Kato N Scale Track and Soldering and Dropping Leads

Grey One Nov 18, 2019

  1. Grey One

    Grey One TrainBoard Supporter

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    I'm 65yo and have never soldered wire. I will be building a 40' X 3' layout using Kato single and double track. I will be using DC using Kato power supplies, block control and power routing turnouts. It is my 'fear' that I should drop feeders every 3' feet give or take. My calculations indicate I'll need to make about 100+ soldered leads.
    While I would happily pay someone to do this for me I feel I need to be able to say,
    "I did it."​
    To that end I would love some form of 'tutorial' or 'How To'. Hopefully it could include the tools and such that I would need to make this job viable. I am prepared to practice, practice, and re-practice this process.
    Alternatives
    I am open to alternative methods and seem to recall:
    1. Removing the rail joiner
    2. Stuffing a wire in there
    3. Replacing the joiner
    Does anyone have a link to that?
    Kato pre-wired rail joiners? I remember trying to use those with mixed success and high cost. Any feedback on these is welcome.

    Note: I have very limited vision and while it will slow me down it will not stop me. I will have the assistance of my 10yo grandson, my wife and possibly my brother-in-law.
     
  2. wvgca

    wvgca TrainBoard Member

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    it would be the best if you could solder the rail joiner to both pieces of track as well, if you are able to ???
     
  3. RBrodzinsky

    RBrodzinsky November 18, 2022 Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter In Memoriam

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    No, do NOT solder the rail joiner to the tracks (besides that it will melt plastic)

    I do not have a photo handy, but when you look at the underside of a piece of Unitrack, note that at each end, right before the Unijoiners, you will see that there are larger cutouts in the plastic at the foot of the rails. Take a scriber or sharp file and roughen up the under-side surface of each rail at one end. Then, using a liquid solder flux, put a small layer of solder on each rail.

    Use 22 or 24awg solid wire feeders, and expose about the same amount of wire at the end as the size of the larger holes. Bend the wire 90 degrees, add solder to the wire. Then, touch the wire to the track where the solder blob is, and touch the soldering iron to both.

    Tug to ensure you have a good bond. Repeat for other rail. Make sure to mark the polarity of the rails.
     
    drbnc and Grey One like this.
  4. wvgca

    wvgca TrainBoard Member

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    huh .. well, could be wrong ...
    my experience was with Atlas snap track in HO
     
  5. Grey One

    Grey One TrainBoard Supporter

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    @RBrodzinsky Thank you. I broke it down into:
    1. Look at the underside of a piece of Unitrack
    2. Note that at each end, right before the Unijoiners, you will see that there are larger cutouts in the plastic at the foot of the rails.
    3. Take a scriber or sharp file and roughen up the under-side surface of each rail at one end.
    4. Then, using a liquid solder flux, put a small layer of solder on each rail.
    5. Use 22 or 24awg solid wire feeders,
    6. Expose about the same amount of wire at the end as the size of the larger holes.
    7. Bend the wire 90 degrees, add solder to the wire.
    8. Then, touch the wire to the track where the solder blob is,
    9. Touch the soldering iron to both.
    10. Tug to ensure you have a good bond. Repeat for other rail. Make sure to mark the polarity of the rails.
    I know I'll have a few questions. I try to shop local when I can.
    Sources for:
    Solder
    Wire stripper
    Wire?
    Do Ace or ? True Value carry these?
     
  6. Grey One

    Grey One TrainBoard Supporter

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    All suggestions are welcome and I will photo or have someone photo my progress. With luck I'll have a loop of track running by Thanksgiving.
    Wood arrives tomorrow.

    Folks, I'm still open to any other instructions, ideas, concepts and even humore,
    A blind man picks up a soldering iron.
    What happens next?
    Stay tuned.
     
  7. RBrodzinsky

    RBrodzinsky November 18, 2022 Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter In Memoriam

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    the key here is the Unitrack and Unijoiner
     
  8. Sumner

    Sumner TrainBoard Member

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    I'd recommend watching Fast-Tracks soldering video...



