12 replies to this topic

[zebra15]

Hello,

If I wanted to combine two of the AFX Super International tracks into one huge four-lane, how would the power source work since I was only running four cars but double the track size.

Thanks in advance.

[John Miller]

Buy a power supply that can go up to 18 Volts, and put several power taps around the track. There are not that many HO scale racers on this site. A good site for HO Scale is Planet of Speed.

[Joe Mig]

How do you add the power taps?

[John Streisguth]

What I did was just drill a small hole next to the rail on the inside, clear the plastic away from the rail, and carefully solder a wire to the rail.  I used a fairly small wire just a few inches long, and then connected my jumper wire to that pigtail.

[Joe Mig]

I think thats what I need to do on this track.
Ill look for some kind diagram.

[John Streisguth]

Also connect a controller and tie the trigger at full throttle, then take a voltmeter and check each section, starting from the terminal strip.  I would be surprised if you did not find a loss of voltage somewhere around the track.  You may be able to sneak a bit of crocus cloth between the contacts to clean them, but if not you will need to take up the section, clean the contact, and reinsert the section.  Once clean, use a little "rail zip" that model railroaders use to prevent future oxidization.

 

Even with jumpers, you can have this problem. On the track I built many years ago, I soldered all the joints together (as well as other things I did).  Had maybe 500 hours into building the track

[John Streisguth]

Nice little track, BTW!

[John Miller]

Here is a pic of a power tap.

Attached Images

• 
• 

[bbr]

the current AFX track will eventually over time have bad connections at the track joints, doing jumpers, a lot of work, but will give reliable connections,

I have soldered the joints, but the track will contract and expand, breaking the soldered joints. then you have to go in with a meter to find the bad joint and re-flow the solder

 

you can also pull all the rails out and lay in continuous rail.

[Tim Neja]

Solve ALL those problems by ordering a routed track from Viper Scale Racing in SD!!

[Runnikee]

Here is a pic of a power tap.

Couldn't you just solder the leads to the openings in the plastic on the bottom of the track instead of cutting through the track to get to the leads?  I've thought about making some leads too and am glad I came across this post.  Thanks for posting the pics!

[John Streisguth]

You'll melt the plastic and create a bubble in the surface.  The pictures John posted is exactly what I described in a previous comment.  Trust us, drill the hole so you can easily solder the lead. It also helps to take the point of a new xacto knife and "square off" the hole next to the rail.  And make sure you do it on the inside of the rail, NOT the outside.

[John Miller]

Another reason to cut the small holes is for visual inspection of a good connection. You cannot do that when soldering to the bottom of the track. On race day you want to guarantee that the connection is good when problems arise, and they will. I have done nearly every type of power tap, and this one works well for sectional track.