Electrical connectors

[sandy]

WTD.... would you like to come over and ballast my layout. Free bed and board !

[Walkingthedog]

Sounds like a plan. I find it very therapeutic.

[Tricky Dicky]

I think it is possible to put people off all together if mechanical joints are said to be a bad idea. Not everybody wants to solder. I quite enjoy it, but then again I also enjoy ballasting.

WTD you are a masochist.

Soldering is by far the gold standard when it comes to joint making in layout wiring and is my first choice. However, it is not everybody's favourite especially when working under a baseboard where even I baulk at soldering above your head. Soldering really is the premier choice for exhibition layouts where screw joints subject to vibrations are susceptible to loosening from the erection process. However soldering can also be problematic especially if wiring is subject to movement, a soldered joint is susceptible at the point along the wire just past the joint where it changes from the stiff soldered part to the flexible strands and to avoid problems some sort of cable restraint needs to used.

On fixed home layouts using screw terminals should be OK as long as the layout is not subject to movement or vibration. Think about your home wiring and appliances, how often do screw terminals need tightening up?

Sprung connectors such as Wago's are another answer to joint making and have been designed to make maintenance free connections in house wiring in other words fit and forget the only down side is they are expensive and cannot be used for no cut joints so used on a bus, the bus would need cutting at each join.

Richard