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Alternative to Bonding?


doublecee
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Whilst watching Mark Founds SUPERB garden railway series, there was mention in one of the episodes about maintaining the current along long sections, and the series expert said that boding was fiddly and problematic and that copper grease in the fish plates was a far more effective solution.

http://www.wix.com/markfound/mark-found-on-sound#!__the-garden-railway" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thoughts?

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Maybe... but happy to wait a while and see if anyone has tried it... or can think of a good enough reason not to.

It does strike me as a very good solution, but I think one that you need to impliment whilst laying the track, as oppossed to later. I think I will give it a try on the branchline though

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I would be interested in seeing the results of any experiments using coppaslip grease to maintain conductivity.

It sounds too good to be true, and anything that does, usually is :D

Still, worth a try for a siding or 2 that can be relaid easily if it doesn't work.

BTW, thanks for the link to Mark Found's vids - I didn't know that site existed.

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traingeekboy said:

Oh yeah, i found those videos a while back too. Good stuff!

perhaps we should get him to do a OO episode :)

As the resident promoter of this site I went ahead and emailed him. :P

It would be nice to have him as a member on here, but he doesn't have OO outside :(

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I think the idea of the coppaslip in the fishplates is all good and well in a large scale such as G scale, but not really to be relied on for us loonatics who run smaller scales outside. Dont G scale rails & fishplates screww together anyway :?::?

I quite often use Woodland Scenics Hob-e-Lube Dry Graphite Precision Lubricant (HL651) before a running session. Its good in track joints and pointwork, for enhancing conductivity. Unfortunately, rain washes it away ;)

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  • 4 weeks later...

I posted this on another thread but maybe it deserves to be here?

Driving home from Hornby Magazine Live in Hartlepool I had a brainwave. If I use a power bus and install feeds to every length of flexible it would mean I could do away with bonding the ends together, as each length would be fed from the centre. That would mean only 1 solder connection to each rail, rather than 2. What do you guys think?

George

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  • 1 year later...
Tageskarte said:

....As I'm attempting an ultra low cost (free) build, and I have a tub of copper grease ready to go - I'm going to guinea pig it.

I have a feeling it might be worth a try. Even without the addition of anything, standard rail joiners will usually be okay for quite some time. In my own experiences they have lasted in excess of 12 months and they can always be nipped up a little should it be necessary. It's easy enough to add bonds or droppers later but better to do it at the outset if you intend going down that route. I think there are some members on here who have been running for a couple of years or more and haven't yet got round to bonding rail joins so whilst it offers a degree of reassurance it clearly isn't absolutely necessary. Let us know how you get on.

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I have experience (bad) of using copper-grease in the automotive trade. It dries out and turns to dust, leading to one wishing it hadn't been used in the first place. I suspect its use outside on a garden railway will see deterioration in a very short time.

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