I am building a layout using EZ Track. I can't determine how many feet of track I can go before I need another power hookup. Do I need to solder the tracks together?
I would if it was flex track or hand laid, but not with E-Z track. I would put feeders about every couple yards, but this is a pure judgment issue, you can experiment to see what is best for you.
Sorry about that I wrote feet meant yards. My apologies
Jim,
Since you are using EZ track, the need to solder the track is not totally necessary. Probably, the only reason would be to prevent oxidation from distruptin the power flow.
As far as power feeders, I tend to disagree with ABC. Most of the situations I have encountered, on my railroads and others is track power feeds are usually 8-10 ft apart. One test you do is to put some sort of metal across both rails at the furthest point from your comand station. If you get a short indication then you have sufficient power in your railroad.
On my railroad I have feeders approx every 10 ft.
I just built a small layout for my grandson which I wanted to be bullet proof in regards to the electricity. I soldered feeders to track or rail joiners and spaced them so the current wouldn't have to get across more than one joint. I also put a tiny dab of dilectric grease, sold as lightbulb socket lubricant) on every rail joiners and briefly touched my soldring iron so the connections would stay clean. I also made sure that there was a power feed to every end of every switch. He lives 100 miles away so house calls for repairs would be quite a hassle. Other than all of the work, this seems to be a solid system.