned 35 watt iron for all of the above and it works just fine. I must add the disclaimer that I have been soldering electronics professionally for about 30 years. A gun in my opinion is WAY overkill on rail, tail light bulbs, etc. Not harmful but not needed either on bus connections.

It gets easier with practice.

Everything must be clean

Use only 60/40 Rosin core solder

Thinner solder melts somewhat faster. 

This topic comes up frequently. 

Karl

[selector]

I, too, use a 35 watt pencil-type iron and it works well.    I have never used a more powerful/hotter gun, but the science suggests that it should work better for soldering. Now, I am no physicist or engineer, not even a technician of any kind, but I recall from basic physics that temperature flow is always at a gradient, and that the rate of flux/flow is proportional to the 4th power of the disparity in temperatures between the hotter and the colder mediums.  So, a hot, more massive blade should impart more heat into the colder medium more quickly than would a less hot blade.

Doesn't that sound reasonable?  Forgetting all the human variables, angles of contact, and other things/mistakes, in an ideal sense would I not be correct?

-Crandell

[tetters]

All I will say Mark is that I use a name brand properly tinned 35 watt iron for all of the above and it works just fine.

I think that is major key as well.  I know when I first attempted to solder electrical wiring I never thought nor heard that I needed to "tin" the tip of the iron.  Constantly re-tining, cleaning the tip to keep it nice and shiny goes a long way in getting a good soldering joint and having a tip will last you a long time.  A quick dip in the flux a wipe on on a rag or papertowel every once in a while helps keep the solder flowing and ensures a good solid connection.  

[Texas Zepher]

Then there is the school of thought that I am in.   I don't solder track unless it is flex track on a curve.   Use new and tight railjoiners every time the track is disconnected.   Solder appropriate power feeds to the track so the joiners are not being depended upon to carry the electricity.

If one has to use a heat sink, the soldering iron is probably too small or the technique is wrong.  A small iron can't heat the significant area quick enough so the heat spreads out and one gets melted ties.