To solder or not to solder the tracks


Neopuron

Neopuron

NooB
I was drooling at the idea of soldering all my track joiners together and putting a power feeder on each section of track I am using, (flex or sectional).

After researching it a bit more, this is what I noticed; some of the older guys are giving great warnings about doing that. Basically saying its not a good idea to solder all connections. On the reverse end I read some of the younger guys saying solder it all...

I was planning on using a combo of flex track and sectional, but had planned on nailing it all down, using rail joiners filled with solder, feeders, and balast at the end. The reason not to solder would be so the tracks can expand and contract based on the transfer of heat.

I am wondering even if I don't solder, wont the rails still have a problem being able to expand and contract? Being that I will still nail or even glue the track itself down and balast. Other then the flex track I have the rails themselves seem pretty secure to the plastic track (not much wiggle room to expand and contract, or this the only a problems at the joints themselves?

I dont mind not soldering the joiners if it will create me greater problems down the road, I am only wanting to do it to increase electrical connectivity, and like the idea of getting it all done right the first time.

Thanks

Derek
 
You're going to get many different opinions from many different posters just like the question of putting feeders at each track joint. Practice, experiences, and results are going to vary..

I only solder flex track curves, HO and N. I've never seen track buckle from thermal effects or humidity but I have seen benchwork and / or roadbed shrink or contract causing track nailed to it to buckle.

Let the debate begin...
 
In my recent experience, I'd say have some joints that are not soldered, but check to make sure that the unsoldered joint is still getting adequate voltage to both tracks.

I've soldered most all of my track. I do have gaps, though, between power districts. Curves should be soldered (using flex track) in order to maintain a smooth curve that doesn't kink and get misaligned.
 
You will have some gaps for electrical reasons and it doesn't hurt to have some for expansion. I don't solder the joiners, I attach feeders directly to the rail, and do not rely on the joiners to conduct electricity.
 
How about this for a compromise solution?

Solder every OTHER rail joint with a drop feeder. The feeder supplies power to the soldered sections of track. The soldered sections insure electrical continuity. The unsoldered joints provide for expansion and contraction. There would be no loss of continuity this way and plenty of gaps for expansion.

Darrell, quiet...for now

(Edit: Little diagram won't show up properly so I removed it.)
 
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Darrel has it right as far as I am concerned. You should solder some joiners, and many of us feel that on a curve is one place where it makes sense.

A couple of ideas: first, use latex caulk to fasten your tracks to the roadbed. This allows some movement because the caulk stays somewhat plastic. So, if any length of track comes under stress and would otherwise deflect sideways, that whole length will be able to slide outward a half mm and stay aligned. Secondly, it is a good idea to make a half-baked attempt to control your layout's environment if it is to be a wood frame of milled lumber. It won't be temperatures...my layout's one corner sits an honest-to-God 18" from a very hot wood furnace into which I feed two sticks of wood about every 90 minutes. It is wood frame with spline roadbed...also wood material. No kinks!!!! So forget about temperatures. Instead, control the humidity! Splurge on a $140 dehumidifier from Wally's and run the thing when you know the humidity wants to rise beyond 66%.

As for Darrel's contention about soldering every other feeder, with each of them fed by a solitary 22 gauge wire, you are then logically assured of perfect connectivity two ways from that joiner until the next un-soldered joiner. But the rail length beyond that sliding joiner has rails fed by a soldered joiner....and so on. You can't lose unless your soldering and connections are faulty.

-Crandell
 
Darrell, I actually agree with you too! :) and Crandell. I don't use track nails, they cause nothing but problems. Using latex caulk gives you all the hold you need and you don't have to worry about nails distorting the ties and messing up the track gauge. They look nasty in pictures too. :D Other than solder flex track so it fall into a natural curve, I think Darrel's plan is as good as you need. I really doubt that rail contraction and expansion is an issue unless you have no climate control at all in your train room. You certainly can get warping and splitting of the benchwork with too much or too little humidity, so having some sort of climate control, ideally a/c for the summer and humidifer for the winter, will obviate that problem.
 
Train room will be indoors, under AC and Heat of the house so I would assume the climate control would be ok.

I can invest in a humidifier to eliminate that as a cause of attacking my woodwork. Bench is pretty solid though . Framed it all out with 2x4 with reinforcements every foot. Also got a few nice pieces of MDF boards to serve as my "plywood". Seems very dense and rests on the frame very well (with a little help of the wood glue and screws) :cool:

I have enough Flex track to do about 90% of the planned layout. This is another reason I was a little stuck on the soldering. I will be making turn radius of 22 and 18 for the outer and inner loops. So soldering the flex at the 90 angles will be a must. May let the straight pieces flow free with just the rail joiners.

Any particular brand of latex caulk I should look at? I am leaning on going with the WS foam track bed. So I will need both something strong enough to hold both the foam to the board, and track to the foam.
 
Latex caulk should be your local hardware supply store's El Cheapo brand. Nothing else will work much better, and it will save you money. Honestly, look for the best price, acrylic latex caulking.

That's it. Liquid Nails for Projects is more expensive per tube, and I found it took forever to dry between the foam and other foam.

-Crandell
 
Personally I dont solder purely because I like to have all my track components reusable. A thin bead of latex caulk holds it to the road bed, so if I need or want to go redo a section its easy to rip it up. But that's just my personal preference.
 
If you can solder, you can desolder too. Soldering should have no effect on whether you can reuse the tracks. It does have everything to do with your trains running reliably. I'd rather worry about ripping up track later and have my trains run well now. My personal preference also. :)
 
I do not solder my track connections, but use rail joiners. I solder a power lead every module, which can be anywhere form 4-8', depending on the module, with some of the 8-footers getting two leads. If there is a lot of track on the module, say an industrial area wit ha few sidings, the module gets two soldered connections.

I also use nails. I've NEVER had a problem using nails in 50 years. And I live by the axiom, "If'n it ain't broke, Don't fix it."

Cork road bed is held down white glue.

Bob
 
I solder when and where it is needed and makes sense. I always solder flex track joints on a curve. If the curve is longer than 360 degrees like in a helix I go back and cut expansion gaps away from the joints. I never solder a commercial turnout. I solder joints that are in the area where the grades change. And occasionaly I solder used track or sectional track that is warped because I don't trust it. Other than that I don't solder much. It is amazing the kink that an expansion of 1/64" will put into the track.

But then I never re-use a railjoiner either. I put the joiner on. If I ever disconnect the track for any reason it gets a new joiner. Even if while initially laying the track it doesn't quite fit right and I take it appart to re-adjust by a fracition of an inch it gets a new joiner. I do have old joiners that are put on and used for initial rough positioning but they are replaced with new as the track goes into its final position.

In over 40 years there was only one time I had to go back to joint and solder it because the joiner wasn't passing current properly. And actually that was on a fairly recent layout (The modular unit 2 years ago at a GATS exhibit) In this case I thought that was easier than adding a new feeder wire.
 
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I HAVE to use rail joiners at the joint between modules. I do change out modules from time to time and soldering just doesn't work. Slide the the joiners back, remove the section of track, slide teh new module in, replace the short section and slide the joiner back. Since each module is "plugged into it 'neighbors', I have no problems at all.

Bob
 
for what it worth i soldered every joint i could (used no joiners where possible).
the insulated ones are obviously not. i have one feeder per isolated district.

i glued some rail with adhesive caulk while some is tacked down. i plan on removing the nails after i put the ballast down. but then i still thinking if i should try and glue everything...

to cold in the garage now...
 
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