Cooper clad sleepers help please

[darren01]

HI All

This may be a dumb question, but here I go..

I have been putting in cooper clad sleepers across the board joins, and have cut through them to break the electrical contact.Now I have lots of sleepers with cut through them and what I would like to know is can I fill the cuts with miliputt?Has miliputt have any electrical properties, that may cause me problems, Or is this not a good idea?

All the best

Darren

 

　

 

 

[bertiedog]

No problem with any fillers, none conduct electricity at all, it is fiddly work though, but worth it for the best appearance on Copper clad sleepers.......

 

 

One vital thing, test it all before filling, one filing in the filler will short it, so clean up and test, and than fill and paint etc.

 

Stephen.

[hayfield]

Millput should be fine but may be a bit slow in drying, any plastic filler should be fine and dry a bit quicker. But whatever you feel happier with will be the best medium

[JZ]

Bit late for this now, but you can hide the gap by putting it close to the rail on the veiwing side. Another way is to use thick paint or maybe a litte ballast over the sleeper.

 

 

[craigwelsh]

The other way around this is to gently file away the copperclad rather than cutting it so you get a gentle dip in the middle rather than a cut.

[brossard]

In the Right Track on track making, Norman Soloman uses a Dremel disc to wear away the copper without leaving a groove. If you saw a groove in the sleeper/timber it creates a stress raiser making breakage more probable.

 

John

[jamie92208]

Just one tip. After using a dremel to gap a long section of track you often find that there is a whisker of copper somewhere that's causing a short. The easiest way to find which of umpteen sleepers it ius is to jame the probes from a meter btween the rail and the baseboard then work your way along the track watching the meter display. It's usually a piece of copper that has got carried round onto the vertical face of the sleeper.

 

Jamie

[Il Grifone]

I file the copper away in the middle of the sleeper. One of those mini grinding wheels in a Dremel or similar is ideal. This leaves a smooth edge to the gap which once painted is inconspicuous. There is also no danger of cutting into the sleeper and weakening it.

 

I would use an epoxy resin to fill any slots.

[gordon s]

Just one tip. After using a dremel to gap a long section of track you often find that there is a whisker of copper somewhere that's causing a short. The easiest way to find which of umpteen sleepers it ius is to jame the probes from a meter btween the rail and the baseboard then work your way along the track watching the meter display. It's usually a piece of copper that has got carried round onto the vertical face of the sleeper.

 

Jamie

 

 

I did hear connecting a 12v car battery has a similar effect, but deals with all of the rogue pieces of copper in one go......

[bertiedog]

A 12 volt car battery will burn out any whiskers of copper, but for goodness sake, you are in trouble if there is a hidden major short! You can't pre-check, a meter just shows a short, and there might be several. A club member used this method on a new section of track, took about a week to raise the charred track and replace it!

Stephen.

[gordon s]

A 12 volt car battery will burn out any whiskers of copper, but for goodness sake, you are in trouble if there is a hidden major short! You can't pre-check, a meter just shows a short, and there might be several. A club member used this method on a new section of track, took about a week to raise the charred track and replace it!

Stephen.

 

Sorry Stephen, it was a little tongue in cheek and like everything electrical, must be done very carefully and in experienced hands. You can't beat checking for shorts as you go along rather than trying to hunt for a needle in a haystack afterwards.

[Brian Harrap]

Hello Darren, Another approach:- I always like to apply an engraved texture to my copperclads by scrubbing up and down the sleeper strip with a razor saw, held at varying angles of attack to give a nice unregular effect. The natty bit is that by scrubbing even harder at about the middle(ish) [vary it] of the sleeper so the copper is removed in tatters, the engraving (scratching if you like) carries on into the fibreglass base material, creating an invisible electical break. All done before any rails are laid of course. No gap to fill or hide, just test and paint. While you are at it go to town and really destress and even kink a few sleepers esp in old sidings and the like. People don't believe my track is copperclad when I tell 'em. I'd put up a pic if I knew how. Regards, Brian.