Here is a shot of my latest locomotive, a Spectrum 4-6-0. She really is a beauty and runs as good as she looks. Just one problem, the wires which connect power between the locomotive and tender cause problems as they hang too low, and derail the tender truck at switches. They seem to be preventing the truck from turning also as they obstruct the spring strip which collects power from the axles on the leading tender truck. Anyone else had this problem, or have any ideas about the best way to cure the problem?
Those wires are certainly too low. But I also wonder, maybe it's just my perception, that front tender truck looks to be up in the air. Is this normal? If so, I'd say the drawbar is holding at a strange angle. Which isn't quite correct? Boxcab E50
It is the wires which are lifting the truck! Just shows how stiff they are I will take a look inside the tender to see if the wires can be pulled inside a little, to effectively shorten the wires between the loco and tender.
If you can't solve it by flexing and adjusting the wire, you can replace it with a finer wire with more stranding, which will increase its flexability. It's a pain, but it can be done. Mark in Utah
Thanks Mark, I may do just that. It is not quite as bad on the outer hole in the loco-tender coupler bar, but for realism I prefer the shorter position. They obviously have to provide wires long enough for when coupled at the longer distance. Not sure what all the wires do, but if I find that I don't need some, It will make the job easier I may also permanently couple the loco and tender, so the plugs/sockets would not be required either. I will report back.
Alan, Look at the back of the loco where the wires come out, there should be a hole, the wire should push up into the hole alittle, to pull them up from hanging so low. If this doesn't work, or you can't push the wire up into thew hole alittle from the place they come out, bend them so that the drawbar moves freely, an up off the ground. This should correct the problem. And Ken, it surely does look to be holding the tender truck up in the air, but I believe thats a reflection from the camera that Alan used to take the picture, I think *THINK* its touching the surface that the loco apears to be setting on. But I could be wrong an it may just be in the air. But if you look closely, I believe it really is in the air, its hard to tell tho, from the picture.
Hi John. Yup, the wires were touching my desk and lifting the front of the tender! When I get a few spare minutes I will take a look and see what can be done. This locomotives will become the star of my layout, I think
Paul, there are two sets of wires emerging from the tender (right above the front axle)! One set has two wires which have a two-pin plug which fits into a socket under the rear of the loco. The other set is four wires which has a 4-pin plug to a socket. Together they are quite bulky and stiff and droop way too low, causing the problem. I assume some are for DCC? If so, I will remove any unwanted ones, and shorten the others to raise the "droop".
After removing the tender body, I took these pics to show some serious gubbins inside! Don't think I will be removing any wires! There is a wire which connects with the collectors on the front truck and one on the rear. So these wires should be the only ones needed if not running DCC. I will give it a test with only these two connected and see if it works. If so, I can remove the four to the other plug and tuck them inside the tender in case they are ever needed. Just depends how the power is routed throgh the wires into the loco.
Alan- Just a silly thought here- If those wires are causing the problem, to only the lead tender truck, and all else is OK- What would happen, if you added some weight inside the tender, over the top of that one truck? I find it odd that any Quality Control failed to note this possible defect. Also, that the wires are so inflexible. Oh well. Boxcab E50
Without making any excuses for what is patently poor quality, the tale probably goes like this .... Developers built prototype and used thin, high flexibility wire to avoid exactly this problem. This stuff is a few pence per loco more expensive than ornery wire. Come production time either some clown orders/uses ornery wire in error; OR some bean-counter says "Hey, XYZ corp say they can do 'flexible' black wire cheaper - we'll use them". You are probably right about the DCC. Out of the six wires, two are probably track pickup from the engine (which will be connected to the circuit board along with the tender ones), two will be the feed to the motor, and I expect two are the headlight. So you could reduce the jumper wiring to two for non DCC (or DCC with decoder in the engine), but you would need to rewire inside the engine, or maybe do some interesting jump wiring on the plugs . You'd probably need to move some of the lighting function (diode/resistor?) of that circuit board into the engine as well. Changing the wires, or at least the section across the gap, to a more flexible type might be easier.
You don't need to go cutting and replacing wires. Flip flop the sets of wire back inside the tender so they do not cross between the engine and tender. Remove the little black wire holding loops. They make the wires act together and be stiffer (sp?) than if they are if they are loose. Bend the wires to the rear at the plugs. Pull the slack into the tender; best done with the engine and tender coupled. The 4-8-2 has the same arrangement and I had to do the same things before I swapped tenders. I don't like to weight tenders to cure a symptom if I can help it.
First I cut the plugs off the wires so I could pull them through the slot in the tender base and removed the circuit board.
Next new wires were soldered to the contacts from the loco wheels, threaded though the tender slot and soldered to the tender pick-ups.
With a wire connected to each rail, and the controller turned part way on, by trial and error I located the ends of the two wires which go to the motor. The insulation was removed from a small section of the previously fitted new wires and the motor wire ends soldered to them to connect the motor with the collectors. The drawbar was connected in the short position and a collar fitted to permanently couple the loco and tender. The wires were pulled into the tender so they were just long enough for flexibility and a touch of super glue keeps them in place clear of the drawbar.
