Good source for tethers?

http://www.mttponline.com/

Look under Electric Railroad and Lionel parts Wire and connectors. These are the same as DD and we have them in 6,8 and 10 pin. We also have a smaller 10 pin as seen below.

I use the MTH 10-pin tethers.  I actually only use the tender side as a rule, I buy the matching 10-pin connector for the locomotive and build up the tether.  If I have an MTH PS/1, I use their locomotive tether connector as it already has a convenient mounting board.

Ten pins gives me plenty of connections for any options I might use, I typically use seven or eight of the wires.

If I can, I use the straight tether as it looks a lot better going between the locomotive and tender.  The curly one will work with tighter turns, but appearance suffers.

Cool thanks guys.

Hi John and all can you give me the mth part numbers for the 10 pin tethers or can you make me 2 sets as I'm going to upgrade 2 mth big boys , i have  not heard from mth yet as to weather i will get 2 ps2 kits or not but either way i already have 2 ps2 3 volt boards for my locos I'll only need  2 harnesses .

Thanks John appreciate whatever you can do to help

Alan or supplier where i can purchase the 10 pin male and female connectors and color coded wires!

Thanks

mth BC-1000005 tender

mth BC-1000003 loco steam

What I do is use the matching male straight connector and secure it on the locomotive.  For the color coded wires, since the tether for the tender is far too long, I can usually just cut the excess and use it in the locomotive from the male connector.

I get my supplies at Digikey.

DF11-10DP-2DSA - 10-pin male straight connector
DF11-10DS-2C - 10-Pin female housing
DF11-2428SC - CONN SOCKET 24-28AWG CRIMP TIN

Thanks again your a life saver

Alan

In my opinion, tethers need some design attention because the current ones on the market are way too stiff and are a cause of derailments. The stiffness of the tether also contributes to wire breakage especially at the plug. The black outer jacket adds too much to the stiffness of the tether.

A coiled phone type cable will perform much better.

Testing done by the aircraft industry shows that cables have a longer fatigue life in torsion than in bending. MTH tethers with a right angle plug cause a loop which puts the cable into torsion when the locomotive operates in curves. A straight through tether puts the cable in bending.

A coiled phone cord would sure look silly between the locomotive and the tender! 

Way back in the dark days, K-Line had the right idea.  They had a swiveling socket on the locomotive that minimized the bending of the tether, not sure why others haven't adopted that design.  You can have a straight tether that looks much better than the silly loop as well.

hi John can u post pictures of a ps1 engine that you upgraded to ps 2 using your idea with the connectors from digikey and the tender mth one together!

Thanks Alan

Boxcar Bill,

I actually have a need for a two wire tether for some of Kline engines.  Can you get two wire?

Gary,

  We have these

The smaller 10-pin that Bill posted is the same connector family as the MTH tethers.  One reason I like the MTH female tender tethers is they have the molded plug and covering for a neater connection.  The engine side is done exactly as the picture Bill posted.  The DD style were larger connectors and I personally didn't like the appearance, too bulky.

Here's a K-Line semi-scale that I'm finishing up on the bench, this one is using the MTH straight tether and the connector I specified.  I simply use the wire left over from trimming the tether on the other side, so it's conveniently color coded for easy wiring of the locomotive.  The locomotive connector is secured with LocTite 380 and the clamp in this picture.  For PS/1, I typically use the MTH connector board as it has convenient mounting holes that fit most MTH locomotives.  The last picture is the appearance when finished and running.  I like this look, which is why I use the combination of connectors I do.

Nice job GRJ    What a difference that made.

Clem k

Thanks Clem, I do my best to make the tether blend in as much as possible.  I hate the loop, and I only use it under duress.  

The 10-pin tether gives me plenty of pins for TMCC upgrades, I only use 7-8 of them for the task.  Basically you have 3rd-rail, wheels, two wires for the motors, then chuff, light, and smoke.  When I put the Super-Chuffer in, it's in the locomotive, so it doesn't require any extra wires between the locomotive and tender.  If you have a front coupler, that takes another wire, still have a couple of spares.

Gunrunner, I love the  work you did with the straight tether. I absolutley hate the loop on ps2 steam. John

Thanks John and all who left posting,Ill have to order the tender harness from mth and the rest from digikey, thanks again John and aLL

ALAN

So what exactly IS the MTH P/N for the straight, 10-pin, male connector (that folks use to replace the curly harness)?  I've read so many posts on it and none of them gave a definitive answer.

You need to be careful doing this.  The loop of the angled tether as used from MTH absorbs the stress.  This is no different than electrical code that doesn't allow sharp bends in wires.

I have taken apart many of the MTH tethers that go bad and the break occurs at the angled plug, where the plastic is injected.   The wires gets kinked in the manufacturing and the bend related stress cause the failure.

Looks at the picture John posted and you can see the tether is bending at the straight plug.

If you run on small radius curves this can cause issues, including partial pulling out of the plug.

I only do this on engines where it is required because of cab over hang. Like the Premier GS-4.  When I do this, you must make sure the tether can slide in and out of the tender easily to stress relieve the tether.  This requires using a round file and opening up the tender casting slot.

The shortest distance is the straight, as the engine goes around the curve the requirement is for a longer tether right, otherwise the shorter tether is forced to angle to cut the corner.  The loop of the angle absorbs this, and to use a straight plug you must allow the tether to lengthen and shorten to match the engine motion.

Or run on large radius where there is less issues. 

Even Lionel TMCC engine used angled plugs so you have to believe some engineering went behind it.

