Bob: When you installed decoders in your Bachmann Connies, what type soldering tool did you use to solder the wires to tabs on each side of the split frame? I had one of three where they were not soldered on one side and I found it hard to get a good joint with the hottest tip on my Weller iron. Thanks Al
Al: You can't solder the wires to those tabs properly because the tabs are so thick. I wrap the wire around the tab and then cover each tab with the plastic covering clip supplied with loco. This holds the wire in place on each side. Bachmann did the same thing. I have a Hakko digital soldering station and found that at even 800 degrees, it practically impossible to get a good soldered connection on that tab. Stay cool and run steam.....
I was wrong - don't think any of these wires are soldered, just held next to the metal chassis by a clip. Looks like it would be possible to drill/tap and use terminal lugs as Bachmann did on their 4-8-2. Al
Yeah if anyones B-mann 2-8-0 suddenly becomes "dead" the first thing I would check is that plastic clip, weather it is DCCed or not it is a place that could give a bad connection. Clip is under the sand dome, above the second driver: http://www.nscalesupply.com/images/bac/BAC-81152Engine.jpg
Bachmann didn't solder that connection. That's why they use the plastic clip on top of the two metal tabs that hold the red and black wiring. Those metal tabs are too thick and a good soldered joint is hard to fabricate on those posts. Just wrap the wiring around the posts and re-attach the plastic clip which holds the wiring in place. Stay cool and run steam......
Soldering onto white metal takes a lot of heat. It is possible but not very practical. My older brother, who was the soldering guru for DEC for 35 years, told me it takes about 800 F, IIRC, and that's hard to reach. He also said that using solder as a mechanical "holder" rather than an actual weld (i.e., a cold solder) would probably work. Not ideal, but OK for some applications. The metal clip in the Bachmanns works fine. When I was physically consisting their F7s under DC by wiring the locos into one big unit, I drilled holes in the frames. The holes were just a tiny bit smaller in diameter than the copper wire. I then jammed the wire a little bit at a time into the hole, using a sharp tweezer. I never had a failure, and getting the wires back out took a pretty good tug.
