To Solder or not to Solder?

[RxROtto]

That's the question.
Is it really a necessity to solder all of your tracks together? It seems that the rail clips should do the same job. Or is it a precautionary step to be sure that the voltage is always maintained over time?

Thanks
RxROtto

 

[waltr]

Many answers on this one.
If the rail joiners are tightened before using then they can be pretty reliable. I use diagonal cutters to put a crimp near each end of the joiner to ensure they are tight.

Multi-drop feeder wires are a better solution than soldering track. This is not hard to do with 36 inch lengths of flex track.

If you do solder you must not solder every joint but allow a small gap every 3 to 6 feet to allow for thermal expansion/contraction of the rail. So each soldered section should have its own feeder.

All this is just my 2 cents.

 

[D&J RailRoad]

Soldering is always best, unless of course your entire layout is one long continuous piece of rail.
The track connectors are just that, connectors. They keep the track aligned. They can act as electrical connectors too, but that would be for temporary setups, i.e. Christmas trees, birthday parties, etc. These connectors will corrode over time leaving you with dead or low powered track sections. Don't solder your track connectors, because that's where your track can expand or contract.
Run lead wires from the rails down through the roadbed and solder them to a common buss wire that carries the track power and signal if running DCC.

 

[Espeefan]

Multi-drop feeder wires are a better solution than soldering track. This is not hard to do with 36 inch lengths of flex track.

If you do solder you must not solder every joint but allow a small gap every 3 to 6 feet to allow for thermal expansion/contraction of the rail. So each soldered section should have its own feeder.

All this is just my 2 cents.

Give that man a cigar. This is how I would do it, and how our club does it.

 

[SilverBlade]

I thought about soldering to try and keep the joints smooth and reduce derailments. My problem is the old catch 22. I ain't soldering nuttin till it's running smooth as glass. But if it's running smooth as glass, why bother soldering?

 

[UPBigBoy]

I thought about soldering to try and keep the joints smooth and reduce derailments. My problem is the old catch 22. I ain't soldering nuttin till it's running smooth as glass. But if it's running smooth as glass, why bother soldering?

The reason - so you don't have to go back and repair it 2 or 3 times.