DCC Question
- Thread starter Grant F
- Start date
Selector
Well-Known Member
The best of all worlds is to solder pairs of flex together at the joiners and to solder a pair of feeders at the joiners, one wire to each joiner. That way you have positive connectivity between 3' lengths of flextrack, and you power only three feet in either direction from the joiner. The joiners on either end of these soldered lengths of flex can be left to slide, but also to keep your rails aligned. They don't have to stay clean and tight to help with connectivity, because the previously discussed arrangment obviates it.
If you are using sectional track, then you have some thinking to do. The same rules can apply as above, but you will need many more feeders and a lot more soldering.
Whatevery you do, leave some joiners as sliders to allow for expansion. They should be on tangent lengths and there should be about 1/16" gaps there to start. That way, expanding rails can use those gaps to close into, and if they separate even more, say up to 1/8", it's no big deal...more cosmetic than a mechanical liability.
-Crandell
If you are using sectional track, then you have some thinking to do. The same rules can apply as above, but you will need many more feeders and a lot more soldering.
Whatevery you do, leave some joiners as sliders to allow for expansion. They should be on tangent lengths and there should be about 1/16" gaps there to start. That way, expanding rails can use those gaps to close into, and if they separate even more, say up to 1/8", it's no big deal...more cosmetic than a mechanical liability.
-Crandell
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The short answer for a 4x8 is yes, you can connect up one pair of wires and everything will work fine...for a while. As the tracks begin to oxidize and joints loosen up, you'll have more and more problems with engines slowing down or even stalling in some sections. Rail joiners are always the weak point, so crimping them tightly and soldering them will solve a lot of problems. Leaving a few of them loose, as Crandell suggested, is a good idea to handle expansion and contraction, but you need to have a feeder wire on each side so you don't loose power at the loose joint. If you solder the joiners and add feeders to the two or three you leave loose, adding an additional three feeders, at each end of the layout, should give you reliable power. Don't forget that a double main line, yards, or long industrial spurs will also need their own feeders.
