Model Railway Forum

Stese wrote: ↑Sat Jul 15, 2023 9:35 pm The method I've now always use is to tin both the wire and the rail with the solder first, separately... then holding the wire in one hand, and the iron in the other, place the iron near the solder on the rail, wait until it melts, and then push the wire 'through' the melted solder... remove the iron as soon as the wire is in place, and after a few seconds, both will have cooled enough to hold the wire still...

No clamps or blue-tak required!

Oh, thanks for the tip. I'm not sure I get my head around the idea tho' - so you 'tin', effectively a blob, with enough solder to make the complete junction?

I'll give it a try but my idea is to have the dropper already in its place though a hole in the baseboard wth a connector ready to take the bus cable so it should be in its fixed final position at the start of the soldering process.

The Sligo Rover wrote: ↑Sat Jul 15, 2023 11:16 pm That is much the same method that this amateur uses.
For connecting droppers to bus wire, I have just discovered Wago connectors - so easy and quick to use. Magic.

They look pretty cool but I already have nothing very similar ...

Simon_100 wrote:Oh, thanks for the tip. I'm not sure I get my head around the idea tho' - so you 'tin', effectively a blob, with enough solder to make the complete junction?

Kind of, yes. However, if you've formed a blob that looks like it's about to drip off, you've put too much on!

To get a good 'tin', I tend melt a tiny amount of solder onto the tip of the iron, and then put that into contact with the copper wire. Then 'feed' a small amount of solder onto the wire from the opposite side to the iron. The idea is to coat the wire, so the solder almost appears to 'sink in'

The same process is for the rail, however you won't get the 'sink in' but the solder will almost look 'part of' the rail.

To attach the two, I hold the wire so the tinned end is on the top of the solder on the rail and, mkaing sure there is a small amount of solder on the iron, press the tip onto both, watching for the solder to melt. As soon as it melts, remove the iron and hold the wire still... the solder will cool leaving you a good strong electrical connection.

another tip would be to make sure the rail and the wire is clean before tinning/soldering. Solder will not stick to dirty metal very well.

When I next come to doing some track feeds, I really should make a video.

Imperative to clean both parts before tinning prior to soldering. I use fine emery cloth on the rail. Newly stripped wire normally can be tinned straight away but old wire with a dull colour needs to be cleaned prior.

Thanks guys, I'll try this out later today