What about using solders with differing melting points? Hotter for constructing the frog, cooler for attaching the feeder?
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| soldering http://fast-tracks.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=627 |
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| Author: | banjobumps [ Sat Jun 09, 2007 12:41 pm ] |
| Post subject: | soldering |
| Author: | Tim Warris [ Mon Jun 11, 2007 12:58 pm ] |
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Hi, The trick to getting a feeder soldered to the completed frog is speed. I believe you are soldering to the bottom of the frog (with the turnout turned over) and if the heat is left too long the frog can come unsoldered. Try doing this step with the turnout resting on the fixture (not in the fixture), this will act as a bit of a heat sink and give a bit more time to solder the feeder in place. If you are still finding this step difficult it is possible to solder the feeder to the PC board tie beside the frog. Bend the exposed piece of wire to a short 90 "hook" and solder it to the top of the PC board tie. When painted and ballasted in place the wire will be almost inviable. |
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| Author: | banjobumps [ Mon Jun 11, 2007 3:28 pm ] |
| Post subject: | frog soldering |
Thank you for the suggestion. I think I will try soldering to the tie. Never made my own turnouts before, so this is all new. |
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| Author: | Kurt Konrath [ Tue Jun 19, 2007 3:47 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Attaching leads |
| Author: | Mike Murray [ Tue Dec 04, 2007 12:47 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
What about using solders with differing melting points? Hotter for constructing the frog, cooler for attaching the feeder?
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| Author: | emccamey [ Tue Dec 04, 2007 10:37 am ] | ||
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banjobumps. I'd not recommend different solder temps in turnout construction. Copper has a very high thermal conductivity. The copper clad on a PC tie is very thin and too high a temperature will unclad the coper bonding. It's not rally necessary, as you want to develop a technique of hot and fast soldering. Besides, the low temp solders are not good for electrical connections. Pre-tining the PC tie and the rails and the wires make a big help in making the connection fast. If you are attaching the wires while in construction, the fixture keeps the alignments. If you are attaching after installation, the few spikes used and the solidness of the assembly keeps the alignments. I do recommend that the use of spring clamps will act as good heat sinks. One thing to be careful of, if you are using the acid flux (I don't recommend that - use a liquid safe rosin flux), the electrical connection HAS to have a rosin flux and any acid flux left from the mechanical assembly can ruin the electrical connection latter.
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| Author: | sambear [ Sat Dec 29, 2007 2:28 pm ] |
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Ed: I have tried to clean up the turnouts with mineral alcohol. I use a toothbrush and essentially clean the total area by brushing the alcohol over the area with the toothbrush. Is that enough to neutralize the acid in the flux? If not, please inform me. I do not want to make huge mistakes after my soldering is done. I am poor at using rosin paste. I find it hard to liquidize enough so that I do not glob the stuff all over the place when trying to brush it onto the rail and tie. Also, when the tip carbonizes, how do I clean it? Do I use the towel method as shown in the video? When soldering, more times than not, I get a blob forming at the base of the wire, with that I make a mess of the solder. Tip cleaning is likely the culprit, but is there a trick to doing the work better? Thanks, sambear |
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| Author: | emccamey [ Sat Dec 29, 2007 3:19 pm ] |
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| Author: | sambear [ Sat Dec 29, 2007 9:50 pm ] |
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| Author: | emccamey [ Sun Dec 30, 2007 8:46 am ] |
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| Author: | UnionPac [ Mon Feb 04, 2008 7:20 pm ] |
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Having done a military soldering course I'd just like to add a couple of suggestions. 1. I keep my tip clean by wiping it through a damp sponge after every joint. 2. Prior to turning off the iron I wipe it on a block of Sal ammoniac then add a tiny bit of solder to the tip. Sal ammoniac will keep your tip looking like new and allow the solder to flow extremely well. Hope this helps, |
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| Author: | sambear [ Sat Jan 03, 2009 9:27 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: soldering flux |
Given that I am using SuperSafe Superior #30 Soft Solder Flux when soldering rail to ties, do I need to neutralize acid? I have used a mix of 50:1 baking soda to wash the work (with a toothbrush), followed by a rinse of cold water. Now I wonder if this is overkill. If I just wash it in cold water, no soap, will that be enough to prevent any corrosion or shorts at a later time? |
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| Author: | emccamey [ Sat Jan 03, 2009 10:15 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: soldering |
sambear, Using the Supersafe flux, you will only need to wash in warm water. It doesn't hurt to use the neutralizer - but its overkill. The Supersafe is not actually an acid, but you do want to rise it off so that you can latter do your cosmetic painting. It's water soluble - so warm water rinse does well with doing the cleaning. -ed- |
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| Author: | sambear [ Sun Jan 04, 2009 12:04 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: soldering flux (SuperSafe) |
Thanks Ed, again you have helped. That will save a lot of cleansing work and I am glad no acid is in there. Thanks to you SuperSafe was the way to go when I bought it; and though at times it does get sticky, it works very well. |
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| Author: | Mike Murray [ Mon Jan 26, 2009 11:39 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: soldering |
If you are recommending use of an acid flux is there a reason the solder Fast Tracks sells is rosin-core rather than solid? I may be showing my ignorance but I thought the rosin core was to provide built-in fluxing; am I wrong? 
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