Easy Soldering Methods For Your Track Feeders & Buss Wires
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- In this How It's Done, I will show you how to solder your track feeders to your track and then to your buss wires. I also have some connectors I use to attach your feeder wires under your layout that are easily removable from your buss wires.
You'll learn easy soldering methods for your model railroad track feeders & buss wires which can be used throughout your layout.
We will have more videos in this series of How It's Done regularly on everything related to model railroading including DCC, Track Work, Scenery, and Constructing Buildings.
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Intended for viewers over the age of 14
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Tom good video, Im a retired welder/pipefitter recently and I had a young apprentice working with me
soldering a 2" copper main water line. bad spot. got solder in cornea of his eye. So may I suggest You and me
wear glasses my apprentice Didnt. I was at fault for not having him wear them.
So even though this is a fun hobby ,
but soldering under a table? Or anytime Maybe drop a hint to younger folks in your
Video to always wear safety glasses.
Just a thought
Ben A.
Rolling Stones Shattered Thanks for your input, I'll pin this to the top.
Been waiting 25 years to start a layout. After watching this I feel like I need to be retired before I start a project like this. I would never get it done.
Model railroads are never finished, there's always room for improvement. I'm retired, and there's others that arestill workeg that get more accomplished than I do. Get started and do it in your spare time.
Definitely a piss poor film job .. but hey at least your hands don't have arthritis
Thanks Tom. I am not too big of a fan of the suitcase connectors and prefer to solder too. How come the smoke from the iron doesn't go straight up your nose like mine always does? lol.
Most of the time I get the smoke up my nose. In this video I moved back a little.I also had the ceiling fan on to move it away from me. Suitcase connectors are a pain to use. Like the ad I saw for the little circuit board with the terminals; Suitcases are fro traveling. lol
Well done Tom; video would be improved with some closeup views of the work. Details are important for the inexperienced. Thanks
Thanks. Here are more videos: th-cam.com/play/PLjjhnrIKSTSis4Cvb68G8JpzX0sfkyYSS.html
To clean the soldering iron tip, stuff steel wool in an old pill bottle and just poke the iron into the steel wool and scrub a little
hi Tom, loved the video. Really learned alot. Keep the videos coming.The tips was really helpful
Thanks for watching and your comment Sam. Glad the video helps.
Why are you using flux when the solder has the correct amount of flux already in it?
The flux in the solder is for the solder only. Flux cleans the surrounding area for better flow
Check out WAGO lever wire connectors - no soldering of any wires except for feeder to rail connection. These connectors have the following good points: 1. Connects 22 through 12 awg wires to each other 2. Connects both solid and stranded wire 3. Only need to strip wires to proper length. 4. Wires can be easily separated and joined numerous times. 5. Minimizes the need for terminal strips. 6. Connections are always reliable because the wires are always under compression contact. I use the "gray" ones because they handle a wider range of wire gauges.
Thank you for the information Helmut. Soldering is better than any connector made. I have another video I did about two weeks ago where I discuss using connectors. I show a similar connector as you referenced but a different brand. th-cam.com/video/ZmOF5HHYev4/w-d-xo.html
Hi, Tom. Thanks for the video.... I have a question. I've got a HO scale DC train setup (from Dad's childhood). I'm going to do a simple single oval for now, 1 train. The size of the oval is going to be in a 13'x16' room. I've got flex track for the turns and was curious, do I need to install feeder wires? Should I solder every track connection? Any information you could pass along to me would be greatly appreciated. Everywhere I've looked, it seems that everything is at a level far above my experience and intentions... Thank you for your time. Kind regards...
I always solder the connections when using flex track on the curves. Not so critical on the straight aways, but it wouldn't hurt. Check out some of my play lists on soldering and electrical projects for more information.
Just discovered your channel, and found that you do Arduino stuff. I am looking for your videos with avidity.
Welcome aboard!
Great video. Love the extra hand when soldering. Where can I get one?
Any hobby store or MIcro Mark or Amazon
...and Noel Payne....it is pronounced Soder....the L is silent since you pointed it out incorrectly
Thanks Reggie. I have a rant about this in this video: th-cam.com/video/Y-Rr0lHJRRk/w-d-xo.html
It’s nothing of the sort! It is pronounced sole der.
Can't believe I missed this older video! Great job! What is name of that metal clip you used to solder?
You can find them on Amazon or Micro Mark. They are soldering tweezers
@@TomsTrainsandThings Many thanks.
@@TomsTrainsandThings Finally found on Amazon, arrived today, got the pair (straight and curved) very nice, thanks again!
