Soldering Considerations for LED Conversions

You can obviously use a ring terminal under a screw for the frame connection.  However, if the frame is steel or brass, cleaning it good and having an iron with enough power to do the job will allow you to solder directly to the frame, I do it all the time.  For diecast frames, then the screw and ring terminal is a good solution.

Thanks @gunrunnerjohn.  I've only done this for metal frames.  I haven't cleaned the part before soldering, so that will probably help.  I use a 60W soldering iron that says it can do 450 degrees C.  Is that hot enough?

Probably not enough heat.  It doesn't matter what temperature the iron thinks it can attain, when you slap it on a big heatsink things change.  I use my Weller 100/140W gun for soldering to the frame or for brass repairs.

For soldering, cleanliness is next to Godliness, it's mandatory for proper soldering.  Lack of cleaning will almost surely result in sub-standard solder connections, or the inability to attach the wire at all.

Thanks.  I've ordered a more powerful soldering iron (there's no way I can handle a gun for this level of work).  I've also ordered some screw and ring terminals that should work for the kynar wire.

@texgeekboy, if it's not too late, consider the Hakko FX-888D soldering station.  Will handle any soldering tax you will run into from now on.  Great unit.  Especially with the interchangeable tips.  The link is for information only.

Hakko FX-888D

The Hakko FX-888D is a 70 watt iron, and it's going to be pretty marginal for soldering to a large metallic mass, it simply doesn't have the reserve heat.  That doesn't take away from the fact that the Hakko is a fine tool, and it's the one on my bench that gets used every day, usually a lot every day!  It's just that it's not the answer to every soldering job.

LIONEL's premium 15" passenger cars in the 6-31712 set had metal frames attached to the interior to which the trucks were attatched.

To create the ground for the car's lighting, a wire ran from the strip lights to a solder lug that was then attached using a screw through the frame where paint/coating had been removed exposing bare metal.  (This screw serves as one of four that secure the frame to the interior.)  Not knowing the signifance of the bare metal, I had attached these lugs to holes on the other end of the frame without the exposed bare metal only to discover they failed as a ground.

On LIONEL's Postwar style silhouette passenger cars, I found it necessary to remove the paint/coating to expose bare metal to solder the ground wire to.  I use a 40 watt Heller adjustable temp iron.

HTH.

@Pingman,

I'll certainly try that.  Thanks.

@texgeekboy posted:

@Pingman,

I'll certainly try that.  Thanks.

On the Postwar cars, soldering the ground wire to a spot of bare metal has remained secure for 10+ years; no screw needed.

To close this out, I changed the thread name to something a bit more relevant.

I bought an 80 watt Weller from the online retailer.  The extra oomph for heating the frame, along with the cleaning, did the trick.  The ground wire now has a good solid connection, and the LEDs have absolutely no flicker.

This was for an old caboose I recently bought at a Stout auction.  It was included in a lot with a 2046w I wanted.  I cleaned it up, added LEDs, put some people in the upper and lower portions, along with some cargo.  The rear windows are frosted to hide the wiring.  I painted the rear trucks after I took this picture, so they now look like the front.  This particular caboose doesn't come with ladders but there are slots for them.  I just bought some for a similar caboose that should fit.