Useful easy fix for problems with continuity on points....?

Zerogee

Zerogee

Clencher's Bogleman
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Noticed these listed while browsing through evilBay.... handy for anyone with continuity problems on point blades, who wants an easy screw-on fix without having to (a) lift the points, or (b) start soldering jumper cables onto rails......?

Screw-In schienenanschluß Brass for the Garden Railway G SCALE NEW | eBay

While the intention (at least as far as I can decipher the rather poor automated translation in the listing) is that the power cables are run directly back to your main power feeds, if you use railclamps anyway for track joints then I would be inclined to cut the cables short and simply put the eyelet tags under the screws of the nearest rail join clamp to the point.

Of course, many people will happily do their own low-cost fixes with soldered jumpers, and would most probably consider something like this an unneccessary outlay - but they are not exactly expensive, and I could see cases where their ease of installation might win out, especially as soldering direct to brass rail is a bit of a knack as well as needing a very powerful iron.....?
At the very least, they offer another alternative to fix the problem.

Jon.
 
depending on the manufacturer, connection to the stock rails immediately outboard makes the most sense.

I use Aristo switches, and the "frog rails" (the 2 shorter rails that come "out" of the frog) are fed by small wires underneath... the galvanic action of copper wire, tin plating, stainless steel rails, and chrome plated steel screws normally eats all this up (yes 5 different metals!)

I put jumpers from the stock rail to the appropriate frog rail. Since I use rail clamps, I need no additional hardware.

Now for these moving points, this can be a good idea, since the points are often just powered by lying on a metal strip...

Easy to install and tighten from above... although you are really getting 4 screws and 2 small bits of brass with 2 tapped holes.

Greg
 
It's a neat, ready made solution - ideally another pair of tags at the other ends of the cables - ready made jumpers :clap::clap:
 
Rhinochugger said:
It's a neat, ready made solution - ideally another pair of tags at the other ends of the cables - ready made jumpers :clap::clap:
Click to expand...

The tags for the other ends are supplied - though the translation is a bit odd ("flag" for the tags...?) you get two of the brass bits (not quite sure if they have a milled slot in them for the rail foot, as the same supplier's track clamps do?), four screws and four tags, two of which are already crimped to the cables and two loose for you to fit once the cable is cut to length.
Yes, you could make them yourself - but by the time you've purchased the brass, the screws, the tags and the cable, then spent your time to cut, drill and tap the brass, I guess six or seven quid for a ready-to-fit set isn't really all that bad in comparison?

I think they look like a good idea - like many things in the hobby it is down to the inverse relationship between time and money - generally the more you can afford of one, the less you have to spend of the other.....

Jon.
 
Good stuff, just what I need to save me the hassle of lifting two points where I had not taken the precautions of greasing the metal connectors when I laid the points some 12 years ago!
The seller has many adverts for the same items. One of the adverts has three photos showing what you get and is marginally cheaper.
Schraubbarer Gleisanschluss aus Messing für die Gartenbahn SPUR G | eBay
 
yeah, not much money for one or two, but if I was going to do all mine that would be 60 to make, at that point drilling and tapping would probably make sense, although I may be fooling myself, I use the ones from splitjaw:

55008575.jpg


$1.45 each.... and better contact and show less... not as easy to put on with track in situ...
 
Being a person with short arms and deep pockets, I just use scrap wire, cut to size and squeeze on the terminals. Drill a couple of 2mm diameter hole, clean around the area, and insert 2mm St.St. self-tappers.

Jumpers for the points (1).JPG
 
There are many options for the problem. Soldered connections, screw connections as Mick has shown above or you could cut a Track Clamp in half for a lower price as Greg has illustrtated. All options will work. On a laid point that has perhaps failed the half Track Clamp will be a much easier job for most. But please use Black Wire if you do not want the fix to shout at all and sundry ‘here I am’.
 
I used thick solder braid instead of wire. It is copper and mostly compatible with brass. Also will 'tarnish' fade like the brass rail outdoors.
Of course it may oxidize easy and need replacement after 10 years.
 
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