Bachmann Wire...

[Jake]

No, I do not have a problem with it lifting the tender off the tracks, I have a problem with it breaking, I have, well had two perefect running spectrum engines, a Consolidation, and a J-2, the Connie, may have been the way i was unplugging it, I avoided that technique with my J-2, I had it sitting in it's box, for oh say 2 weeks, I take it out for use and, a wire was broken, it was not like that when it went in. Now I must spend $40 to get them repaired, and for a kid with a $13 allowance $40 can be quite a bit. Has anyone else had this problem? And a side note to Bachmann, why not try using more flexible wire, and connectors easier to disconnect, I know requests like this get annoying, but a 13 year old boy can't exactly replenish $400 worth of equipment easily, No? 

[Jim Banner]

One solution is to bypass the troublesome plugs with wires.  This requires some careful soldering and unless you are already good at soldering, you should probably do some practicing first.  It also requires a little different technique in handling the locomotives.  Basically, you pick up the locomotive with one hand and the tender with the other.  Then you set them approximately on the track.  Finally, you put the wheels properly on the rails, first for the locomotive and then for the tender (this is just like rerailling after a derailment.)

[GN.2-6-8-0]

What some have done was to get a box long enough to house the engine  & tender permanetly  connected.
I find some of the box's microphone's come in are perfect. maybe some others here have other idea's.

[Craig]

When I bought my first Bachmann steam engine, the electrical connectors were an immediate concern; they were clearly fragile. Before I so much as removed the locomotive from the box, I went to my toolbox and retrieved a curved sprue cutter. After connecting the tender, I gripped the ridge on the male connector with the blades of the sprue cutter and rocked the tool slightly. The connector came out without event and I then knew I had the means to assemble/disassemble these units without risk to the wiring harnesses. Haven’t had a problem since.

[Virginian]

My opinion is that no one's connectors, not BLI, Proto, PCM, or B'mann, were made with the idea that they were going to be constantly plugged and/or unplugged.  Therefore I have tried to unplug mine a minimum of times since the first time I ever plugged one in, and I have as a result had zero issues.  A cloth draped over the engine will keep dust off.
If you need boxed storage, you need to get some big boxes (free from big box stores) and learn how to make small boxes out of big boxes.  And no, I am not joking.  It is very easily done.

[Atlantic Central]

 I'm with Virginian on this. Common sense says that the more you handle something as fragile as these locos, the more chance there is that something will break.

They where not designed to be repeatedly pluged and unpluged, boxed and unboxed. I know many modelers who don't even keep the boxes, not even for locomotives. They put them on the railroad, and there they stay, for ever. What would they ever use the box for?

I know there of lots of reasons why we must handle our equipment, but limiting boxing and unboxing, and pluging and unpluging these little wires will go a long way in limiting such problems. Additionally, when you must, take your time and be gentle.

Sheldon

[Jim Banner]

I agree with Virginian that leaving the plug in the socket will extend the life of the connection.  But it still will not last forever.  Our group runs 2-8-0's in a public display and we never unplug the tenders and rarely take the locomotives off the rails.  Yet the wires still break eventually, right where they enter the plugs.  It is all that bend-straighten-bend-straighten as the locomotives alternate between curves and tangent track.  The curves are not all that tight (30" minimum radius) so there is not a whole lot of bending, just a lot of repeats.  Our solution is to bypass the plugs/sockets with flexible wire.

[lanny]

Jim,

Could you (or some of the other experts) please give a bit more detail on 'flexible wire' and related Bachmann locomotive to tender issues?

I am going to be doing some tender switching between Spectrum and IHC, or just between Spectrum to Spectrum, as I kit bash my ICRR steam and need to rework the tenders.

I just received a new Bachmann Spec long coal tender which eventually will house an IHC circuit board for my 2-10-2. Also I will be shortening the Connie tender and working on some other Spec steam I have using an IHC tender with a Spec Mountain.

Could you give a bit more information on what kind of 'flexible wire' you are speaking about and what to watch out for when bypassing the 'plug in' sockets? I do ok with soldering, but any advice about that with this connections would also be much appreciated.

thanks!

lanny nicolet

[Jim Banner]

By "flexible wire," I mean fine, multistrand wire with a soft insulation.  This is the sort of wire used by decoder manufacturers, and in fact, left over wire from decoders can be used for wiring from locomotive to tender.  "Decoder wire" is also sold by some of the decoder suppliers, typically in 10 foot lengths.  Another source of fine, flexible wire is to strip it out of mouse cords.

What to watch for?  The most important is to make sure the wires go where they are supposed to go.  This is easy if you replace the wires one at a time, starting with the broken one.  I prefer to replace the whole wire, right from printed circuit board or decoder in the tender to their final destination in the locomotive.  You can join wires if you have to, but avoid joints between the locomotive and tender.  Insulate joints with shrink tubing - tape will come back to haunt you.   Route the wires the same way the originals were routed and you are not likely to have any problems with the wires derailling the tender.  If you are adding wires for tender pickup or rear light, etc. and you have no existing routing to follow, drill a hole in one side of the rear of the locomotive and in the other side of the front of the tender.  Then route the wires across the drawbar.  Alternately, use an oversize hole in the tender and leave some extra wire in the tender to allow the wires to move when the train goes around a curve.  The place where you removed a socket from the tender qualifies as an oversize hole.

[lanny]

Jim,

Very helpful information (as usual!). Thanks very much.

lanny nicolet

[jr switch]

         
       This is just one more time I wish I could get the photos to come up on the forum. I bought a couple packs of the code 100 "easy track" straight sections. Measured the length of each engine and tender, put two of the track sections together, cut to length to allow about a half inch in front of and behind the engine and tender. Using a sheet of the paper backed 3/16" foam board, cut out a platform for the track section to sit on, just a little bit longer and a little wider than the section of track. Now cut another platform just a little longer and wider than the first. Cover each platform with green felt, wrap edges and ends over and superglue underneath. Glue smaller platform to top of larger platform, center, line up and glue track section on top. You now have a stable, felt covered, stepped base for each engine/tender to sit on. I also made up a bumper for each end, maybe a little taller than the couplers, painted flat black and glued to the end of the track and the base so that nothing can roll off either end.
         All my engines are displayed on shelves, sometimes carefully dusted with a make-up brush. Engines are carried to and from the temporary oval on their display bases and engine to tender wiring is never disconnected. Engine and tenders are lifted as one unit, kept mostly horizontal and placed on track. Get good enough at it so that draw bar is still connected also. I feel that these connections should not be taken apart except for kitbashing or a change to another tender-------------John