3 truck shay wire fix

[bob kaplan]

  Just received a NEW 3 truck shay and it is a beauty.   When it was released many years ago there was a published "fix" for the wire harness coming from the engine to prevent the wires from breaking loose from the board.

"WE HAVE PERMISSION TO PUBLISH THIS (FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO TRY TO CREATE PROBLEMS AT BACHMANN, I HAVE IT IN PRINT)"...begins the document.....which mainly involves hot glue to secure the wires.

My shay is a bit different than the one shown in the accompanying video.   There is only one wire harness, rather than two, extending from the engine.   There is only one whole in the drawbar between the two parts of the model.

Is it possible that there were modifications made to the model along that way that make it unnecessary to do the "fix"?  I really do not wish to dissemble the model, if it is not necessary....and yet, if those wires will eventually break loose from the board, I will surely attempt the fix.

Thanks for the help.

[nymark]

I also recently bought the 3 truck shay. Like yours, it has a single plug from engine to tender and one hole in the drawbar. I am planning on opening it up to do the modification with hot glue and zip ties. If I do I'll post. It looks pretty easy. Mine came with a decoder so it might not be exactly the same.

[bob kaplan]

Hey.....thank you so much....I would appreciated.

[Chris9017]

I know how to fix the draw bar problem.

Unfortunately in the manufacturing process, they were all put in "Backwards"  If you want, you can remove the middle truck by unscrewing the 2 retaining screws that hold the truck onto the bolster.   With that, you can remove the middle truck and access the screw that holds the draw bar in place.  Unscrew the large screw that holds the draw bar and retaining spring and just flip the draw bar around.  With the draw bar flipped around, you'll have 2 holes.  With the draw bar flipped around, just reinstall the retaining spring and screw, slide the middle truck back on, and you're in business.

As for the wire harness, just put hot glue or brush on liquid electrical tape on the wire connector end where the wires enter the connector.  Let it dry for a few hours, then that should take care of the problem.

[nymark]

The backward drawbar is kind of funny-thanks for that info. There is an internal modification that involves using hot glue to make the wiring at the circuit board more secure. It can be found online  and also shows strategic placement of zip ties to make these wires less prone to disconnect due to vibration. I plan on trying this out in the near future. 

[nymark]

I did the modification on my Shay and it was pretty easy. I ran hot glue along the wiring where it is soldered to the circuit board making sure it attached the wire insulation to the board itself as was suggested by the article I read. I also secured some of the internal wires with a zip tie to reduce the vibration that can cause the wires to detach. Finally, I hit the plug wires with hot glue as was suggested by Chris9017. Everything ran great so I'm glad I did this.