Las manos y los brazos se ven más que lo que hace. Muy torpe.
Haz un mejor trabajo entonces
hey guys
it's called a yankee drill around here
Can't beat a hand drill, they never run out of juice 😆. I restored a Miller Falls one from about 1915.
Hi Tom, Nice video, but just 1 comment. Why are you using a paper towel to clean your soldering tip ? The sponge is provided for that purpose. I've soldered for many years and I only use the sponge for cleaning the tip. I like that tweezers device for holding the wires which gave me an alternative "homemade" idea. I'll just secure a wooden clothespin to a small block of wood (as the base) which will provide the same functionality :)
Paper towel is an old habit from my Air Force Days. I also use a sponge & brass scrubber.
can you do a layout tour, and run a train? layout looks nice behind you. but we all have to play with our choo choo's at some point.. thanks for the how you do it Tom,
Thanks for watching Dave. Choo choo coming after the lights go up. Pretty soon.
You need to thick and plan your video better... The video was meant to be Easy Soldering Methods and you go and put your arm and hand between the track and the camera showing us the people watching nothing
Thank you for your comment Robert. There are more videos in the playlist on soldering.
My club is currently trying to install three types of signals , 1. 2 semaphores , 1 single target aspect , and numerous red/green dwarf signals everything is led except the semaphores the issue is we have a mixture of snap switches and tortise switches , could you show the best way to soder these for best operation.
Hi Buford, thanks for your question. I have another video on soldering that may help you, all soldering to any surface basically uses the same technique. This video may show you some better views on how to solder: th-cam.com/video/wak7BnF3Cgo/w-d-xo.html
Not a very good video for someone who has never used solder. It would have been helpful if you had zoomed in during the process and kept your hands out of the shots
+mike dziomba thanks for your input. It's not always easy to get the best angle on a shot on this kind of video. I have a few more videos on soldering where the angles are better.
Radio shack has left our city
I think they closed their stores. There hasn't been one here for about 3 or 4 months now.
radio shack is no more
I wish someone would do the calipers with the scale conversions already programmed to display on the LCD. Does anyone make that yet? Don't nobody steal my idea!
Some have a selector switch for fraction, decimal, and mm. The one I have is only decimal & mm.
At 31:01 Michael Myers enters the room
Great share! How many volts run through your bus lines? Does that translate to almost the same voltage traveling up your feeders to the track? Thanks!
In DC there is no voltage on the bus wires or track until the throttle is advanced, then it depends on the maximum voltage of the Power Pack and speed.. In DCC there is a square wave signal on the track. The only place voltage is adjusted is what's being provided to the command station. If you apply voltage to one wire and then have a smaller wire soldered to it, the voltage does not change between the wires.
a program that I have been looking for
Glad you found it Stan. I have another one on soldering a DPDT switch. You can find it here:
th-cam.com/video/wak7BnF3Cgo/w-d-xo.html
Tom, Do you know if anyone has ever used double faced tape to adhere cork roadbed to plywood?
Never saw anyone use that method. I use white glue myself. If I have to remove it for any reason, all it takes is a little spray of water to loosen it up.
It is a wonder you do not have automatic wire strippers, they are so much easier to use than using the manual ones.
I used them back in the 70's when in the Air Force. They take up too much room in the tool box or bag that you carry to a job so I stuck with the smaller ones.
Great video Tom. Just a question what book do you recommend for a "How To Build A Model Railroad " from a-z? Thanks
Thanks. Not sure if you can find it in one book, it may be spread out in a series of books from Kalmbach Publishing. I have a series of videos you can watch, "Model Railroading for Beginners."
th-cam.com/play/PLjjhnrIKSTShrzvkLrtppcNJ0zObTcDyv.html
Come on! stop running of at the mouth and get busy showing me
Pay attention to what's in the video, you may learn something along the way!
Another great video with lots of good advice.
Thanks again!
Great video Tom! I'm sure your soldering how-to tips will prove useful to many for DCC wiring.
But I've decided to take a different, easier route to wire my N scake Kato Unitrack for DCC. That's right, can you believe it? I finally found courage to break out my MRC Prodigy Express2 DCC system from its box. I also just bought MRC's Prodigy WiFi module to connect to my Prodigy Express2 so I can run trains with ease right from my smartphone. I like the user-friendly interface that my smartphone will be able to use to run trains.
