Ok, here is what you need to do to get good, small solder joints without ties warping.
Please excuse the idiot approach as I want to help any beginners as well. Also, if you can swing it, practice, practice, practice on scrap track.
- First get two needle nose pliers - preferably small ones but any will do.
- Next take two rubber bands and wrap one around the handle of each needle nose, make sure that the bands aren't too strong as they could cause deformity's in the rail heads. Test on a scrap piece of track.
- After testing attach one of the pliers to a side of the track (as close to the solder area as possible) and the other use to hold the wire in place.
- The pliers will act as heat sinks and prevent the irons heat from melting or warping the ties as well as holding the wire in place. This will also keep you from burning your fingers.
- Now as for soldering you will need the iron, flux and Q-tip or cheap model paint brush, extremely thin solder (.022" thickness), Brake cleaner/Q-tips and a wet sponge.
- After plugging in the iron give it atleast ten minutes to get nice and hot, test the irons' heat by appling some solder to it.
- With the wire in place take the Q-tip or brush and dip it in the flux and then apply it to where you want to solder. Flux, when heated, cleans the areas that are to be soldered making for a good joint.
- Before you go to do any soldering (at any point in the job) run the iron across the wet sponge rotating the iron as you drag it. This will "shock" the iron and clean off any and all junk that is on or has burned on to the iron.
- Now solder! Touch the iron to the joint and quickly place the solder at where the iron is meeting the rail, the thin solder will melt in less then a second and you will be done. Also give a few blows on the joint to help hasten the cool down.
- If there is any extra flux left at the solder area take the brake cleaner and Q-tips and clean up the flux. Flux does conduct electricity and could cause problems elsewhere on your layout.
That should do it, again I sincerely apologize if I'm insulting anyones intelligence. I wanted to write it so that beginners would be able to easily follow. I hope that this works out for you snowplough.
Scott