# Power Taps on a Continuous Rail Track??



## [email protected] (Jan 25, 2007)

There has been a lot of discussion on power taps that seemed to relate to tomy/tyco type tracks. of course pro and con as would be expected. I have three taps on my 45' tomy based track. i am going to buy a routed continuous rail track next year of about the same lenght. with out all the connections i would think that taps would be less important. what say ye. thanks in advance. mj
i should add that i run G3 poly-mag type cars on my track.


----------



## Tycoarm (Jan 7, 2006)

Yeah, with out all the connections, no need for added taps would be my guess.


----------



## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

Depends on the length on the track and whether there are any joints made to facilitate shipping. Rail material is never as good a conductor as copper wire so a set of taps can still provide better power delivery. A 50 ft track, maybe two taps total?


----------



## twolff (May 11, 2007)

Yeah, I know this is probably wrong, but it is too good a fit to pass up.


----------



## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

Yeah, it's wrong, for obvious reasons that you clearly recognize because of the need to keep this a friendly place for hobbyists of all ages, but I do understand the sentiment.

I don't know why certain topics, even non controversial ones like this, seem to incite certain bad social behaviors. These forums are a great place to solicit people's opinions, so just realize when you post a question asking for opinions, that's exactly what you are going to get. You are going to get a bunch of opinions and they are not all going to agree. So what? That's just the way it is and that's why they are, by definition, opinions.


----------



## 1976Cordoba (Sep 20, 2000)

I don't know squat about power tapping, admittedly, but if you have a continuous rail with only one joint, I wouldn't think you'd need a tap anywhere as long as you were putting enough current / amps to each lane -- _Right_?


----------



## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

I think it comes down to how much you care about getting every "nth degree" of power to the cars. It's in the same category as rewiring your controller with a heavier gauge wire or using a blast relay on your controller. Extra power taps have exactly the same effect as adding shunts to your car, you're simply providing another path for current to get to your car. The rails still represent a resistance that reduces power to the car and adding an extra tap reduces the effective resistance substantially. For HO it's not nearly as critical as 1:24 where you are using a 2 ohm controller and reducing the effective resistance by a few tenths makes a noticeable difference. If I bought a routed, continuous railed track that came in two pieces I would probably add a tap at the joint but I doubt that I'd risk messing with the rails by adding additional taps elsewhere, unless I experienced an actual problem. So for 98% of the population, you shouldn't worry about having more than the one connection to the track. The other 2% run, people who run unlimiteds, are going to put in extra taps anyway.


----------



## 1976Cordoba (Sep 20, 2000)

AfxToo said:


> I think it comes down to how much you care about getting every "nth degree" of power to the cars. It's in the same category as rewiring your controller with a heavier gauge wire or using a blast relay on your controller. Extra power taps have exactly the same effect as adding shunts to your car, you're simply providing another path for current to get to your car. The rails still represent a resistance that reduces power to the car and adding an extra tap reduces the effective resistance substantially. For HO it's not nearly as critical as 1:24 where you are using a 2 ohm controller and reducing the effective resistance by a few tenths makes a noticeable difference. If I bought a routed, continuous railed track that came in two pieces I would probably add a tap at the joint but I doubt that I'd risk messing with the rails by adding additional taps elsewhere, unless I experienced an actual problem. So for 98% of the population, you shouldn't worry about having more than the one connection to the track. The other 2% run, people who run unlimiteds, are going to put in extra taps anyway.


Well put.


----------



## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Has anyone tried copper plating on a slot car rail?


----------



## [email protected] (Jan 25, 2007)

AfxToo said:


> Yeah, it's wrong, for obvious reasons


but still funny!! i dig his hair..... 
it will be shipped in several sections, and yes i like to get the nth amount of power possible thats why i'm going cr, that and smoothness. taps sound like the way.
thanks guys keep those "opinions" comin'. mj


----------



## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Don't forget time is an enemy against electrical connections.
What works okay today,might not be worth crap in 2 years time,electrical connections never get better with age,just remember that fact guys.
Power taps,you can't have enough:wave:


----------



## Dyno Dom (May 26, 2007)

I agree w/AFX2 & Hornet. My Tomy layout originally worked fine, unfortunately, w/ time I noticed a difference & needed to add power taps.
My new sectional track has many less joints w/4 taps.


----------



## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

For you guys who don't believe in power taps,give Gary Beadle at Scale Auto or Bob Lincoln at WizzardHO or Tony Porcellie (sp?) at Slottech a call and ask those men about power taps.
Gary used to reconmend using 10G wire for your main wiring frame with short little jumpers to the track sections,so if these men reconmend power taps,that's the way i'd go,i think their reconmendations hold a little more water then most guys:wave:


----------



## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

NTxSlotCars said:


> Has anyone tried copper plating on a slot car rail?


Gee, I don't know Rich. That's almost a good question.


----------



## slotnewbie69 (Dec 3, 2008)

thats a cool idea,rich,but no good for magnet cars.we have a routed track with copper tape,and there is no magnetic attraction at all,which is what we like..ho scale though?wouldn't you need to use braided pickups?


----------



## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

I thought about putting copper tape over the rails on my plastic track in order to give me continuous rail and keep magnetic downforce. In fact, there's a thread on that somewhere in this forum. However, copper tape can't be bent around small radius curves.

Joe


----------



## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Yes, absolutely right. That's why I was wondering, if you are going to use continuous rail on a routed track, before you install the rail, can you plate it with copper? This would give you better conductivity, retain the magnetic downforce, and reduce the need for taps. It just seems like it would work. Has anyone ever tried it?


----------



## oddrods (Feb 6, 2007)

Wouldn't you have problems with the copper corroding if the track wasn't seeing regular use?


----------



## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

That would be a shame. I mean, for any track not to see regular use would be a shame.


----------



## GoodwrenchIntim (Feb 22, 2005)

The only thing about copper tape is the sticky glue on the back, you MUST put taps to the tape itself. It will NOT get power from the rail due to the glue. had a friend do that. he has been there done that.. wasn't worth caca. an Yes I am a firm believer in power taps, I have about 25 on my 127 foot tyco 4 lane.. over doing it?? maybe.. but I DON'T loose any power running full neo unlimiteds or restricted opens


----------



## GoodwrenchIntim (Feb 22, 2005)

oddrods said:


> Wouldn't you have problems with the copper corroding if the track wasn't seeing regular use?


Yes even sitting for a week you get corrosion started an the track MUST be thoroughly cleaned.


----------



## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Well, you sure are right about that too, but, again, I'm not talking about copper tape, I'm talking about copper plating. It's different. You see, plating is a chemical and electrical process where you have a positive charge on the copper stock, and a negative charge on the copper rail. These two poles would be placed in an acidic copper solution. The end result is copper is drawn from the stock and plated onto the rails. You would have to account for a little thicker rail in the track, but I would think it would conduct better. And because you plated over the rail, you would still have the magnetic downforce. Just wondering, has anyone tried this?

Rich


----------