Anyway, as far as wiring Prodigy into my tracks, I plan to use Kato's terminal joiners as DCC feeder wires. These stranded Kato terminal joiner wires are already the perfect size (22 or 24 AWG) to use as feeder wires. I'll just snip off Kato's male connector plugs from the other ends of the terminal joiner wires and strip those ends.
Then I'll use NCE's DCC layout wiring kit. It includes 14 AWG stranded bus wire (25 feet each red & black coated), 22 AWG stranded feeder wire (which I'll save in my toolbox for future projects since I'll be using Kato wires), 20 bus wire suitcase taps, and 20 quick connectors that directly plug-in feeder wires to bus wire suitcase taps. The beauty of this kit combined with Kato's terminal joiners is that it easily and quickly makes solid, secure wiring connections without the need to solder.
I can't wait to get home from the road in about a week and hook up my DCC system. Thanks, Tom, for all your encouragement--even if I do disagree with you from time to time. Overall, you have some pretty good ideas.
-from Tom Pilling
Thanks for watching Tom. Great to hear your going to unbox everything and get started with your creation. Great idea on the way your going to hook everything up. Keep me posted on your progress when you get back home.
I was planning on doing a video on our conversation about the easy GUI and conventional DCC methods with a survey at the end of the video of the two methods, if your don't mind.
At 14:11 you have your tweezers in a holder. Is that holder homemade or is it available somewhere to purchase?
The tweezers are made like that. Available just about anywhere: www.micromark.com/SOLDERING-TWEEZER-STAND
I like that tweezers device for holding the wires which gave me an alternative "homemade" idea. I'll just secure a wooden clothespin to a small block of wood (as the base) which will provide the same functionality :)
Afternoon Tom, getting started with a large layout using DCC (Digitrax).
Immediately had issues and various messages on my throttle.
Using 14/2 as my bus wires, but have two sets connected together with terminal strips running the length of this half of my basement layout. Wondering if that might be part of my starting issues.
What are the messages on your throttle? I also use 14/2 on my layout with many terminal strips to separate different sections.
Toms Trains and Things
Sel fn Sel, (SP) was in bold above that. Also had Ads ???
It is possible that I crossed the wires as I just had one set of feeders connected to that section of track. Just recently I built a drawer under my wall mounted benchwork and moved the controller there. It (Single feed) now sits some distance away from the controller.
I made sure that the bus line doesn’t close on itself, but it could also be the multiple uninsulated atlas/peco switches that I will have to resolve.
@@richardclark1801 that's the normal display. It's prompting you to enter an address for the locomotive. You can enter an address for two locomotives, one for each location on your throttle.
Please post the next episode of the Gravely Bldg. Thanks
Thanks for watching John, it's coming up soon.
Antique buss/feeder wire technique.
You do realize this video is 4 yrs old. Do you have a better way?
Does anyone know where I could get a hand on a new version of one of those wire holders?? They seem very useful!!
If your referring to the "helping hands" you can get them just about anywhere. Amazon, Banggood, Micro Mark...
@@TomsTrainsandThings looking at them now thanks!
I like that tweezers device for holding the wires which gave me an alternative "homemade" idea. I'll just secure a wooden clothespin to a small block of wood (as the base) which will provide the same functionality :)
thank you for the intention and also for explaining what was happening while your hands were covering everything you were supposed to show us
Gerardo Trejo-Larin your welcome
Very nice presentation. Easy to comprehend.
Thank you Sean
Tom, thanks for the video. I have been using "suit case connectors, but I did start out just striping the middle of the bus wire and soldering the feeders to it. That got to be a long process, using the suitcase connectors help things go faster and if I made a mistake I did not have to go in and un-solder the wires. Your method does allow for more surface contact between the to wires. (Pros and Cons to both methods) I like that you took the time to explain and that helps everyone that watches. As always, thank you for taking the time to demo and share this video. D. Muse
Thank you David. Soldering does take time and is kind of difficult in some places while under the layout. I use the connectors I showed where I have a lot of turnouts, I still solder to the track but underneath, would take forever to solder all the connections.
Couldn't see the action when soldering the feeder wire to the far side rail. Your hands and arms were in the way. Otherwise very informative
Thanks Carl, it's not always easy to get everything in the shot while shooting. I've missed shots when I had 3 cameras at different angles on some videos.
Definitely understand that. Could you do an overhead shot? That should be a pretty good angle.
Nice tip about how to keep the flux container threads clean..
I have some other videos on soldering with better angles, not for feeder wires, but same principle: th-cam.com/video/wak7BnF3Cgo/w-d-xo.html
Ax89 I have some more videos on soldering with better angles. I'll also be doing another one on feeders shortly
How often, like in ft do feeder wires need to be on a layout.
