I recently saw a You Tube video on soldering rails where two wet cotton balls were placed on either side of the solder location to dissipate heat and keep the plastic ties from deforming. The video maker claims to use this method often. I also see where he uses regular alcohol to clean the rails prior to soldering but does not use any flux. Comments on this are requested.
Cedarwoodron
Metal 3 point track gauges are probbaly better heat sinks than wet cotton balls, plus they alo make sure the rail can't move if the plastic softens.
The real answer is to make sure the soldering iron is shiny and clean. And also the part of the rail you are trying to solder to. Tinning the feeder wire by putting solder on the end that you are going to then solder to the rail also helps. With things like rail, flux is not a bad idea, the point of flux is that it removes surface contamination and helps the solder flow to where you want it. If the soldering iron is nice and clean, the point of contact will heat up very quickly and melt the solder (don't melt the solder on the iron tip) and you cna remove the heat nefore it even has a chance to spread down the rail and melt ties. No heat sinks needed. When the tip becomes dull and dirty looking, it will still work, but the heat transfers much more slowly and you have to hold the iron in place longer and longer to heat the joint enough to melt the solder. This is when the heat starts flowing in the rail and can melt ties.
Can;t stress enough- clean and shiny! I'm not a fan of the wet sponge, that pulls tremendous heat out of the iron every time you wipe the tip on the wet sponge. I prefer the brass brillo pad sort of things - you can find them in many grocery stores as they are used to 'scour' copper pans, because the usual steel type are too hard and will ruin the copper - they will also ruin a soldering iron tip. The brass sort are soft and won;t damage copper pots or soldering irons, and they aren't nearly the heat sink that the wet sponges are. Wipe the tip before EVERY joint, unless you are doing several immediately in a row.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Personally, I use a wire brush attachment in my Dremel for cleaning rail. I have used pliers laid across the rails for heat sinks, but if the tip is clean and hot I generally can go fast enough that heat sinks aren't needed.
Paul
wet cotton balls or wet paper towls are old school , as op have said a clean iron is the key and unless the solder used is cored use flux. added note i no longer use a iron to solder rail , a 100 watt restance tool has become my standard now.
I use old fashioned Radio Shack heat sinks I got with a soldering kit back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. I'd guess alligator clips would also do the job.
Mel, nickle silver track is kind of soft I've noticed. Do the hemistats but dents in the rail?
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
riogrande5761 Mel, nickle silver track is kind of soft I've noticed. Do the hemistats but dents in the rail?
I bought a hemistat to hold these before spraying with Super 77 (or hair spay if you prefer) to coat with foam - I think I got them at Walmart:
I, too, use Hemostats.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
rrinker I prefer the brass brillo pad sort of things - you can find them in many grocery stores as they are used to 'scour' copper pans, because the usual steel type are too hard and will ruin the copper - they will also ruin a soldering iron tip.
My soldering station came with one of these and I bought a spare for use on the layout:
Amazon https://tinyurl.com/yd2d7h7o and Ebay has them under $10 including shipping. I added a thick flat washer to the (inside) bottom of mine for more stability.
I also use one of these brass scratch brushes for localized cleaning that seems to work out well:
http://www.cooltools.us/Scratch-Brush-Pen-Style-Brass-p/brn-205.htm
Shop around. There are several suppliers (Micro-Mark, Amazon, Ebay)
Good luck, Ed
Randy's post was very good as it was a bit of a refresher for me. I am by no means an expert on soldering but I'll mention what I have learned along the way.
1. Buy a soldering station. I should not have waited so long to buy mine it is awesome.
2. Tin feeder wires as it cuts down on the time required to attach the wire and thus you are less likely to melt other things.
3. I bought a bundle of used track at a train show for a dollar and used it to practice soldering feeders. Practice is good.
4. I was given a lesson by someone in the tech biz. When soldering things that have things that melt in close proximity, get the iron as hot as possible so you are in and out fast. I was surprised when he demonstrated that to me.
5. Hemostats are a good idea. My wife has many around the house so I will give them a try.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Soldering is still a weak point for me, although I have come a long way with it. I learned the hard way some of the lessons already mentioned. A very hot iron, for example works great and fast if it's clean and SHINY. It doesn't matter how hot it is, if it's dirty and dull, it will cause a lot of destruction before the joint is made.
I bought an X-TRONIC variable heat soldering station with digital temp control. It came with a number of tips. That changed the rules for me and soldering, so much more control. It doesn't reach everywhere in the room though like a regular iron on an extension cord.
J.C. : What resistance tool are you using? I'm interested in them but don't know how versitile or limited they are. Dan
Heat sinks
Just be glad you don't have to press "2" for English.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ_ALEdDUB8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hqFS1GZL4s
http://s73.photobucket.com/user/steemtrayn/media/MovingcoalontheDCM.mp4.html?sort=3&o=27
Southgate J.C. : What resistance tool are you using? I'm interested in them but don't know how versitile or limited they are. Dan
have three of them two american beauty , a 100 watt and a 500 watt and a old hot tip set up for wire stripping( got it at a yard sale for 20$) . i would recomended starting out with a 100 watt american beauty with a clamp style hand peice(you can oft find them on ebay for around 100$ used) , the reason i wold start out with a AB is that they are a push in connecter vereses a hot tips ring style connecter , but if you can find a hot tip cheep it would be a ok starter .
as far as verisitly you can use it to strip wire (with stripper hand pirce), solder rail , add detale to brass loco's or can build brass(cars locos or bridges) . you can also get a hand piece that has a carbon rod insert that can be used like a regular iron.
the first thing i would get in addition to unit is a foot switch if it dosn't come with one. as for rail i no longer use heat sink as there is no need for them .
When soldering feeders to my rail, I tin the wire, then flatten out the end of the wire. Once the track is weathered, the feeder looks like a spike. Micro-mark also has a special, retractable brush that I use to clean the sides of the rail.
Scratch brush
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
I use alligator clips.
.
Paste flux, tinned tip, and small diameter solder are the rest of my bag of tricks.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
BATMAN Randy's post was very good as it was a bit of a refresher for me. I am by no means an expert on soldering but I'll mention what I have learned along the way. 1. Buy a soldering station. I should not have waited so long to buy mine it is awesome. 2. Tin feeder wires as it cuts down on the time required to attach the wire and thus you are less likely to melt other things. 3. I bought a bundle of used track at a train show for a dollar and used it to practice soldering feeders. Practice is good. 4. I was given a lesson by someone in the tech biz. When soldering things that have things that melt in close proximity, get the iron as hot as possible so you are in and out fast. I was surprised when he demonstrated that to me. 5. Hemostats are a good idea. My wife has many around the house so I will give them a try.
Yes, turning up the heat seems counterintuative, but that's exactly what you want to do, and why the clean tip is important. The idea is to get heat at the joint before it has a chance to spread out through the rail and melt any nearby plastic. Gotta love thermodynamics and how heat conducts through various materials.
Yes, I too use those brass pads from Amazon. They work great in keeping the soldering tip clean.
I use a Weller 140 watt soldering gun with the tip filed down to give a small chisel shaped tip. First, make sure the rail is clean with a wire brush dremmel, tin the feeder, bend the feeder so it holds itself against the rail, put flux on the feeder and rail, and hit the feeder with a little more solder and a lot of heat quick, melt the solder and get the heat off. Takes about 3-4 seconds to solder the joint. Never need to use a heat sink and never melt the ties.
Don't need to keep moving a soldering station around with me and never have to worry about where to set the gun down, as it cools as fast as it heats up.