OK- really dumb turnout question- Atlas 55

[MichaelWinicki]

Well that didn't go very well.  (Paul Graf gives himself a facepalm)   

I went ahead and tried the soldering.  But the ties overheated and some damage was caused (even though I was using heat sinks).

But worse- the solder does not stick very well to the plating.

Also- the locking washer does not hold solder at all.

The turnout is pretty simple. 
Brass base with a hole (that bass base is under the opposing rail too).
Point rail with a knobby ball at the end- goes through the hole.
A locking washer fits over the ball on the underside.
That's it.

So when you try to heat everything up, the brass base runs through the tie and it heats up and starts to melt the tie.  And solder won't stick at all to the washer.
And you have to keep heating and trying to get solder to stick to the ball and the plate (yes, even with flux).

I did get everything to stick finally.  Points are stuck right in the middle like I wanted.
But the points - with their back portions soldered down- the points rose above the height of the rail.  They probably need filing down (which I started doing.

So I would not call this a success (Cory mutters- That Bearden tinkers too much) 

Mike, how did you get this to work with the problems I encountered.  Did you solder from up top or below?

I soldered from the top down.  Usually with the turnout in place.

[MichaelWinicki]

Ron,
back on the Atlas forum I asked Atlas peeps what they used for the top plating on those turnouts but nobody volunteered any info. 
From my dealings with these it appears that the actual parts (frogs, points and guard rails) are cast from some sort of white metal (maybe Zamak), then they are copper plated then the final plating of a shiny silver metal is applied.  I think that if you carefully ground the top plating off exposing the copper, then soldering would be much easier. As for the round washer/point-retainer, I dont' knwo what it is made of.

I also suspect that the people who say that they successfully soldered in those areas did not truly get the solder to wet the metal surface. They just globbed the solder on and it is held simply by the roughness of the metal surface (not a good solder joint).

Seems to hold just fine Peteski.

Even after being thown a few thousand times.

[peteski]

Seems to hold just fine Peteski.

Even after being thown a few thousand times.

Sure, it might be holding but did the solder wet the shiny metal surface of the points?  If not then the solder joint is purely mechanical. It might be good enough but is still isn't a good solder joint.  Even then, it might still outlast your layout.  But in electronic industry, this would be considered bad solder joint which can become problematic in time).

[MichaelWinicki]

Sure, it might be holding but did the solder wet the shiny metal surface of the points?  If not then the solder joint is purely mechanical. It might be good enough but is still isn't a good solder joint.  Even then, it might still outlast your layout.  But in electronic industry, this would be considered bad solder joint which can become problematic in time).

Yeah I can understand how or why it wouldn't be a winner in the electronic industry.

I couldn't tell you if the solder did wet the shiny metal surface or not.

My head usually isn't at the right angle to tell. 

All I know is that before I applied the solder the point was deader than a doornail.

After I applied the solder everything was (and remains to this day) hunky dory.

[peteski]

Fair enough. I asked because I suspect that Ron was probably trying to achieve the type of a solder joint I was describing. Different prople have different standards and goals (I'm not judging anybody here -- just stating how things are). 

[u18b]

Fair enough. I asked because I suspect that Ron was probably trying to achieve the type of a solder joint I was describing. Different prople have different standards and goals (I'm not judging anybody here -- just stating how things are). 

You're correct Peteski.  I was looking for a good solid joint.

However, Mike has come across something that might be helpful to people.  I had the same experience.  When I made that first attempt, the joint was stiff on that side.  So wherever the solder goes (or does not go) the joint has extra pressure which may improve electrical contact.  So in a situation where the turnout is already mounted permanently and has   **stopped**   working, I can see that this would be a win-win solution.  What can you lose- if you don't fix it, you're going to have to tear it out anyway.  So you might as well try this technique.