That's a good question. Digitrax recommends 6 to 10 Ft, mainly because of rail joiners not always conducting the signal through the tracks. Even when I solder the rail joiners I put a feeder in every piece of flex track (overkill). You will need one at every leg of a turnout also. Rail joiners and Turnout points will always get dirty, so go on the safe side.
Thanks for the help. As I watch a lot of videos on wiring, I just haven't heard anyone say a recommended distance. Thanks
nice techniques,thanks for sharing
Thanks for watching and commenting Kelly
very nice and informative video.
Rolling Stones Shattered thank you
THANK YOU...for sharing.
Your welcome
Good video Tom. One suggestion though: I've found that if you will clean the threads on the heating element for the tip of the Ungar iron you will get better
heat transfer from the heating element to the tip. This should be done once each month or more frequently depending on the amount of soldering
that is done. Bill G Linwood, Kansas
Thanks for the tips Bill. Shortly after doing this video I purchased a digital soldering station, will never go back to the old style of soldering. Much easier going digital. I actually just received a compact digital soldering station that fits in the palm of my hand. Amazing what technology is out there now.
Love watching your videos
Thank you very much, and thanks for clicking that like button on all those videos.
Toms Trains and Things thank you you so much for making such quality videos, they have been a great help to me on getting ideas for my future layout. I'm 16 years old so things are moving a little slow in the way of buying materials, but you have given me so many ideas, and taught me so much. I am very thankful for you and your channel Tom!
+Jumbo Joe's#1fan glad to be of help.
Good tutorial
Thank you Reggie, I have a follow up video due out this morning
Sorry this was painful to watch
Thanks for watching Marcel. Please elaborate.
I don't want to be a negative Ned but it seemed to drag on , the camera angle always had your hands in the way. Myself as an electrician I am Leary of the quick connector for my buss as the mechanics of the connection, very little surface contact and they can be twisted loose, not great for low voltage and data. Your soldering is the way it should be done
Thanks for your input Marcel. I know what you mean about the dragging on, you should see what I cut out. I'll shorten it up a bit. I was using a second camera on my close shots like that but I bumped it with the section of track and knocked it out of frame. It's real difficult to get good camera angles on close work. My next video has better angles when I'm making DCC cables.
Soldering is best, but there are modelers who don't solder and rely on connectors and manufactured feeders soldered to rail joiners for all their joints. Since my videos are directed more toward beginners, I try to cover as many methods as possible. I've come to realize that there are a lot of modelers that don't have the skills to perform most of the tasks required to build a model railroad. That's why I do these videos.
Thanks again for your input.
I did a video on making a road crossing that people complained about my hands in the way. It isn't as easy as people think.
Toms Trains and Things I saw a video were the guy mounted the camera to a desk lamp / work light arm great for an straight above shot and close ups
Some good tips Tom. I didn't know about the flux being sticky afterwards. It's like wanting a pickle but the darn jar lid is too tight. -Mark
You'd be in a pickle if you couldn't get the lid off. Thanks for watching Mark.
Where did you get those tweezers?
Hi Jack, I got them at a train show from a vendor who sells small tools like that. I thank you can also find them through Micro Mark or any other vendor that sells soldering tools.
I like that tweezers device for holding the wires which gave me an alternative "homemade" idea. I'll just secure a wooden clothespin to a small block of wood (as the base) which will provide the same functionality :)
this is the worst "how to solder" video i have seen
What would you do to make it better?
solder, not soder
That's a shame your worried about how words are pronounced with a different accent or dialect than yours. Some people can't help the way they pronounce words based on where they live. You'll have a ball with younz...
In the U.S. it's actually pronounced soder the l is silent. Like Aluminum, and bonnet, and wind screen etc. everywhere has their own words and pronunciations for things. we have a lot of words that no one else would even recognize as do you. Hope that clears up the whole ( we call things what we want and you can too) thing. Have a nice day.
william Greene
The current trend to abandon even the most basic grammar and spelling also came from the USA. Saying ‘sodder’ instead of ‘solder’ isn’t as bad though as using ‘then’ when it should be ‘than’ or ‘to’ instead of ‘too’. The most irritating one is writing “I could of” instead of “I could have”. It irritates me because I spent my school days concentrating on survival more than learning and as a consequence, have no certificates for English. If I can make an effort, so can people who have good careers because they did have the chance to concentrate on learning. There is also spell checks which I make use of.