Track bonding

Neil Robinson

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A relatively easy and inexpensive method from GSM

[h4]Posted by: fnrobinson Jun 3 2009, 08:19 PM[/h4] When I visited Fred (Dragon) on Sunday I was impressed by the amount of track he had acquired but concerned about the lack of cleanliness of the rail ends and fishplates. Track was being laid enthusiastically but I feared that when power was applied trouble would occur at many of the joints

A really good method of bonding track properly is detailed on http://www.girr.org/girr/tips/tips1/track_soldering_tips.html < Link To http://www.girr.org/girr/...ck_soldering_tips.html However I wanted to try a quick fix, minimum expenditure (on both tools and materials) and minimal preparation method.
IMHO there is little point in cleaning the rail ends without cleaning the fishplates. This means removing (sometimes awkward) and replacing (expensive) or cleaning (not easy) them. Using rail clamps at around £1.40 each isn?t an option as Fred?s layout will have several hundred joints!
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Drilling the rail and using small nuts and bolts wouldn?t guarantee good electrical connection between bolt and hole in the rail and would risk fouling wheel flanges if the bolts were slightly long. Tapping the holes should resolve the connection issue, but tapping that many holes would be tedious especially with the care needed with such small taps and the potential problem with over long screws would remain.

I finally managed to waken a few of my brain cells and a web search revealed a supply of small stainless steel self-tapping screws. I chose the No 2 x 6.4mm pozi head countersunk type from http://www.modelfixings.co.uk/self_tapping_screws.htm < Link To http://www.modelfixings.c...elf_tapping_screws.htm This company is mail order only but their address is less than seven miles from Fred?s home.

So I decided to try the following method. Strip out a little wire from some mains cable, in my case the earth conductor from 2.5sq mm flat twin and earth. Any similar sized wire will do and using freshly stripped wire will ensure that it is clean. First twist one end using round nosed pliers, then kink the middle, put another twist around 15 to 20mm from the first, then cut where the excess wire crosses on this second twist. A final squeeze between a pair of pliers should ensure it lies flat on the workbench and looks like that in the photo. I decided on this shape so that the ends curve in the direction that the screws will tighten and the small kink in the middle should allow for any movement such as expansion.
Now drill a 2mm dia. hole into the rail through the fishplate at 45 degrees from the vertical some 7 to 10mm from the rail end at the point where the foot meets the web on the outside edge of the track. This means that any excess length will protrude through the bottom of the rail rather than the inside. Also drilling at 45 degrees on the outside edges of the rail is relatively easy with track that is laid. Next fix one wire link into one rail with a screw and then drill the hole for the other at the same angle as before using the link as a guide to position.
The self tapping nature of the screws should ensure good electrical connection between screw and rail and the countersunk head and clean wire should give good electrical connection between the screws and therefore the rails.

On test, with 1.2A flowing through the joints of the old uncleaned prototype in the picture, my multimeter detected a 2mV drop on the plain joint on the far side but none on the treated one on the nearer rail to the camera.
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This method is my idea and, AFAIK, no one has published this method but I wouldn't be surprised if it has been tried before.
If anyone tries it, or has already done so or something similar I'd appreciate any feedback.


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N.B. the wire link is not needed.
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[h4]Posted by: minimans Jun 3 2009, 10:42 PM[/h4] I've been doing this for years Neil and I found long ago that the wire is redundent as the fishplate performs the same function I now just use a dab of grease when screwing in the screw to stop it galling on the brass and as an anti oxident!
 
We have both LGB and Aristocraft track in use but not mixed together; the Aristocraft track has its own bolting system as is well known but the LGB is unbonded. We have put electro-conductive grease into the joints on the LGB track, which is mostly four foot lengths on the sixty foot run down the side-garden, and have had little difficulty with conductivity even in wet weather. I wonder just how serious the issue of voltage drop really is.
 
it depend on area, to area, sunny boltons notiuses for its very, very dry, hot sunny days :rolf: (read wet./moist)
so fish plates rot over a period off time,..its not aparent at 1st, but it salowly creeps in, locos stalling, bad contuinty,.leasson learnt on Lazy Grange Bay 2... all joints are railclamped, either hillmans,or massoth, and multipull track feeds lead to the 3 Rs..
Relistic, Reliable,Running.. :D
 
I use Hillman on curves (of Peco code 250 track) using their Flexitrack it keeps it to the curve, and on straight formations fishplates+ copper grease & bonding as well. No trouble so far with that system.
 
I got 2 cables that run the length of the tracks with a feed every 3 ft or so and they are buried in the ballast. Nae bother
 
In the 30 plus years I have been into G scale I have never bonded my track! I did a few yeards on the very first line I laid back in'76, but soon realised that this was a tedous and time consuming job, after leaving the line alone through the first winter I soon discovered that there was no difference in performance on the unbonded VS bonded sections!


Since then the only thing I do to maintain continuity is to proved an occasional feed to the track at around 5 yard intervals, I use LGB condiutive paste in the railjoiners, Dont know if it works or makes any difference as things worked OK anyway long before the concept of using the product was made!!

