Electric connections between cars

Coastal Titans

Coastal Titans

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New to the forum and still pretty new to model railroading. I have a Piko starter engine (0-4-0) and a Bachmann tender that I want to put some electronics in and a speaker so I want to be able to connect the DCC/sound card in the engine to the tender (so basically the reverse of putting a battery in the tender to drive the engine). I think I have the separate systems working OK but I'm having trouble figuring out how to run the cables between the engine and tender. The should disconnect and connect reasonable easily as I don't yet have a place to store the train on the tracks. And something that doesn't look too ugly is preferred. I have hook and loop couplers but willing to change those out if that helps. My first attempt ended up having the cable so long to make it easy to plug in that it dragged on the rails one the tender was coupled to the engine. So any help or even pointers to existing systems is appreciated.
Bryan
 
Welcome to the forum Bryan, any small connector will do, as long as it isnt too loose. Most electronic shops will stock some, it'll be just a case of finding some you like
 
A good selection here, if using some of the possibility is that the wire may become dislodged by regular use. A wrap of Sugru on each of the ends will help in this regard.

Miniature Connectors | Railwayscenics

Miniature JST White Black Sub Miniature Connector Male and Female Housings Pins and sockets
www.railwayscenics.com
 
dunnyrail said:
A good selection here, if using some of the possibility is that the wire may become dislodged by regular use. A wrap of Sugru on each of the ends will help in this regard.

Miniature Connectors | Railwayscenics

Miniature JST White Black Sub Miniature Connector Male and Female Housings Pins and sockets
www.railwayscenics.com
Click to expand...
Jon, some nice connectors there, however I did find the title confusing, "Miniature connectors with solder terminals" as a number of the connectors are JST (Japanese Solder-less Technology), which obviously contradicts the title.
 
thanks everyone for the suggestions. I'll definitely look at some of these options but I do have a connector right now.
I'm looking for good ways to arrange the connection. The tender has a male end glued onto the bottom of the car so I tried wiring the female connector into the engine and leaving the end loose. But then it tended to drag when I connected it to the tender and there isn't really any place to "store" it on the engine if I'm not running with the tender. I was wondering if there was a "typical" way of running the connectors that people have. I'll try to post a picture or two tonight.
Bryan
 
he is in the USA guys, even put it in the first response... first line.... :rolleyes:, the link given is in the UK...

Bryan:

put the socket on the loco, and leave the "pigtail" coming from the tender.

clearly that solves the issue of running the loco alone.

the other issue is that the tender wire, that hangs free, won't have exposed contacts, so that if placed on a powered track AND it touches the rails it cannot short.

have you determined how many connections you need?

There are other places for smaller connectors, but again need to determine the current max...

Greg
 
Thanks Greg. I think I can picture what you are saying. I'll give it a try later in the week and I'll post a picture to let you guys know.
 
I have few photos on here with connection on the rear:

Connection on the back of a Stainz, the "error" was the connection was too low for the inside connection
IMG_0040.jpg

IMG_0040.jpg

Stainz power connector

Connection on the back of an Otto, this leads to a power wagon
Otto-Socket.jpg

Otto-Socket.jpg

Otto's new socket

Connection on the back of the "sound wagon", powered from the Stainz
Wogon-Socket.jpg

Wogon-Socket.jpg

Sound wagon's new socket
 
I'm suspecting he wants a number of circuits, that is why I keep asking how many pins he needs.

The multi pin connectors can get pretty large, and as I said trying for smaller can limit current handling.

In the case of the Bachmann c-19, they wound up using 2 connectors, and they are a pain, because there are 2 and they are a bit hard to hold to put into the loco:
(loco end first)

20210223_075109.jpg

The decoder is in the tender, so many wires from the loco to the tender

here is the tender:

20210223_075143.jpg

Again, as you mentioned, I would have done it the opposite way.

I have found some nice compact "JST style" 8 pin connectors: (wires already attached)

20210223_074933.jpg
 
Thanks some more Greg and Jimmy. My tender actually looks a lot like Greg's and it has an 8-pin adapter already installed. The tender had a sound card when I bought it off eBay but I couldn't figure how to use it and I wanted to add DCC so I've pulled that out and put a card in the loco. The tender definitely has a bigger speaker so I plan on using that and adding a light in the back. I am also adding an Arduino board to be an odometer and am thinking open the option to trigger that through the DCC. So a minimum of four pins if I take out all of the old wiring or go with 8 pins and use what's there.
Here a few pictures of tender and engine. I could probably doing something like Jimmy's Stainz engine.

train wiring 03.jpgtrain wiring 02.jpgtrain wiring 04.jpgtrain wiring 01.jpg
 
I would use the Keep It Simple principle...

You already have a connection between the two, so use that..
You could paint the wires black. - To make them disappear a little?

2 wires speaker.
2 wires rear light.
2 wires track (extra pickup is good)
Leaves you 2 wires for your extra electronics..

PhilP
 
Coastal Titans said:
Thanks some more Greg and Jimmy. My tender actually looks a lot like Greg's and it has an 8-pin adapter already installed. The tender had a sound card when I bought it off eBay but I couldn't figure how to use it and I wanted to add DCC so I've pulled that out and put a card in the loco. The tender definitely has a bigger speaker so I plan on using that and adding a light in the back. I am also adding an Arduino board to be an odometer and am thinking open the option to trigger that through the DCC. So a minimum of four pins if I take out all of the old wiring or go with 8 pins and use what's there.
Here a few pictures of tender and engine. I could probably doing something like Jimmy's Stainz engine.

View attachment 281212View attachment 281213View attachment 281214View attachment 281215
Click to expand...
If you want to continue with what you have then hear shrink will tome it down nicely with possibly black Sugro on the connectors, it is waterproof and electronically isolating.

If you go for different and your needs of power appear pretty low then these are great, the white dot helps to get the connections right and very small. Used in 00 or H0 locomotive connectors and yes that is a Uk 5p (17mm diameter) piece in the picture.
 
Greg Elmassian said:
I shop for connectors on all-electronics.com (he is in the usa folks)

there is always the tradeoff between current carrying vs reliability vs size.

here's a page with some of the different connectors I have used:

Connectors

Greg Elmassian web site on large scale trains and garden railroads, cigars, and computers
elmassian.com elmassian.com

Greg
Click to expand...
Thanks Greg, Do you have favorites? Are you train experts standardizing connections? I am new to the hobby, I will start with a trailing car with just running power & lights to the loc.. Byng
 
This picture is my favorite for 8 pins... rugged, locks together (but you can remove the lock if you don't like it) and nice heavy wires, so it will handle motor current and the track pickup current. Under load locos can run 2 to 5 amps, you cannot use light gauge wire and light gauge contacts. I strive for reliability, I only want to wire a loco once!

412218_20210223_074933.jpg
 
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