I have been growing my Ctrack layout for over two years and little by little I am updating by region and working on going full digital at least in part. Originally I placed droppers everywhere and hooked them up to a switchboard also arranged by zone. Sometimes some 30 switches. In my opinion, total overkill and in retrospect, a waste of time crawling around under the table, though I suppose it did help find glitches. Guess where most of the glitches were found? Spade adapters coming loose. I have tried soldering to the spade (does not help if the spade comes loose) I have tried eliminating the spade and soldering to the tag.(Lot of work and subject to shorts, breaking, in either case, have to lift the track !). I thought the solution would be a combination of Spade plus someway to glue the wiring under the track to protect the spade attachment. (This proved a pain and the glue would either make it impossible to get under the track or it did not hold and the wiring came loose). Surely there must be a simple reliable system, like M Track or other manufacturers' ways of connecting to the track. It does not matter how sophisticated and beautiful your wiring can look with the huge variety of easy connectors, baskets, etc if the spade is not reliable. Has enybody found a way around the spade adapter? Love to hear about it.

Hi Richard
Yes, soldering the wire directly on the rail is a permanent solution but sometimes not so convenient.
So spade connectors may be very helpful.
It seems to me that track male spade connectors don't have the standard thickness so it is important to wacht for the orientation of the female connector (Märklin 74995).
When plugging on a rail, the open and curled part of the connector must be facing down (away from the track).
Also, when rfe-using a female connector (from another rail), because the "embossing" of the male connector varies from rail to rail, you must check its tightness and possibly, make it tighter by squeezing gently the two curled parts

Note: you may find these connectors on the electronic market but often they are adjusted for thicker male connectors
A professional crimpling tool is a great help to secure the wire
Cheers
Jean

Hi rhfil


I have to disagree with you BUT there is a little trick
1- take the crimpled female connector so that the "open" side is facing you
2- insert the female connector into the tip of the male contact, forcing it at a 20° angle outwards so that you may slide the connector all the way

NEVER try to squeeze the female contact once it is in place (only before insertion)

Finished. It works all the time
Cheers
Jean