soldering

[keyrail]

does anyone know of an alternate method of soldering track together? There's nothing wrong with soldering it, but it takes so long to DESOLDER it!!! graemlins/LOL.gif :D

[Fotheringill]

Unitrack= no need to solder.

Barring that choice, I am not aware of any other than the following thought. If you drop a feeder from each and every piece of track (soldering required, though, you will not have to conduct electricity through the rail joiners.

[Nelson B]

If you don't want to unsolder at all, just cut the track on either side of the rail joiner. You only lose 1/4". I have many pieces of flex track that have seen 6 or 7 different layouts.
If you want to save the full length of turnouts, just cut it at the joint and then the remaining half of the rail joiners can be unsoldered easily and slid off the end.

[Powersteamguy1790]

Drop feeders from each rail. the there is no need to solder railjoiners which is a very weak link, if not done properly.

Stay cool and run steam.... graemlins/cool.gif :cool: :cool:

[ March 12, 2006, 10:46 AM: Message edited by: Powersteamguy1790 ]

[Nelson B]

Originally posted by Powersteamguy1790:
the there is no need to solder railjoiners Soldering rail joiners prevents kinks from forming in flex track curves. It holds your track in alignment as you are laying it. It allows you to control where your track expansion joints are ( you place them in the center of straight sections ) so you don't get gaps in curves which cause derails. The benefits are many compared to the inconvenience of disassembly.

which is a very weak link, if not done properly.How is a soldered rail joiner a weaker link than an unsolder one?

If not done properly, feeder wires are a weak link also.

[Powersteamguy1790]

Nelson:

We've been through this before. Most modelers don't have a good soldering technique, we both know that

If that rail joiner isn't heated properly the solder joint will be suspect at best and is more apt to fail.Reason being, the solder will not flow through that joint if it isn't hot enough.

Soldering three pieces; a railjoiner to two rails requires a good technique.

Soldering a 22 gauge feeder wire to a rail is much easier to do and requires less heat, than soldering railjoiners to rails and is easier to do for the average modeler.

Lets not twist words, I'm not comparing a soldered railjoiner to an unsoldered one. ;)

Stay cool and run steam..... graemlins/cool.gif :cool: :cool: