Jump to content
 

Additional Pickups on Adjacent Vehicles


Recommended Posts

Some of my 00-gauge rolling stock is a little 'wanting' in the electrical pickup department. I'm talking about old Hornby / Lima DMUs and a Mainline Class 03. The best way to rectify this would be to add some additional pickups to adjacent vehicles (or a shunting wagon in the case of the Class 03).

 

However, this means I'd need some actual jumper cables between vehicles. I have some very thin wire that is suitable, but I really don't want the connection to be permanent. Does anyone have any ideas for some really small plugs & sockets that are suitable for such an installation? Magnetic ones would be ideal, as they would automatically align themselves and make the necessary electrical connection. I did a search on TheBay but couldn't find anything small enough, probably because I don't know what 'key words' to use.

 

Ian  

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
33 minutes ago, ISW said:

I did a search on TheBay but couldn't find anything small enough, probably because I don't know what 'key words' to use.

 

Ian  

 

Try searching on "micro wire connector" and you'll find a good selection - for example this one

Edited by RFS
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, RFS said:

 

Try searching on "micro wire connector" and you'll find a good selection. 

That's quite a selection, but they are similar to the ones I'd already found. The JST connector is still physically quite large.

 

Is there anything smaller?

 

Ian

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
1 hour ago, ISW said:

Some of my 00-gauge rolling stock is a little 'wanting' in the electrical pickup department. I'm talking about old Hornby / Lima DMUs and a Mainline Class 03. The best way to rectify this would be to add some additional pickups to adjacent vehicles (or a shunting wagon in the case of the Class 03).

 

Apologies if you've already done this, but have you tried adding extra weight? 

Older rtr could be notoriously lightweight, adversely affecting its pickup ability.  A lump of lead or two over the wheels can give an enormous improvement in running.

Cheers, Dave.

Link to post
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, DLT said:

 

Apologies if you've already done this, but have you tried adding extra weight? 

Older rtr could be notoriously lightweight, adversely affecting its pickup ability.  A lump of lead or two over the wheels can give an enormous improvement in running.

Cheers, Dave.

Dave,

 

Both my Lima and Hornby DMUs have plenty of weight (well, in my opinion anyway) and so the existing pickups do work quite well, although the traction tyred wheels have 'limited' pickup abilities. The Class 03 has no space to add anymore weight. The problem is that I have a few insulfrog single & double slips and, even though these are wired as electrofrog, there are some locations where the DMUs / Class 03 lose power. Hence the idea of using pickups on an adjacent vehicle.

 

Ian

  • Agree 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Fat Controller said:

Have a look at the thread on 'Freightliner Flats'; those magnetic couplings might work.

Brian,

 

I hadn't seen that posting, but the thought had crossed my mind to the extent that I've bought some 2mm diameter neodymium magnets from TheBay to try out. The 'trick' is being able to solder wires to the magnets. Whilst this seems possible (I watched a YouTube video of someone doing just that), overheating the magnet affects its magnetic properties and can 'kill' the magnetism at the heated spot. As I'm planning to use really thin wires, I'm hopeful that it just might work. The magnets are not for coupling and so take very little force. Indeed the largest force will be when I try to prise them apart!. We'll see ...

 

Ian

Link to post
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, ISW said:

Does anyone have any ideas for some really small plugs & sockets that are suitable for such an installation? Magnetic ones would be ideal, as they would automatically align themselves and make the necessary electrical connection.

 

They might be a little on the large side, but you could repurpose some of those magnetic tipped phone charging cables?

Link to post
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, frobisher said:

 

They might be a little on the large side, but you could repurpose some of those magnetic tipped phone charging cables?

Thanks for the idea. I had noticed them while browsing TheBay for small connectors. But, again, they are just too big to fit in the normal gap between OO scale rolling stock.

 

Maybe that is why manufacturers 'cheat' by putting decoders in both adjacent vehicles, thus avoiding the necessity for electrical jumper cables. No doubt Hunt (they of the new fangled magnetic couplers) will bring out a jumper cable version just after I've made my own 'Acme' version ...

