Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
[quote user="howmus"] Some excellent advise given here.  The only thing I do in addition to the above (Chuck's post) (using a trick from a gentleman who has spent his life repairing electronics) is to use a small drop of solder on the tip of the iron.  The melted solder will transfer the heat very quickly to the joint.  And, no, it will not cause a cold solder joint!  As soon as the solder "flows", remove the heat.  Often I do not add any more solder than what I have on the iron.  You want a lot of heat in a very small area otherwise you end up melting ties.  I use a 25w iron for most of my hobby work.  It provides plenty of heat if you have your technique down.  I am done in less than 2 seconds with any of the rail joints.Practice, practice, practice! A close up of a solder joint on a feeder, code 83 Atlas rail, 22 gauge wire. [IMG]http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h259/slow_rr/SLOW_RR/RailSoldering1a.jpg[/IMG]  [/quote]I use a small pair of toilet paper wads saturated with water as my heat sinks (learned that from a previous posting on soldering) and they work great.  Soldering certainly does do a lot to improve operation.  I had a few intermittant dead spots in my new yard after all the ballasting and scenery was done, and soldering cleared them up permanently.  Soldering has also eliminated a number of "slow spots" in other sections (one that's annoyed me for a few years until I finally got off my butt and fixed it).In case you get a bit too much solder on a joint, try to smooth it down and outwards from the outside of the rail, and get your fine scenic material and Elmer's out.  Oh the things you can hide with Elmer's and Woodland Scenic!
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag

Update Reply

Subscriber & Member Login

Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!

Model Railroader Newsletter See all

Sign up for our FREE e-newsletter and get model railroad news in your inbox!

Subscriber & Member Login

Edit post

Post Body

Tags (Optional)

Subscriber & Member Login

Users Online

Search the Community