Broken tender plug

[ExarKun42]

One of my Hornby A4s has two of the wires going to the tender plug loose, and thus does not run. What is the best way to reinstall these wires?

[P-Henny]

Buy the Hornby plug replacement that is pre-wired with four wires then trace back the current wires to where they terminate in the loco. Then swap over the wires one at a time to save getting wires crossed as they are all black.

Also, buy the Hornby plug extractor tool so that the new 4 wire plug can be removed in the future without pulling on the wires.

Wired plug is X6113 (note that the reference to the flickering firebox lead is a shop website error. This IS the loco to tender decoder extension lead). Currently listed 'Out of Stock' in Hornby shop, so search Internet for alternative sellers. The 'Out of Stock' status indicates that this is a strong seller because owners keep breaking the wires by not investing in the plug extractor tool.

Tool is R6468 X6468 see correction reply below. Thank you G.S for pointing it out.

Further edit: Genuine Hornby X6113 leads seem to be out of stock in all the normal internet sellers. Clones can be purchased on ebay, but be aware that the clones with coloured wires may be using wire that is less flexible than the wire used by Hornby. This flexibility issue has been raised before in previous member posts.

[Going Spare]

The plug extractor tool number confusingly is X6468, even though it is not a replacement part itself.

[atom3624]

I find the plug extractor 50% effective - the rest can damage the plug as well!

A combination of using this, plus a fine, 'blade' screwdriver to gently work around the plug to loosen prior to using the extractor seems to work.

The 4-pin plug when in use is far more effective than the 'pin-and-blades' but when needing to work on locomotives / move into storage or 'rotate' I find them frustratingly fragile - this is why I often find a well set-up pin-and-fingers older style preferable for my DC operation.

Al.

[Going Spare]

Lendons of Cardiff are showing stock of X6113 on their website lendonsmodelshop.co.uk.

[ColinB]

I have had so many issues with the pin and fingers connection, where the loco just suddenly shorts out, that I convert all my tender locos to the 4 pin type one. I find the connection much more reliable. The important thing to remember is that the the loco and tender have to be permanently connected together, so it means on many cutting out the polystyrene on the box inlay. Yes they are fragile so should be respected. The other thing to be wary of, is even with the proper puller you can pull the plastic surround off the plug. I find it is safer to lever it a side at a time with a small screwdriver to loosen it, before using the tool. The tool is better once the plug is loose. I also once I convert a loco, twist the wires together and then cover them with clear nail varnish. Make sure though that you leave about 4mm untwisted at the plug end, to avoid the twisting action pulling the wires out the plug.

[atom3624]

Agreed.

I've had some which give no problems with the 'pin and fingers' and others which short as you say - mainly the A4's I've had I think, for some reason.

With these I've simply widened the stance of the fingers slightly and they work OK.

Plug and cables is more reliable, but oh so fragile.

Al.

[ExarKun42]

Since the necessary replacement part is out of stock everywhere, is it possible to solder the wires back into the plug if I use a very fine tip on my iron?

[atom3624]

There are replacement wired 4-pin plugs available on Ebay.

Some are multi-colour wired - which makes them easier to select 'which wire where' but don't look good in circulation - and all black (simply tag them when installing, then remove the tags).

Some use similar-thickness wires, some heavier duty. Useful but may lose some flexibility for curves, points, etc.

Al.

[Going Spare]

As I posted yesterday, Lendons have stock of X6113.

[P-Henny]

Since the necessary replacement part is out of stock everywhere, is it possible to solder the wires back into the plug if I use a very fine tip on my iron?

 

 

Not without significant melting of the white plastic. The connectors are tiny and crimped onto the wires and then inserted deeply into the plastic body making access to the metal part of the connector that is suitable for soldering with an iron bit near impossible. The connector is held into the plastic body by a one way locking tab on the side of the connector. This locking tab projection has to be pushed flat against the side of the connector before the connector can be extracted from the plastic body. They are not really designed to be easily disassembled.

How do I know this, because I used to terminate wires on these connector types as part of my job. The crimping process needed special crimping tools, a steady hand and extremely good eyesight and/or magnifying aids. I used to know all the part numbers for the various bodies and connectors in the range of this JST connectors manufacturers catalogue, but now long forgotten. But I did keep a record of the 4 wire connector used by Hornby because I had a personal interest.

Specifically the JST product code for the Hornby 4 way plug housing is:

SHR-04V-S-B [with protrusions type]

Crimp connector product code is:

SSH-003T-P0.2-H

As others have repeatedly said, equivalent replacement pre-wired connectors are available on ebay subject to the caveats mentioned regarding wire thickness. G.S says that Lendons have stock of Hornby originals, but looking at the Lendon's web page it states that their web page is not fully up to date with stock levels and that customers should ring them to check.

If you can extract the broken connectors, Lendon's sell X6113a which is a connector pre-crimped onto wire that can then be pushed into the freed up hole in the body until you hear / feel a click. The click is the locking tab slipping into the securing recess within the body [see P.S. below].

To access the locking tab to release it, you have to push a very tiny stiff flat blade of some sort into the connector hole on the opposite side to where the wire goes in. The releasing blade has to go down the side of the connector between the connector and body, not into the connector socket itself, and also be on the correct side of the connector where the locking tab is located. The releasing blade I had access to was a special tool made by the connector manufacturer and not available to the general public, thus you will have to devise something yourself to do the job. Personally, I would replace the whole connector and not try to repair it.

P.S. This link shows the X6113a on Lendon's website. You can just make out the small locking tab on the back side of the connector on the far bottom right of the image [image needs to be zoomed into]. It is this locking tab that needs to be depressed to release the connector from the body that is then extracted out through the wire end of the plug body.

X6113_2.jpg (JPEG Image, 640 × 480 pixels) – Scaled (89%)

[ExarKun42]

Thanks to you guys and your guidance, I found an equivalent spare, which is now on order. Thank you all for your help and direction!

Union of South Africa shall ride again!

[P-Henny]

I found an equivalent spare, which is now on order.

 

 

Don't forget the X6468 Plug Extractor tool for the next time.

[DarkRedCape]

The X6468 Extractor Tool can be found on EBay too. A few of them on there, but the prices are extortionate for what you’re buying.

I got mine from Hatton’s for about £2.30. They’re £8 a piece on eBay. fearful

[P-Henny]

Everyone well knows that on ebay that the so called 'free delivery' is priced into the listing price, plus there are ebay selling charges to add. So it is the cost of the postage & charges that is extortionate not necessarily the cost of the item. It should always be cheaper over the counter in a model shop (unless they are profiteering). The ebay listing for 'Peter's Spares' I found showed £3.52 for the tool which is 29.6% less than the current Hornby list price, but an extortionate £5 for postage, which presumably also included the ebay charges. So one could assume that if one was lucky enough to live within 'Peter's Spares' local area, it would be £3.52 or very close to that price over the counter.

Thus buying low value items on ebay is never likely to seem cheap, China sellers being an exception.

P.S. Mine cost £2.00 in Feb 2015 from Hatton's (just looked at my Excel SS). Bundled in with part of a bigger order so P&P element would have been negligible.

[ExarKun42]

I have always been using small screwdriver with a flat head to remove them. Never had issues before. It was less of my meddling and more of random in-box accident (I keep all my engines in their original box when not running)