 

Ian

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

I used JST 2-pin 1mm pitch plugs and sockets. Bought from eBay. You can get them with wires alrrsdy attached or you can solder then on. Little bit fiddly, but perfectly possible.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
6 hours ago, ISW said:

That's looks really promising. Sadly though, it's currently out-of-stock. Will keep checking though.

 

Ian

 

Just remembered about these - Viesmann 5048 NEM conductive couplings might meet your requirement? Assuming you can find a UK supplier with more reasonable postage costs ...

Edited by RFS
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

53 minutes ago, ikcdab said:

I used JST 2-pin 1mm pitch plugs and sockets. Bought from eBay. You can get them with wires alrrsdy attached or you can solder then on. Little bit fiddly, but perfectly possible.

Ian C,

 

Someone else suggested the JST connector earlier on, but I discounted it as I think it'll be too large. Please can you post a photo of your implementation of the JST connector as it still might be of interest.

 

Ian

Link to post
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, RFS said:

 

Just remembered about these - Viesmann 5048 NEM conductive couplings might meet your requirement?

Now that looks very interesting, although TheBay had to complain. I quote:

"0 results found for viesmann 5048, so we searched for viessmann 5048"

 

Technically they tick all the right boxes, and I can see a way to fit them onto my non-NEM socketed rolling stock. The only stumbling block is the price, as I'd be looking at 4-pairs and that's getting expensive. Something to ponder on if I can't find any other way to achieve the aim. Thanks for the idea.

 

Ian

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
5 minutes ago, ISW said:

Ian C,

 

Someone else suggested the JST connector earlier on, but I discounted it as I think it'll be too large. Please can you post a photo of your implementation of the JST connector as it still might be of interest.

 

Ian

Hi Ian, i bought some of the DCC Concepts ground signals and these came with tiny plugs attached. They are the JST 2-pin 1mm pitch plugs. I found the related sockets on Ebay.

Here is the plug (attached to the cable of the ground signal) and the socket i bought:

20210417_212236.jpg.6cbfe9a716fcf0401f9a7057e163c74c.jpg

 

as i mentioned before, soldering the wires to the socket was a trifle fiddly, but i used a magnifying glass and all came out much easier than expected.

You can find them on Ebay with extra pins (if you need more than 2) and some come with the wire attached.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-PCS-Mini-Micro-ZH-1mm-2-6-Pin-JST-Connector-And-Wire-2-Sh-xhS-JQJ/184561447325?var=692275667535

 

Hope this helps.

 

Ian C

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, ikcdab said:

Here is the plug (attached to the cable of the ground signal) and the socket i bought:

Ian C,

 

Thank for the photo. The plug is smaller than I imagined, so I might have to give it a go. It'd need painting black though to disguise it's presence.

 

Can you unplug the 2 parts by pulling on the wires, or does it physically 'click' together? I ask because some decoders use a similar plug / socket (although with ~8 wires) and they are hard to get apart at the best of times.

 

Ian

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
2 minutes ago, ISW said:

Ian C,

 

Thank for the photo. The plug is smaller than I imagined, so I might have to give it a go. It'd need painting black though to disguise it's presence.

 

Can you unplug the 2 parts by pulling on the wires, or does it physically 'click' together? I ask because some decoders use a similar plug / socket (although with ~8 wires) and they are hard to get apart at the best of times.

 

Ian

Ian, i wouldnt want to pull the wires, but the plug comes out easily enough as it has a flange at the top which you can get a finger nail under easily enough. it doesn't click together, its just an interference fit.

Ian

Link to post
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, Il Grifone said:

The JST connectors have been discussed above. They do seem to be smaller than I thought and so will be considering.

 

Ian

Link to post
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, wasdavetheroad said:

Have a look at these magnetic connectors from Micron radio control

 

Micron Radio Control : Power Connectors

 

Also search for Bahoma connectors, they used to be commonly available in different sizes

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the Micron suggestion. I've had a look at their website and they have quite a selection, some of which might be promising.

 

Ian

Link to post
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, Ray Von said:

Just a quick interjection, could these be used on 'N' Gauge stock? 

It's all down to size ... There's no reason they can't be used on n-gauge, but the plugs / sockets found so far might be too big for the available space. No harm in trying.

 

Ian

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...