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Reply to "Lionel Fastrack male to spade connections"

@SteveH posted:

John, your suggestion could be interpreted two ways.

If you're suggesting that each section of track have its own connection to the tabs underneath, then yes that could provide much better current flow and less voltage drop for each piece.  As a practical matter, not everyone wants to go to these lengths, if fewer connections work for them.

If one plans to daisy chain connections from one piece (or section of ten pieces) to the next, then this is certainly better than nothing, but each successive (series) connection adds resistance which also contributes to voltage drop.

For better current flow, less series resistance, and less voltage drop, its better to either use bus wires or a star wiring scheme.  These 2 latter methods are parallel connections and are less dependent on solid connections at every point along a chain, to the same extent as are series connections.

As I read it, the OP's issue was connectivity between FT sections, not voltage drop, resistance or wiring methodology.

While hard-wiring FT sections together from underneath (tab to tab at each section end) with 14 gauge wire is tedious and labor intensive, it is virtually bullet-proof at solving connectivity issues; can be restricted to only those sections where one is having a problem; and is negligible in terms of overall resistance and voltage drop. I'd solve the connectivity issues first and then move on if there are issues with voltage, wiring or power loss.

I use the center male tabs only for power drop connections and solder those as well. For hard-wiring and soldering problem FT sections together, I use the flat tabs at each section end and use a Dremel to grind down the plastic "bulkheads" where necessary so the track lays perfectly flat when done. 

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