# Power Taps



## cwbam (Feb 8, 2010)

I've seen power taps soldier into TOMY HO track.

Has anybody soldiered into 1/43 carerra go or SCX 1/32?

Any Do's or Don'ts?


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## kriket (Feb 15, 2013)

cwbam said:


> I've seen power taps soldier into TOMY HO track.
> 
> Has anybody soldiered into 1/43 carerra go or SCX 1/32?
> 
> Any Do's or Don'ts?


you can solder wires to any track from underneath the rails. I done it on my scx 1/32 scale track and my HO for power to my power supply and it works great and you can run several power taps around the track for even power, and 1/43 scale is no different when it comes to soldering wires to rails for power. If I remember correctly the right rail is positive for forward travel and 1/43, and 1/32 is the left rail rail. I am sure there will be others to chime in to correct me if im wrong about which rail is positive. There is diagrams for wiring up tracks on this site some where and on other sites as well.just do a search for them. :thumbsup:


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## brownie374 (Nov 21, 2007)

Lay the track upside down on a wet towel to keep it from warping,and DO NOT blow on the solder joints to cool them they will become brittle.Other than than tin (pre solder) both the wire and the track before joining them.


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## Rich Dumas (Sep 3, 2008)

With HO tracks positive is usually on the left looking in the direction of travel. Some HO gravity cars are wired backwards so they can be run on 1/32nd and 1/24th tracks which have the positive rail on the right.
With HO tracks you do not have to solder your jumpers to the rails. You can use a Dremel with a cutoff saw to make notches in the rails the depth of which are about the same as the diameter of wire that you are using. Drill a small hole in the track on either side of each notch. Strip about 3/4th of an inch of insulation from the end of each wire and feed that through a hole from the bottom side of the track. Bend the wire in a U shape and feed the end back through the hole on the other side of the rail. Twist the legs together under the track to make a good connection.


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## JamesRoberts (Mar 26, 2015)

I took an old piece of tyco track, pulled the rails out of it, cut them into little tiny sections, soldered wire to the ends, then carefully wedged them into other tracks rails to make my power taps. I know some say it is better to solder direct, but I sure would hate to melt or warp my track. I been in plastics for over twenty years, and I know the Tyco track is brittle. I ran my meter over the power tap tracks, and not much difference in resistance to be honest.


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