okay, so im ballasting, and im at a turnout, and i dont know how to get the switch clear so that the points make contact! yeah, its nuts, and i just wetted and glued a section near it, and im afraid ballast will dry in the way and i'll have to redo the area.... anyone know a good method to clear the points?! and prevent this from happening again?! thanks! -Rob
Get some of that "canned air" you buy at the office supply stores like Office Max or Office Depot to clean aorund compurer keyboards. Use that to blow any ballast granules away from the switch points. In the future, put masking tape over the area with the points.
okay.... too bad office max is closed.... oh well, i think.... THINK.... i have this one done pretty well...
pete, its all good man, i appreciate the response! while were on the topic, any recommendations on soldering feeder wires w/o melting ties?
practice on spare track...it really helps! 1st timer here too...took that advice myself and I feel 100% better after I practice a few times. also, you can practice on areas of hidden track
OK, soldering, which I'm terrible at, but getting better . . . Clean the edge of the rail (or the bottom if you're ambitious) thoroughly with a wire brush. I mean thoroughly, like with a roto-tool. Strip and clean the wire. Tin the wire. Put flux on wire and rail. Hold the wire and the rail together with a sharp tweezers. Clean the soldering iron (again) on a wet sponge and put some new solder on it. Place iron on joint until solder flows. Remove iron. Wait a long time. Remove tweezers. Pete
yeah, i just tried.... and im actually really very efficient with large stuff, i race electric radio controlled cars as another hobby, and im good with the ones that dont matter if they look good....
Okay here goes, Have you already put down the ballast and glued the ballast down? If the ballest has already dried out, you may have to dig the ballast out and start over, if you cannot get the points freed up. You can used the masking tape cover to keep the points clear it works good. But the problem is that you end up with a nice ballasted roadbed everywhere but at the turnout points. You'll have a big hole with no ballast. I have used a different method and it seems to work for me, the way I do it takes a little more time and effort. I put the dry ballast down everywhere I want ballast, I make sure the ballast is EXACTLY where I want it around each turnout, this includes the points. Use a VERY small brush to move the ballast around until NONE of the ballast touches the bottom of the points rails anywhere. I will then do the turnouts FIRST when I glue the ballast. I use a couple of syringes with needles, smaller the needle the better. One syringe for the "WET WATER", this is to soak into the ballast around the turnout only, watch where you put the water. The second syringe has a solution of 1/2 water and 1/2 white glue, this where it gets tricky. Take the second "glue" syringe and using one drop at a time spread the glue through the area of the turnout ballast. Again keep the ballast below the points rails, you have a little time as the ballast dries to make sure all the ballast is where you want it to be. Make sure all the points move FREELY during this time. On how to solder the power feeders to the rail. I do it before I lay the track down. I remove 5 or 6 ties from a section of track, I use flex track almost everywhere. I take a facial tissue(Kleenex) tear it in half, and get it soaking wet. Wrap the rails in the wet tissue, so that the wet tissue wraps around the rails at both ends of the gap in the ties. This will keep the soldering irons heat from getting to the ties. Tin the bottom of the rails in the center of the gap in the ties. I like to stagger the tinned areas on the rails so that the tinned spots are not right next to each other. I will explain in a bit. Now tin the end of your feeder wires. Put the tinned end of the power feeder wires on the tinned rail areas, put you soldering iron on the wire just long enough to make the joint. GET THE IRON ON AND THEN TAKE IT OFF, DON'T WASTE TIME. The quicker the better. The wet tissue will keep the heat from getting to the ties. Now put the track where you want it to go, and note where the feeder wires are and drill two holes, one for each rail, straight down right under the rail. Now feed your feeders down thru the holes. Now take those ties you removed and cut them so that you can slip them under the rails. Watch what you are doing and nobody will be able to see the feeder wires going straight down, Cover the area with ballast and you are done. One note use a small soldering iron 25-30 watts max, don't use the 75-100-120 watt soldering gun. Overkill for the job to be done, too much heat.
Great suggestion for those just learning! It's better to mess up a ballast glue job, or melt the wrong thing, on scraps that can easily be tossed away. Boxcab E50
great advice, thanks guys.... i finally got that one turnout freed up, and now im in the process of getting the others "prepped" for it.... its gonna be rather, umm, interesting, i believe.... i'll have pictures of what i have done, and what i have screwed up tomorrow night
When soldering feeder wires, I use two hemostats (clamps) on the track as heat sinks. I place these just the otherside of where I am soldering. I also cover the clamp with a wet cotton ball. Sucks off the heat and no melted ties. Speed and a clean iron are the key. Get in, get hot, get out.
I used an eyedropper with 91% alcohol to wet my ballast, pre-gluing. Works like a charm! I ballasted thre turnouts on the club layout in the same manner as the mainline, but with less ballast than normal. Some prototype turnouts have less ballast under them, for this reason, methinks. A little alcohol to wet it, and some glue to fix it down. I had no problems on the turnout being glued shut so far. I did about 6 turnouts this way, and they all stil operate.
I use regular 70% alcohol and it works just as well. As to picking up the ballast- Use a shop vac or if none available (and don't tell the person who usually vacuums) use the house vacuum. A very diluted mix of white glue and water will keep the ballast down. A 25% glue density works quite well. Mask the throw on the turnout as well as any other exposed moving parts or openings and you should be ok. If it is too late, use water to further thin and lift up and suck up or blow out the part that appears to be sticking. On soldering- if a terminal joiner and you wish to make your own, take a piece of non stranded wire- whatever gauge you are using, strip off a bit and lay the end on a vise. Hammer it flat. Solder it to the rails from THE BOTTOM- I have done so on almost all of mine (second time around) since the first time I used pre made terminal rail joiners, had the wire on the inside of the track and not the outside and they eventually came loose since i ballasted last. If you ballast properly, the joiners will never move and you will not lose a connection. I have done all of the above and it has worked out well, so far.
