Hey gang, I;m new to this forum and can say that what I've been reading is most informative and useful. I've been tinkering with smaller layouts for the past ten years in my so called basement and really never finished one. I have gotten fairly educated as to the do's and do nots of this great hobby. OK. I'm currently working on a small 8 x 10 with a 2 x 4 extension for a maintenance yard. I'm using DC cabs (can't get into DCC with such a small layput plus the expense) and yes, I'm using Atlas selectors and controllers since I'm quite comfortable with them. Soldering is not my thing, but if I need to so be it. I decided to try out the Tortoise machine this go around and was unaware that the connections needed to be soldered. UGH! Can anyone give me some advice as to how to to this without screwing up the tortoise contacts or melting the housing? <g> The only soldering experience I've had is with rail connections and melting my ties!! Thanks in advance. I'm looking forward to this forum and hope to also be able to contribute in the future. Kerrskountry home of the "Wanna Bea RR"
Welcome to TrainBoard, Kerrskounty! Some fine day you want to solder something. My tip, start early. :angel: A cheap 30 Watt soldering iron is good for the start. For learning: Take brass wire and solder a cube. About 2'' length. Or: take stranded wire and make a tree, solder the branches and trunk. You will learn it! BTW, sometimes I destroy a switch because I heat the contacts too much. Wolfgang
Welcome to Trainboard. It's worth learning to solder - it's about the cheapest, most reliable and compact way to make electric connections. Wolfgang's suggestions for learning are good, but I think it would be worth shelling a bit more out for a 50 watt temperature controlled iron. With a cheapo job it is so easy to have it too hot or too cool which adds another layer of uncertainty into a novice's inexperience. Bit like the difference in learning to drive on an automatic or a stick-shift The extra power also helps with reducing tie-melt. Yes, really - fast heat-up, quick melt and away, reduces the heat that leaks away down the rail. The copperclad pads on the Tortoise are fairly generous, and the tracks travel a fair way into the body, so unlike (eg) a loco decoder you would be going some to cause much harm on them. In fact I'd think they make a pretty good first 'real' thing to try.
Several threads exist outline different methods of connecting wires to Tortoise on Trainboard. Use TrainBoard.com or type in 'tortoise edge connector' into the search function above or in the search engine of choice.
