Power to track

Gizzy said:
I use the LGB connectors with no problems Trevor. But you can drill through the rail as per your suggestion, although I wouldn't use a self tapper myself. Nut and bolt with washers is better.

Soldering to the rail isn't a problem, but best done indoors with a large wattage iron.

Expansion issues are rare, and if you do use clamps, then leave a small gap between each track piece of say 0.5 mm. It's the rail that expands rather than the clamped section.

My track is nearly all LGB too, but with odd pieces of PIKO, ART, and the odd Trainline R2 point or three, and mostly just with fishplate and copper slip. Worked for me for over 20 years with a house move in between....
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As Gizzy says, you don't need to worry about expansion if you don't fix your track down too frequently - let it float and move on the bends, it'll be fine :nod: :nod:
 
Gizzy said:
I use the LGB connectors with no problems Trevor. But you can drill through the rail as per your suggestion, although I wouldn't use a self tapper myself. Nut and bolt with washers is better.

Soldering to the rail isn't a problem, but best done indoors with a large wattage iron.

Expansion issues are rare, and if you do use clamps, then leave a small gap between each track piece of say 0.5 mm. It's the rail that expands rather than the clamped section.

My track is nearly all LGB too, but with odd pieces of PIKO, ART, and the odd Trainline R2 point or three, and mostly just with fishplate and copper slip. Worked for me for over 20 years with a house move in between....
Click to expand...
Excellent Tizzy. As they say, 'It's good to talk.' Many thanks. Trevor
 
Anglian said:
Thanks Gizzy and Rhinochugger. I am using LGB for over 90% of the track work with fishplates and graphite grease. It might well be that relaying the long dumbbell might be on the cards n the future to even out an incline and I might be tempted to go eventually for the clamp route for peace of model but I have read about a possible expansion problem wiring h the clamps not allowing movement. Maybe with our summers this may not be something that causes concern. I am however more concerned with the physical attachment of cable to the track. The LGB connectors seem not to be approved of and the soldering to the heavy rail section appears not to be simple. Can I drill through the rail and use self- tapping screws or a small nut and bolt? Sorry I am down to very basic questions but I want to do this right. Your advice is really appreciated. Trevor
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As mentioned there are numerous ways to connect to the track, and I soldered as suggested by Gizzy, an alternative is connect your cable to eye connector and used the screw/bolt on a track clamp, lots of types out there.
 
Anglian said:
.......and the soldering to the heavy rail section appears not to be simple. ......
Trevor
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I was apprehensive about soldering to the rail too, Trevor, especially as it was going to have to be done outside with the track in-situ and I'm far from being an expert soldereriser.... but in the end it was remarkably easy. I bought a cheap (£20-ish) 100 watt iron from Rapid, cleaned the outer edge of the rail foot - it was on a length of brand new AML track anyway - then thoroughly tinned the rail with plenty of solder (proper leaded stuff, none of this nasty lead-free rubbish which is horrible to work with!), similarly tinned the wire end, held the cable end in place with some pliers and pressed the big iron firmly against the tinned wire for just a few seconds - result, a solid joint first time! Did the other side, then went round the track and did two more sets, no problems with any of them.

253796

Jon.
 
Many thanks Zerogee. I now have enough choices to make an informed decision. I might try soldering with a piece of spare track. Trevor
 
Anglian said:
Many thanks Zerogee. I now have enough choices to make an informed decision. I might try soldering with a piece of spare track. Trevor
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See, I told you you'd have too many ideas :devil: :devil: :devil: :devil:

But seriously, you will generally get an answer to any question on this forum - the majority of them could be sensible as well :emo::emo::emo:
 
Rhinochugger said:
See, I told you you'd have too many ideas :devil: :devil: :devil: :devil:

But seriously, you will generally get an answer to any question on this forum - the majority of them could be sensible as well :emo::emo::emo:
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I was a bit unsure about joining but I think I'm going to enjoy it here, sensible or not. Thanks. T
 
The key thing with soldering is clean metals, a rotary wire brush in a Dremel or cordless drill works wonders for cleaning prior to soldering,

Also with connections, I did with success drill, tap with a m2 thread and then use a m2 bolt with a small ring crimp on, its slightly fiddly, but did work,

I then went battery and didn’t have to worry about conductivity, but that’s the subject that I said best for a different thread.

Dan
 
Anglian said:
Thanks Gizzy and Rhinochugger. I am using LGB for over 90% of the track work with fishplates and graphite grease. It might well be that relaying the long dumbbell might be on the cards n the future to even out an incline and I might be tempted to go eventually for the clamp route for peace of model but I have read about a possible expansion problem wiring h the clamps not allowing movement. Maybe with our summers this may not be something that causes concern. I am however more concerned with the physical attachment of cable to the track. The LGB connectors seem not to be approved of and the soldering to the heavy rail section appears not to be simple. Can I drill through the rail and use self- tapping screws or a small nut and bolt? Sorry I am down to very basic questions but I want to do this right. Your advice is really appreciated. Trevor
Click to expand...
Many have used the drill through and self tapper option. However a small word of warning, differing Metals can sometimes have unexpected problems. Getting Brass Self Tappers might be a bit tricky but drilling and tapping for Brass Screws with LGB Graphite Paste dunked onto said Screws ought to be a good solution. Just be careful with those Taps, small ones can break easily. Other than that Massoth Track Clamps are a great solution.
 
dunnyrail said:
Many have used the drill through and self tapper option. However a small word of warning, differing Metals can sometimes have unexpected problems. Getting Brass Self Tappers might be a bit tricky but drilling and tapping for Brass Screws with LGB Graphite Paste dunked onto said Screws ought to be a good solution. Just be careful with those Taps, small ones can break easily. Other than that Massoth Track Clamps are a great solution.
Click to expand...
I tapped the threads with a cutter - to match the Aristo threads. It's OK if you take it gently, and probably not ideal to undertake in situ - on the bench works fine.

I bought two taps and ten drills - I didn't break either of the taps, but got through a few drills :oops::oops::oops:
 
Gizzy said:
I use the LGB connectors with no problems Trevor. But you can drill through the rail as per your suggestion, although I wouldn't use a self tapper myself. Nut and bolt with washers is better.

Soldering to the rail isn't a problem, but best done indoors with a large wattage iron.

Expansion issues are rare, and if you do use clamps, then leave a small gap between each track piece of say 0.5 mm. It's the rail that expands rather than the clamped section.

My track is nearly all LGB too, but with odd pieces of PIKO, ART, and the odd Trainline R2 point or three, and mostly just with fishplate and copper slip. Worked for me for over 20 years with a house move in between....
[/
Click to expand...
 
As has already been said the track crossection is far greater than any cable so as long as the joints between the tracks are good (I use a combination of rail lamps and the odd aristo screw, though these eventually fail when the fisplate fractures round the screw hole) then there is in my view little point in a ring main with feeds.
Voltage drop in cable is an issue as I found out to my cost. I was running 2.5mm cable to a section on the far side of the layout for a DCC booster. About 30m of cable. There was a significant slowing down of trains when they entered this section. Now rewired with 8mm cable ( which cost. A bit) and the distances for the feeds into the track reduced with a big improvement in running.

None of my 400m of track is fixed down. It all floats either in ballast or on plywood elevated sections. I don’t leave expansion joints and the track moves gently with changes in temperature. Not fixing the track down saves time and effort thought the ballast need a top up annually in the spring.
 
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