    ... where they go over getting a soldering iron and preparing it. They are going to use the iron to build turnouts so are using acid base soldering flux which you do not want to use for electrical work.

    You want to use a rosin based flux
    such as..

    [​IMG]

    The GC Electronics 10-4202 shown above. I've started using it and really like it as it is completely non-corrosive and safe to use for all electronic applications. There are paste types also.

    The major criteria for success is to have what you are soldering clean and using a good flux and a tinned clean iron. Clean the tip often on a wet sponge and with a stainless brush like in the Fast-Tracks video. Tinning both pieces to be soldered also really helps to make a quick soldering joint to lower the chances of melting something you don't want melted.

    I use the same iron as in the Fast Tracks video and like it for both building turnouts and for most electrical work. Recently though I bought a 12 watt iron from ngineering.com and like it for decoder installs where the wire and SMD resistors and LED's are very small but it is probably too low of a wattage for what you want to do. You want the iron to be hot, get in and back out again as soon as the solder flows well on the joint.

    Here is a link that will get you going..

    https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=soldering+wire+to+model+railway+track

    It won't take long to get the hang of it,

    Sumner
     
    Last edited: Nov 18, 2019
  9. Grey One

    Grey One TrainBoard Supporter

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    @Sumner Thankyou! That is great!
     
  10. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    I found these videos specific to Kato Unijoiners a week ago. I'll be wanting to make my own feeders as well.



     
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  11. RBrodzinsky

    RBrodzinsky November 18, 2022 Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter In Memoriam

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    This technique works, but.... The unijoiner is designed to work best when the tracks are attached / detached / reattached on a consistent basis. When left to sit on a permanent layout, you MAY experience problems with electrical conductivity through the unijoiner, due to the connection becoming “loose”. And (see above) since it is not recommended to solder unijoiners to the unitrack, this will cause areas of the track to have poor connectivity, a bigger problem in DCC than DC.

    Direct soldering to the underside of the rail ensures that the rails have power.
     
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  12. Grey One

    Grey One TrainBoard Supporter

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  13. greenwizard88

    greenwizard88 TrainBoard Member

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    So two observations...

    1. Kato makes pre-soldered unijoiners, it's $5/pair. Not cheap, but you don't have to solder.

    2. Kato track doesn't need many feeders. I have a 12x6 "L" shaped layout and only have two feeders for the whole layout. I have feeders let cared every 3-6 feet for signaling, but they're not hooked up yet...
     
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  14. Grey One

    Grey One TrainBoard Supporter

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    @greenwizard88 Thank you. I'll be doing a combination. Yes, I agree that I won't need that many drops and for my purposes the $5 variety along with the one that comes with the 'plug in' under the track should be adequate to get up and running. in my 1st phase. Soldering is something I wan to learn as it could help with lighting and other projects on the layout.
    Phase 1 is only about 20 feet long.
     
  15. videobruce

    videobruce TrainBoard Member

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    Have you ever heard of "Resistance Soldering"? It's not cheap, but it works great.

    Take a look here;
    https://resistancesoldering.com/
    http://www.raymondwalley.com/misc/tools/rsu.html
    https://stellartechnical.com/collec...ing/products/esico-triton-r23801-jla-hot-lips

    These are the 'gold standard' (my term, I have no connection to the company);
    https://americanbeautytools.com/Resistance-Tweezer-Systems (you should be able to find used ones on eBay)

    I had a lot of feeders to do and since I don't have a 3rd arm/hand, using one of these allows your foot to power it up and for the tweezers to hold the jumper in place against the rail while you apply solder. No melted ties! And this was in N scale.
     
    Last edited: Feb 10, 2020
  16. videobruce

    videobruce TrainBoard Member

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  17. Point353

    Point353 TrainBoard Member

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    I have found that applying a drop of CAIG DeoxIT into each rail joiner, before connecting track sections, seems to help preserve the conductivity.
    https://caig.com/product/deoxit-d100l-25c/
    https://www.markertek.com/product/d...-d-series-needle-dispenser-100-solution-25-ml
     

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