Fear an Ignorant Man more than a Lion- Turkish proverb
Modeling an ficticious HO scale intergrated Scrap Yard & Steel Mill Melt Shop.
Southland Industrial Railway or S.I.R for short. Enterchanging with Norfolk Southern.
QUOTE: Originally posted by dragonriversteel MR had an article on the last page of the DEC issue about drilling through foam and how to feed the wire through. First a long drill bit....drill between the ties and then feed a drinking straw through the hole for the wire to pass easyly through. Next ...after you feed the wire through...bend the wire and solder to the outside of the rail. Hope that helps. Patrick
QUOTE: Originally posted by wt259 Check for Joe Fugate's posts on DCC or Scenery. He showed a good way to solder feeders. They hardly show at all using that method. Can't remember which one it was, but I believe it was the DCC one. They are quite long, so you'll have to go thru them to find the part about soldering feeders.
QUOTE: Originally posted by TomDiehl I usually solder the wire to the outside web of the rail. I first drill a hole between the tie ends and feed the wire from the top. I strip a small part of the wire then put a 90 degree bend in it to make it run parallel to the rail, then another small bend to press it against the rail web when you pull it down into the hole. I buff the side of the rail where I'm going to solder and the wire end with a typing eraser (the kind you sharpen like a pencil), pull it down into place, put a drop of solder flux (use SPARINGLY), then touch a hot iron with a bubble of solder on it to the joint. The wire bonds in a second or two. Clean up the flux residue and after you ballast the area, the wire is near invisible.
QUOTE: Originally posted by electrolove QUOTE: Originally posted by TomDiehl I usually solder the wire to the outside web of the rail. I first drill a hole between the tie ends and feed the wire from the top. I strip a small part of the wire then put a 90 degree bend in it to make it run parallel to the rail, then another small bend to press it against the rail web when you pull it down into the hole. I buff the side of the rail where I'm going to solder and the wire end with a typing eraser (the kind you sharpen like a pencil), pull it down into place, put a drop of solder flux (use SPARINGLY), then touch a hot iron with a bubble of solder on it to the joint. The wire bonds in a second or two. Clean up the flux residue and after you ballast the area, the wire is near invisible. Sounds like a good way. What wire do you use? How many watt is your iron?
QUOTE: Originally posted by TomDiehl QUOTE: Originally posted by electrolove QUOTE: Originally posted by TomDiehl I usually solder the wire to the outside web of the rail. I first drill a hole between the tie ends and feed the wire from the top. I strip a small part of the wire then put a 90 degree bend in it to make it run parallel to the rail, then another small bend to press it against the rail web when you pull it down into the hole. I buff the side of the rail where I'm going to solder and the wire end with a typing eraser (the kind you sharpen like a pencil), pull it down into place, put a drop of solder flux (use SPARINGLY), then touch a hot iron with a bubble of solder on it to the joint. The wire bonds in a second or two. Clean up the flux residue and after you ballast the area, the wire is near invisible. Sounds like a good way. What wire do you use? How many watt is your iron? About 18 or 20 AWG solid wire. The iron is about 45 Watts. I put the liquid flux in a needle point bottle (available from A-West) and it makes getting just one drop directly on the joint, easy.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Take a Ride on the Reading with the: Reading Company Technical & Historical Society http://www.readingrailroad.org/
QUOTE: Originally posted by nbrodar I use 22 gauge solid wire, soldered to the outside web of the rail. Along with some rosin flux, and 100 watt soldering gun, it works like a dream. I also tin the wire and tin the rail first. Nick
QUOTE: Originally posted by electrolove QUOTE: Originally posted by nbrodar I use 22 gauge solid wire, soldered to the outside web of the rail. Along with some rosin flux, and 100 watt soldering gun, it works like a dream. I also tin the wire and tin the rail first. Nick Are there any reason you use solid wire instead of stranded?
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
QUOTE: Originally posted by howmus Actually it makes no real difference whether you use solid or stranded for the feeders. The current carrying capacity is basically the same for the same size wire. I prefer to use solid for the feeders for the reason that they stay bent the way I bent them and I think are easier to use. For HO, #18 wire is a bit heavy for soldering to the track. I do use #18 at times, but as long as your length of the feeder is less than a foot, #24 will serve just as well. I use a 25w soldering iron and have no problems with melted ties. I solder the feeders to the outside of the rails not underneath. If you solder them underneath, you are more likely to melt ties............ Hmmmmm. At least that's what happens for me. Many people use a 40w soldering iron for attaching the feeders. I would not use anything larger than a 40w. One trick is to pre-tin the wire and have a good glob of solder on the iron. I usually do not add any more solder than what is on iron and wire. Like you already know get in make the joint, and get out. I usually do it in 2 seconds or less. As soon as the solder flows, it is done.
QUOTE: Originally posted by electrolove QUOTE: Originally posted by howmus Actually it makes no real difference whether you use solid or stranded for the feeders. The current carrying capacity is basically the same for the same size wire. I prefer to use solid for the feeders for the reason that they stay bent the way I bent them and I think are easier to use. For HO, #18 wire is a bit heavy for soldering to the track. I do use #18 at times, but as long as your length of the feeder is less than a foot, #24 will serve just as well. I use a 25w soldering iron and have no problems with melted ties. I solder the feeders to the outside of the rails not underneath. If you solder them underneath, you are more likely to melt ties............ Hmmmmm. At least that's what happens for me. Many people use a 40w soldering iron for attaching the feeders. I would not use anything larger than a 40w. One trick is to pre-tin the wire and have a good glob of solder on the iron. I usually do not add any more solder than what is on iron and wire. Like you already know get in make the joint, and get out. I usually do it in 2 seconds or less. As soon as the solder flows, it is done. I think I must try to solder feeders to the outside on a scrap piece with my 25w to see what happens to the ties. Maybe I just need some training.