What wattage do I need to solder wires to tubular track before burning anything else up and what is the best technique to do this?
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I would click on search. Also there are videos on YouTube. Not much to it . If you got some old track practice on it first.
Hi the Weller gun pictured below works great you also need solder flix and clean the track thoroughly or solder won't stick use a Weller gun on second press button for highest heart run the copper iron tip back and forth rubbing the side of the track while heating and keep solder flux and solder until solder stick the attach the wire you need and solder hold wire firmly and let cool or you'll have a cold solder joint !
Weller D550 Dual Heat Professional Soldering Gun - Weller Soldering Iron - Amazon.com
How to solder wires onto Lionel track - Bing video
Alan
@Bill Grafmiller posted:I would click on search. Also there are videos on YouTube. Not much to it . If you got some old track practice on it first.
Ditto, plenty of Youtube videos out there. Do a search of the forum for recommend irons.
I use my Weller 100/140W gun for track work, it's proved more than adequate for any track I've used it for, Atlas, Gargraves/Ross, or tubular track.
@superwarp1 posted:Ditto, plenty of Youtube videos out there. Do a search of the forum for recommend irons.
Another ditto. We also have plenty of related threads here on the forum.
Go to our Search page and type in "Soldering" in the box entitled "Contains At Least One Of These Words".
Mike
There are threads on here. I agree the Weller gun will do the job. The key is cleaning the area to be soldered (sandpaper works, and this especially if you have the darkened center rail on gargraves/ross), it is tinning (pre loading) solder on the wire and the track, and using rosin when doing the actual soldering. If you do this right, you don't have to worry about melting anything, it won't take long to get a good joint. The only downside to the weller is the weight, I would assume a proper soldering iron of the right wattage would work if the gun is too awkward (I am using a gun myself).
To clean any oxide or the black coating on the center rail, I just scuff the area with a small Dremel rotary bit. It works in a flash and does the job perfectly in a small space.
