Troubleshoot a 4F TTS that now won't run

[choralc]

I shall try a medicinal rum-flavoured coke for the tremors and try a quick in to melt and out after I figure a way to keep all the wires in place.

[choralc]

Well as expected the quick in and out even with a nice heavy helping hands jig left the tender pickup wire loose and the attempt to resolder it took both wires off! 😳

 

So reapplied solder to solder point and first one wire then the next.

 

Successful connection at the moment.

 

Now to reattach socket to the tender with the screws and the tender to the loco with the draw bar and loco body then finally the TTS into the tender and see how each reassembly goes with a power on test.

 

Will let the readers know so that if a fat-fingered shaky bloke like me can do it then anyone can. Am having the rum and coke now as per the good lady's orders before further reassembly attempts. She wonders why I didn't have it before the remelt but (the wires are so short and everything is so close) I don't think it would have helped.

[Fishmanoz]

Successful connection means that fixed it so far, it was a dry joint? Excellent suggestion from the good lady (Hi to her from me by the way) and good luck with the re-assembly.

[choralc]

On reassembling the whole she-bang minus the TTS decoder and tender top I have a dead loco again. Found a fault at the solder connection to pin 4 again. By selective cajoling both verbally and physically the motor worked briefly but not sustained. And again the tender wire has broken off the join during the cajoling.

 

I will try 'soddering' again and if still unsuccessful will contact a friend who does electronic work to have a go at this and some R8249s that have had the wires come off and shout him some dinner.

[Fishmanoz]

Check for hairline track crack and fractured wire inside the insulation. Dry joint must be less likely now you've reflowed the solder on it.  Did you use any flux when you did it?

[choralc]

Yes dishy used a bit of flux but ou don't know how well I solder :-)

[Fishmanoz]

Soldering no, typing I have a clue.  

 

Dry joint - solder sits in a blob not appearing to flow onto any surface being soldered.  May be dull in colour and edges near other objects convex.

 

Good joint - bright in colour, solder flows onto surfaces being joined, edges concave. 

[2e0dtoeric]

Also - if you have tried to use the modern lead-free solder, that stuff is a pain to use, as it needs more heat, and never seems to flow well. Also it will not mix with a joint previously made with leaded solder!

[choralc]

Must have done something horribly wrong with my last posting over the weekend.

 

In summary there must be a bad wire. So what do you recommend:

 

1. Use a new X9084 8-pin PCB Socket and solder on new wires, screw it into the tender and join the wires to their associated terminals, or

 

2. Fit an X9958 Electric tender connector onto the tender chassis and run new wires to the tender pick up and a new X8094 8-pin socket and then solder the wires to the motor and loco pick up terminals from an X6113 Tender Loco Connector?

[Fishmanoz]

Yes, one of those.  Someone else may be able to pick between them for you. 

 

The other thing id say is we "done good" remote fault-finding on a rather unusual fault. 

 

PS.  Done good is an expression from a now deceased but much loved Rubgy League coach around here who was also the first to use the KISS principle in living memory.