K-Line and others that used flat plugs had very flexible and sometimes unwrapped black wire, and always had an open tender slot to allow extra freedom of motion of the wires at the tender.  G

Bob. The BC-0000217 is the external harness.  The problem can be that sometimes it is sourced as completely wrapped, and sometimes the harness doesn't have a cover (just exposed wires) at the straight plug.

The diesel harness is wired differently and you wind up with different gauge wire (smaller) for AC/motor unless you rewire the engine.  I have some if you need one.  G

George is right, on tight radius curves, the straight connector can be problematic.  Most of the stuff I'm doing is running on O72 and sometimes larger, so it's normally not an issue.

I'd still like to find a more flexible tether with at least 8 pins, but so far the MTH has been the best choice.

On this conversion I used what MTH refers to it as the extension harness as it comes with a straight connector on one end and a right angle connector on the other. The colors match the original steam harness. Two plusses for the straight harness is it allows closer coupling and also adding an apron deck. As G points out the tunnel in the tender needs to be widened to allow more side to side movement.

I like John's/K-Line's idea of a swiveling engine connector. I think radiusing the holes on the connector and using shouldered screws might allow this. Might have to try it on my next upgrade.

Before and after. 

Pete

Were did John talk about swiveling?  The harness # I used is the harness you are talking about Pete.  BC-0000217 External Harness, just beaware I have received some without full jacket on the straight end.  Normally inside tender which makes it more flexible to bend, but won't work on outside because of exposed wires.  G

About ten posts above. The one used on the Niagara is also a  BC-0000217. So far none that I have, have exposed wires.

Pete

Thanks guys.

I thought I had the right PN but I ordered BC-1000002 from Brasseur's last month, so if anyone needs the curly tether I have 6 of them available

I actually found a 10-pin connector with wires that came out of an old computer I had.  The wires are all black but if I ring out the wiring it shouldn't be a problem.

MTTP has straight connectors and they say the wiring is very flexible:

http://www.mttponline.com/#!on...209/category=7194588

These wires are all black to so it's no biggie about the color.

5 of 6 of my steam engines are all upgrade kits and I've widened the access holes anyway so I should have plenty of play for the harness, I also have 054 and 072 curves which shouldn't be a problem.

hey, if I go battery/RC I won't even need these , but I may use them anyway depending on where I locate things.

The one that MTTP has listed is individual wires, but it would doubtless be more flexible.

GRJ,

Question about the MTH Tethers.  I noticed that they have a plug on both ends. Do you remove one plug and feed that bare end through the tender for wiring?  Also, where do you get the mounting strap (with the two screw holes) to secure the pin plug on the Locomotive Cab End?

Thanks

You can buy different versions of the MTH tether.  The diesel tether (BC-2000000) has the straight female connector on one end and tinned wires on the other end.

The mounting strap came with the locomotive, I've mounted them in a variety of ways, depending on the specific locomotive.  I just did my Lionel Reading T1 4-8-4 with these.  I actually had to hollow out a place for the connector in solid diecast over an inch thick!  The carbide cutters and my Dremel 4000 made short work of it, but there sure were a lot of metal shavings around!   Once I had the hole, I used Loctite 380 and a couple of shims to secure the connector solidly to the locomotive.  I hope I never have to take it out!

Ok, He said K-line had one, not that he made one. I have not seen a K-line with swivel connection, thought the MTH drawbars are.  G

A number of the K-Line locomotives have them, especially diesels.  I have a pair of Interurban cars with them, and also my K-Line E8 A-A set.  I've seen them on other K-Line stuff as well.

They work very well and solve the problem of side to side strain.  On my T1 I just finished, I made the slot wider in the tender to allow more movement, it manages O48 turns fine, don't know about O42 that it's rated for as I don't have any of those.

Do they make flexible heat shrink?

Would a soda straw work?

How about a piece of that spiral wire covering?

How about cloth tape painted black wrapped around the wire bundle?

If the spiral wire cover comes in black, that might work.  I'd think a much thinner rubber coating would be more flexible as well.

I mean to try to make a swivel connector if I get a locomotive where it makes sense, that might be the perfect solution.

Thanks for your information, John

Interesting, I had not seen them, though the K-Line F-3 has large opening and a ball on the tether to prevent it coming through. the opening,  It just moves around.  Though not very prototypical.

It really would not be hard to let the MTH PCB at the engine have some rotation given that the slot is wide. Just use a brass sleeve slightly thicker so the PCB can have some free play.  You do nee to make sure you have vertical clearance too.

Bob, yes there are all types of heat shrink and the flexible black wire used for PW lionel is a good source of wire if you need that flexibility.  G

Thanks again guys.

I've used 1/2" heat shrink but it's too thick and doesn't bend well.  Maybe a length of heat shrink not heated would be better, use a size (3/16"?) that the wires just go into.

How about this stuff:

https://www.wirecare.com/braided-sleeving.asp

I have a small length of it (from an old computer) and it's very flexible.

That looks interesting Bob, I may try that.  I think the tricky part will be making it look neat at the connector.

Just curious why mth and all train company's don't just transmit the signals from the engine to the tender and vissa versa both directions communication and get rid of   the need for a harness all together ?

Alan

Lionel has been using IR between the locomotive and the tender for many years.

John and GGG,

  Speaking of the IR use of communications, has anyone attempted, or considered, the installation of this method in engines/tenders to replace wire tethers?  I have seen where replacement parts are available for the IR system, and could these be utilized to incorporate on "upgrades" for tethered systems? Or perhaps salvaged from damaged engines that use IR?  Just a thought I have wondered about.