copper tape with conductive adhesive

[rick42]

I found some copper tape with conductive adhesive. Would this be ok for my new routed track ? Found it at "Find tape.com

[HomeRacingWorld]

[frank9129]

Harry,
I used copper tape with conductive adhesive the last time I rebuilt Crab Alley Speedway.
It has been on the track for over two years now and has not been a problem. I even keep my track on a car port. It is subject to all the changes of weather.

[HomeRacingWorld]

Results vary. Not saying it doesn't work, just my personal advice.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Harry is talking about the primary connections for power to the lanes.

Conductive adhesive is important for repairs to the tape. Or if you run out of tape on a lane before you finish the loop. In these situations, you have to restart the taping from where you left off, and to do that, you need to start the new roll from underneath the end of the old roll, which makes conductive adhesive the only way to avoid making the connection by poking dozens of tiny holes in the overlap with a very sharp point. As always, nothing is as important as burnishing the tape again and again when you are installing it to insure long life.

[rick42]

Well I ordered a roll of the venture tape everyone talks about and also a roll of the conductive adhesive type. As Harry said , any kind will work well , so I am thinking I will probably go with the conductive adhesive type just to give a little added help on my part. Im new to this , so I need all the help I can get. And I will also solder where needed. Going to buy a router today. Got my track drawn out on the MDF. Now to try to get it routed. I am going to do some routing on a test piece first.

[btaylor]

One more little trick you can do if needed. When I have a damaged area in the tape, and have to do a patch, I overlap by a half inch or so, and use an exacto knife tip to push through both pieces of tape. It helps make sure you have good connection all around.

Bob

[rick42]

Does the patch job work with both kinds of tape or just the conductive adhesive type ?

[RichD]

That sort of patch will work with any kind of tape. This track is copper taped and it had to be taken apart so it could be moved. If I recall correctly there were about a dozen sections and when the track was reassembled those splices were used with no problems.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Like I said...

"In these situations, you have to restart the taping from where you left off, and to do that, you need to start the new roll from underneath the end of the old roll, which makes conductive adhesive the only way to avoid making the connection by poking dozens of tiny holes in the overlap with a very sharp point."