Tix solder for trackwork

[peteski]

Maybe I'll try the silver solder with my old hardware store flux.

As long as it is non-corrosive (rosin-based) flux!

[nkalanaga]

Peteski:  I think you're right about humidity, not temperature, causing the track problems.  Most train rooms don't have enough temperature variation to make a difference, but wood can swell or shrink a lot with a little change in humidity.   I've noticed that here in eastern Kentucky, and we have central air, which should keep the humidity more consistent.  The track on foam doesn't have any problems, but the track on wood needed a lot of tinkering before it would stay stable.

[narrowminded]

And I'll third that motion. Fluctuating humidity and wood = dimension mania.

[Chris333]

So hows about thin masonite glued to foam for a base?

I know the bridge photo was mounted to wood, but just about every layout I've owned is built on foam. With cork for handlaid turnouts only. With masonite if all track is handlaid.

[peteski]

Since Masonite is a wood product, it will most likely be affected by moisture in the air. I don't know how much more or less compared to regular lumber, but I'm sure it is. If you were to seal it then it should be more stable.

[Chris333]

Tempered hardboard is hardboard that has been coated with a thin film of linseed oil and then baked; this gives it more water resistance, impact resistance, hardness, rigidity and tensile strength.

[peteski]

Well then, you know the answer to your question - sealed means less affected by humidity.

[mark.hinds]

So hows about thin masonite glued to foam for a base?

I know the bridge photo was mounted to wood, but just about every layout I've owned is built on foam. With cork for handlaid turnouts only. With masonite if all track is handlaid.

Is there some reason why you don't use expansion joints in your trackwork?  AFIK, that is generally accepted practice.  It would probably be useful even if you are soldering all your track to PC board ties, as it would seem to isolate expansion issues to each section.  My layout has had track (on half of it at any rate) for 30 years mounted on plywood, in 3 different apartments / houses, with wildly varying temperature and humidity, and that original track has never had an issue.  I have a 1/64" expansion joint at least every 6 feet. 

Also, in preparation for my code 55 experiments, I have been re-reading my accumulated articles on track laying.  One point made was that if you are soldering to PC board ties, you want to make sure that you aren't progressively warming the section of rail with each successive solder joint, as that apparently introduces stresses into the structure when it cools.  So it was recommended that the reader "go slow" when doing such soldering.  In my case, being impatient, I would try to develop a way to cool off the rail manually (wet paper towels, or some such). 

MH

[robert3985]

Chris,

I use a 40W soldering iron with a clean and tinned wedge tip when I'm not using my 200W resistance soldering station.  I really don't know what the tip temp is on my Radio Shack iron, but it applies the heat fast and precisely, allowing me to get off the joint quickly and not burn or melt things attached to the rails.  I've never had any problems with the silver/tin solder I recommend melting, or holding for that matter.  It's much stronger structurally than lead solders.

First, no matter what you think the tip temp is, if your solder isn't melting, you don't have a hot enough iron...if the tip is clean and tinned.

I also use Tix solder when I want to solder something close to another solder joint and I don't want the old joint to melt.

In all cases when I've got a problem with solder melting (no matter what the brand or style) it's because of something not being clean, usually my iron's tip, which is why I've got a damp sponge in my iron's holder to wipe it down before each and every solder joint.

Also, Supersafe flux makes the solder flow better...markedly better than rosin flux.

When I need a small precise amount of solder, I flatten about a quarter inch of it with my flat-nosed pliers, then split it down the middle to form an odd little "fork", and I apply these to the iron and/or rail/PCB tie when I'm making turnouts or soldering rail joiners.

Works great for me, and I don't see why it shouldn't for you...or anybody else for that matter.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[Chris333]

As for the gaps.

I glue down PC ties with ACC about an inch apart and then solder the rails to them. If I cut a gap it would only allow 1/2" of movement max.

[ednadolski]

I have filed and sanded lead sheet used for weighting cars and even when using fine grit sandpaper the filings or "dust" is not even close to be fine enough to float through the air (lead is quite heavy).

You will still get fine particles in the area where the work is done.  At the least, I do hope that you wash your hands after doing that sort of thing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_poisoning

"Although lead poisoning is one of the oldest known work and environmental hazards, the modern understanding of the small amount of lead necessary to cause harm did not come about until the latter half of the 20th century. No safe threshold for lead exposure has been discovered—that is, there is no known sufficiently small amount of lead that will not cause harm to the body."

FWIW, "common sense" in my book means to avoid using such materials particularly when they are not necessary and where practical alternatives exist.


Ed

[Chris333]

Yes I file every single joint. 


And then wash and scrub with a tooth brush.


And then wash my hands 

[Chris333]

So I just slapped some Kilz oil based primer down on all the hardboard. I have painted it before, but never oil based. Now just wait a few years to see if it works.

[mark.hinds]

As for the gaps.

I glue down PC ties with ACC about an inch apart and then solder the rails to them. If I cut a gap it would only allow 1/2" of movement max.

(image removed)

Chris,

Like you, I would have assumed that foam, masonite, ACC, PC board material, and solder are rigid, and that therefore gaps would not work, as they do with flex track. 

However, why did that bridge rail bend, and not the rail on either side?  If there is some slight give in the above materials, such that the mass on either side of the bridge was able via this "give" to tilt slightly towards the open space represented by the river bed / bridge, then perhaps a couple of gaps would still help.  For example, had you gapped on either side of the bridge, based on the image you posted above, presumably the bridge rails wouldn't have bent.  Just thinking out loud here; as I have no experience with your method of construction. 

MH

[VonRyan]

FWIW, the track on my Killashandra hasn't had any issues with the various temperature/humidity fluctuations that southern New Jersey has been having this summer. And mind you, there is a nice big open spot on the bottom of the layout that exposes about a 12 square inch patch of the Masonite.