Ed,
Thanks for posting your message on the forum. It's the way I can
help the most number of people with a single reply.
Do not ever solder a wire through the rivets of any turnout which
are used to hinge the points. Some turnouts have rivets at the
hinge point and the tips. Do not a wire through either set of
rivets. You will most likely ruin the turnout should you do this.
So where do you attach the wires? Referring to the new Walthers DCC
Compatiable turnout, attach your main wires to anywhere on the
turnout where you are least likely to cause damage to the turnout.
Do this to the rails leaving the frog as shown on my website at:
or the middle
of the turnout. You do need to attach a wire to the frog. Attach
to the outside of the frog and be careful that you don't melt your
frog.
Whenever soldering to track, make sure the rail is clean as well as
your soldering iron. I recommend solid solder and liquid flux. See
my website at:
I recommend that you solder feeders to your points. Eventually,
your hinge points will develop electrical problems if you don't. I
have some turnouts I am testing to see just how long that will
take. We may have to wait for a few years! Soldering feeders to
points seems to be better in general. Soldering small wires around
the points makes the points too stiff for some popular switch
machines. When soldering to the points, don't solder too close to
the hinge point or the rivet. Be careful that the solder doesn't
wick to the hinge point or rivet. If it does, game over! Off to
the train store you go to buy a new turnout!
Allan