I dont use a track cleaning loco either!! Just a block of wood and a sheet of emery paper once in awhile seems to suffice
 
I have a mixture of 2/3 lgb flexi track in 1500mm lengths with a few pieces of set track and 1/3 Aristocraft, all my points and mostly 1500mm lengths, they are not actually 5 foot! I have used GRS rail joiners on the flexi track and lgb graphite paste with soldered wires across the joints. Wires fixed to each rail end with 70 Watt gas powered soldering, prepared indoors after the track is bent to shape and then jointed in situ, it helps continuity, with a single feed to the track on a 260 foot circuit. So far the Aristo, mostly second hand has also perfomed well, only one loose screw in 18 months which made a noticable difference to continuity until it was detected.

Cleaning with aristo track cleaning caboose.
 
I use Aristo track and so far, nearly 4 years, no problem with fishplates, though went around last summer and nipped up the grub screws. Have used Hillman clamps on all turnouts and before bridges. Any fishplates that cause problems will be replace with clamps. And I'm in the belt and braces league with droppers to a bus wire to each track section, may end up being overkill but I felt it was worth the effort at the time to avoid possible frustrations later. (And I had the wire so it was a free!) :)
 
Cheep and cheerful here just a small PK screw through the fishplate with a little grease to stop it galling and jobs done...............
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from afar you don't see them at all..................
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55.5 - 3/11/2009 8:33 AM
It should be easy enough to produce a jig to "Mass produce" the wire clips and indeed also a jig for the drilling operation.
Thanks for the tip

I took note of Paul's (miniman's) comment on the original article and didn't bother with the wires on Fred's line. It seems that the self tappers bite into the fishplates sufficiently to render the wire links redundant.
 
Thanks for reposting that Neil. I missed it first time round on GSM. I think I'll be buying some screws tonight
 
The last winter was very harsh by our recent standards and the track continuity survived very well. No problems were found using Neils idea and no bonding wires were used. Still going strong.
 
It looks a good idea Neil.
Several months ago I fitted over the railjoiner clamps to much of the layout - I had had continuity problems in several places after 3yrs of use. I removed all the joiners, cleaned and applied LGB continuity paste, refitted them and screwed on the clamps. Now I am having similar problems despite the clamps. There appears to be a combination of factors, a lack of continuity together with a slightly dirty rail surface. If I run an LGB loco at speed for a few rounds the skates seem to clean the surface and the problem goes away. The movement of the loco probably also cleans enough of the brass due to movement of the rail within the clamps. I was thinking of removing the joiners and refitting the clamps without them but your method is tempting instead and avoids disturbing the track again.
I will also add another feed because there is only one for each 40metre loop.
 
KeithT said:
It looks a good idea Neil.
Several months ago I fitted over the railjoiner clamps to much of the layout - I had had continuity problems in several places after 3yrs of use. I removed all the joiners, cleaned and applied LGB continuity paste, refitted them and screwed on the clamps. Now I am having similar problems despite the clamps. There appears to be a combination of factors, a lack of continuity together with a slightly dirty rail surface. If I run an LGB loco at speed for a few rounds the skates seem to clean the surface and the problem goes away. The movement of the loco probably also cleans enough of the brass due to movement of the rail within the clamps. I was thinking of removing the joiners and refitting the clamps without them but your method is tempting instead and avoids disturbing the track again.
I will also add another feed because there is only one for each 40metre loop.

Keith, correct me if I am wrong. But I think that the joints are not the problem but dirty rail head. If I do not run for around 3 weeks I have to go over my Track with a Trusty LGB hand held Track Cleaner. You can still get these from Marklin and Massoth do replacement pads.

I have exclusively used Hillman Railclamps to all my mix of peco and LGB Track and do not get any problems with continuity at all. All the rail was just cleaned a bit where the unfishplated bits are. LGB Grease applied, clamps applied and Bob is your proverbial uncle. I use the "Over" Type on LGB and the "Rail Only" Type for Peco.
JonD
 
I bond all joints with a soldered jumper wire. Have done since laying the first length of track. The only time I've had continuity problems has been through the odd dry joint - which suggests that fishplates alone would not have been sufficient. Because I used 6ft or 8ft lengths of flexi track, it cut down the number of bonds needed. It is time consuming but with a powerful soldering iron, pleasant weather and something interesting on Radio 4, the job isn't too onerous.

I seem to remember a thread on GSM discussing the minimum wattage for an iron. Mine is only 75 watts, but it seems well up to the job provided the rail ends are cleaned up thoroughly. I've even done some bonding when the ambient temperature never rose above freezing (- it was on Boxing Day don't you just love this hobbby!).

I'd say one advantage of soldered bonding is that, provided you leave an expansion gap and some slack or a loop in the wire link, the joint can accommodate expansion and contraction of the rails. Not sure how that would work with screwed joints - but am happy to be corrected.

Rik
 
I have used splitjaw rail clamps some of which have been out for more than a decade. They have never given trouble. Where I was using artiocraft track I also used their screws and found that every year some would need tightening and several fishplates would crak and continuity would fail. Everytime I just removed the damaged fishplate and replaced it with a spitjaw clamp.

Both the direct and the over fishplate clamps seemed to me to be equally effective. I use the latter over LGB track most of the time as I don't like wrenching the fishplates off the rail, especially at points. It is difficult to do without damaging the sleeper.

AC
 
Woderwick said:
Track bonding ? If all else fails, tell it how much you love it and hug it.

I tried that, I'm now in therapy after the restraining order! :(
 
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