Getting rid of the cable

[uncbob]

I don't have or want DCC
The cable is a pain
I have successfully snipped it and tied the motor and light to the motor pickup leads on 2 engines but it entails stowing the cable up behind the drawbar swivel on the engine --very cramped and stripping the leads is very chancy

Does anybody know how hard it is to remove the body shell and solder jumpers internally

[Chris350]

I think we need to know which engine you are referring to in order to be of more assistance.

[uncbob]

2-8-0--------2-8-4------4-8-2-----4-6-0------4-4-0-----4-8-4

[Chris350]

the 2-8-4 mountain has a screw behind the pilot truck that need to be removed, and one near the cab on the under side.  That gets you into the locomotive end of things, the tether is mounted tot he circuit board in the tender, and could be stuffed back under the ender shell.  You would lose the electrical pick up from the tender doing this, but you seem to have that figured out ok.  The exploded parts diagrams for each loco while difficult to decipher at times ought to help you find your way into the others.  They are online at Bachman's home website if you no longer have the paper versions.  If you are dealing with the Hicken or vandy tenders, the front bulkhead is removable, then the entire electrical setup slides out through the front of the tender, after you remove two screws from the under side.

[Yampa Bob]

Hi Bob,

Please be advised that since you are bypassing the PC board in the tender, you may need to install a current limiting resistor in the locomotive for the headlight.

If the headlight is a 12 volt grain of wheat bulb, you don't need a resistor, but if the light is an LED, you will need a 470 to 1000 ohm series resistor depending on how bright you want the light. Otherwise the LED may release its built in smoke.

If you have a rear light on any of your tenders, you can wire into the tender pickups if so equipped, with the precautions mentioned above. If you desire "directional lighting", you can add a 1N4001 diode in both tender and loco. If you require a drawing, Jim Banner has volunteered to post same, his drafting program is better than mine. 

You may already know all this, just wanted to be sure.

I started a new thread in this section titled "Directional Lighting", you might want to follow along for some information.

Regards

[uncbob]

Didn't know about the light

Thanks for the info

[Jim Banner]

If your tender has pickup wheels, then you will lose their benefit if you remove the wires between locomotive and tender.  If it does not, you will lose the tender light.

Jim

[ta152h0]

Wouldn't be easier just to reinstall the dummy plug ?

[Yampa Bob]

I think Bob wants to eliminate the wiring between the loco and tender.

[uncbob]

Yep I hate the wiring between the two

On my first one I soldered the wires together and stowed them up under cab

Light still works and I have had no problem running since I bought it almost 10 years ago

But as I said stripping the wires etc is a hairy proposition

You can see what I did for the original 2-8-0- Spectrum issue

[richG]

Different situation but this is what I did with my Spectrum 4-4-0 and 4-6-0.



Roundhouse 4-4-0, 2-6-0, 2-8-0.




Rich

[Yampa Bob]

I usually strip fine wires with my fingernails, or with a #11 Exacto blade. Here is a commercial stripper that might work.

https://www.micro-tools.com/store/item_detail.aspx?ItemCode=45-125

[richG]

I use Klein stripper #11047, #22 though $30 AWG for decoder wiring.

Klein stripper #11045, #10 through #18 for the layout wiring.

All my decoder wiring is #30.

Rich

[Yampa Bob]

All my electrician tools are Klein, some over 40 years. I have several of the 11045, guess I better order the 11047, never had a need for one until now.

Handiest tool ever made by Klein was #D221-5-1/2C, serrated needle nose with side cutter, no longer made. I bought 4 of them back in the 60s for $4 each, wore out 2, just last month broke out another new one.

I am very fussy about my tools, if I misplace one I go ballistic. 

[pdlethbridge]

wire strippers here:
http://www.futurlec.com/Tools-Wire.shtml
or here
http://www.mytoolstore.com/klein/11055.html