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Post by markm on Jan 31, 2014 14:10:02 GMT -5
I've got some very used Marklin sectional that's been oxidizing in a shoe box in the garage if that's imperfect enough to start with.
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Post by Rob Albritton on Jan 31, 2014 15:01:03 GMT -5
I am thinking of making a imperfect track and still run a train in it. I would love to do a scene where a train is limited to 10 mph due to the track condition. I think it would look great to see the engines and cars wobbling all over the track. Just come to the next train show for the DC Z-Bend Track group. We have a few members whose modules will fit your desires perfectly!
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Post by Admin on Feb 2, 2014 2:08:36 GMT -5
I'm a little late to the party on this one, but if you want to have some fun and spend more money than you intended, a small resistance soldering unit with the tweezer hand piece is sort of amazing for all work around the rails while not melting any plastic. The solder joints are incredibly strong and produce a minimum amount of solder excess (blobs!) with no cold solder joints. Skipped a few meals to afford mine John Raildig.com
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Post by masalowe on Feb 2, 2014 10:34:37 GMT -5
John, which unit did you buy and where?
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Post by Admin on Feb 2, 2014 12:07:57 GMT -5
Hi Scott, I picked up the American Beauty 105A3 with the foot pedal and tweezer hand piece on eBay, probably 5 or 6 years ago. Got it for around $250 or so. It's a 100 watt unit. John Raildig.com
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Post by gyroflyer on Feb 9, 2014 18:13:50 GMT -5
Ok, another quick question on flex track. I'm getting ready to start putting down and soldering the flex. I've read where you should leave some joins unsoldered and also leave gaps on some of the joints for expansion. How many joints apart should these be done?
Mark
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Post by markm on Feb 9, 2014 22:37:46 GMT -5
Mark, I'm not a big fan of soldering the track joints: it takes a fair amount of heat to get a good solder joint and there's a potential for damaging the roadbed. I prefer to rely on the wiring to carry power. I put feed lines about 25% in from the ends for electrical. If you need to electrically connect the joiners, I use wire wrap wire and solder it to the rails across the joiner. Of course you'll want to solder the joiners when they're in a flex curve for mechanical strength.
As far as expansion gaps, a bit depends on your construction. If you're using a foam base or caulk or double sided tape, there shouldn't be much expansion issue. If you're using wood, it changes quite a bit with temperature and humidity. I'd suggest a gap something like every other flex track. I generally find I've been leaving enough gaps for electrically isolated segments for control and detection that I don't see any expansion.
Hope this helps, Mark
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Post by shamoo737 on Feb 10, 2014 0:09:42 GMT -5
Living in Florida, the gaps seems to develop by themselves. Where I like to solder is in the curves. It helps keep it in shape, but for straight tracks, I like to leave them unsolder. So far, I haven't had too much problem. My modules have gone from the freezing weather of 40 degrees in the winter to the hot humid Florida heat in the summer without causing too much trouble to my tracks.
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Post by domi on Feb 11, 2014 17:55:37 GMT -5
Mark, I'm not a big fan of soldering the track joints: it takes a fair amount of heat to get a good solder joint and there's a potential for damaging the roadbed. I prefer to rely on the wiring to carry power. You're right but if you don't solder the track joints rail to rail, you're very likely to wind up with a kink at rails junctions between two samples of flextrack. Dom
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Post by gyroflyer on Feb 21, 2014 16:15:48 GMT -5
Well, I finally did it. I started laying my Peco flex track and it was easier than I thought. I used the Marklin nails to secure the track. I had to turn the track upside down to drill, with a .5 mm bit, through the holes due to the fact that they aren't punched all the way through. After positioning the track on the cork, I drilled through the track to the wood below the cork. Perfect. By the way, I had to order more bits for reasons you probably know.
On the straightaways I left a tiny gap between the rail joints, which was recommended, then soldered the joints on the curves. I have a RadioShack digital soldering station which made soldering a breeze and with no damage to the ties. Of course I put heat sinks on the rail to help out.
This tiny scale really intimidated me. I thought the soldering was going to get the best of me and destroy some plastic. Thanks for all of the advice and now I can hopefully be of help to other new Z scalers.
Mark C.
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Post by gyroflyer on Mar 2, 2014 17:13:33 GMT -5
By the way. If anybody is going to use the Marklin nails, I came across some problems and discovered an easy fix. Like I said, I predrilled all my holes through the track, cork, and plywood with a 0.5mm drill bit. No matter how careful, the bits would break. I was desperate so I just kept using the broken bit shank. Perfect. I had ordered some more bits and they broke even quicker.
I went to my hobby shop and bought a piece of piano wire close to 0.5 mm, ground a point on it, put into my Zona Swivel Head Pin Vise, and Voila. Simple, cheap, and stronger than the expensive bits I was busting.
Mark C.
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Post by shamoo737 on Mar 3, 2014 10:59:48 GMT -5
I don't like to use a nail to hold the track. What I like to do is put a little superglue to hold it in place and let the ballast and white glue to keep it secure.
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