Ever year when the temperature in my house goes up about 10 degrees, from winter to summer, the Realtrax on my layout develops voltage drops. It gets better when winter returns. The track is on a small (8' x 10') semi-permanent layout, with a screw holding it in place every couple of pieces. Aside from adding more lock-ons, are there any tricks to minimize voltage drops. I am certain that the copper tabs are all mated correctly.
Much Appreciation for any and all help!
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It sounds like summertime humidity is causing your wooden bench work (table) to expand a little bit. Then in the wintertime, when the humidity levels drop, the wood shrinks back down.
The copper tabs are not necessarily all that "springy". When the table expands, the tabs may grow minuscule gaps between each other (or at least less contact pressure), thereby inducing less than perfect electrical continuity.
Aside from adding more lock-on's, you could wait until the end of the next dry season, and paint the living heck out of your wooden table or bench work. This could help alleviate the expansion problem caused by humid conditions, but not 100% guarantee.
If you don't want to add more unsightly lock-on's, you could pull up some track and solder some feeder wires underneath to the copper tabs. Then drill holes in the table top and run the wiring underneath the layout. The extra feeders would definitely help the electrical contact situation.
I have NO lock-on's on my Real Trax layout, only feeder wires to the track blocks. Looks good, works great. No voltage drops, no electrical problems, no unsightly lock-on's. 
Much appreciation! I have also heard that the crimps of the copper tabs to the rails can be subject to temperature induced separation. I was contemplating if electrically conductive glue or tape could be used but I see these products get mixed reviews.
Have you tried the plastic clips they make to hold the track together ? These are a must around curves when running big locomotives.
No, I haven't. I will give that a try. Much Appreciation!
I find that putting a jumper across the two outside rails will help immensely. The outside rails are not tied together on Real Trax and I think they should be. On standard tinplate track those outside rails are connected together electrically by each of the metal ties on each section. But having just one jumper somewhere on your layout should help a lot.
Thanks! I'll try that, too!
Yes! Before you do a lot of work, I would try to figure out whether the drops are due to poor ground, or the "hot" side of the circuit (center rail.) Run a couple of long wires back to the power source, and then use a volt meter for troubleshooting.
Added some track connectors and outside ground wire, albeit with a lockon. Much Better performance. Thanks!
rdg_fan posted:Added some track connectors and outside ground wire, albeit with a lockon. Much Better performance. Thanks!
Outstanding!
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