Lionel Plug N Play Accesories

Lionel sells a cable that allows old style hook up.

Romiller 

romiller49 posted:

Lionel sells a cable that allows old style hook up.

Romiller 

That's probably true, but the 4 that I've purchased so far have all had that pig tail (mating connector to stripped wire) included in the box.

My major complaint is that you need to drill a much bigger hole in the table top if you want to hide the wiring without cutting the connector off the end. 

-Dave

So all of Lionel's accessories in the future will be Plug N Play and none that will be traditionally wired?

I recently purchased two of the plug-n-play Double Floodlight Towers, and both came with the pigtail to hook them up conventionally. As Dave mentioned above, the size of the hole you would have to drill for the plug-n-play wire is fairly large, so I was looking at a way around the problem. At first, I considered removing the two wires attached at the bottom on the towers and running the thick plug-n-play wire up from underneath the table, then reattaching the plug-n-play connector and pigtail. Then I realized that I could just run standard wires to the tower and discard the plug-n-play wires altogether. Both towers work just fine. So my advice would be to check the connectors on any plug-n-play accessory to see if you can disconnect the original connector and replace it with conventional wire.

TrainHead posted:

So all of Lionel's accessories in the future will be Plug N Play and none that will be traditionally wired?

Apparently so.  Lionel is going all out for the non-technical "plug it in and watch it go" crowd. If it actually gets more people into the hobby, I can not fault it, but I am dubious of how much impact plug n play will have on attracting new blood to the hobby.

(I suspect it's not a coincidence that this method will add lots of "add on" purchases for those who wish to hook things up as simply as shown.  Those FasTrack sections with the plugs integrated o them don't seem to be cheap, but I guess it's worth it for people who can't handle a wire stripper and a spring clip.)

I asked a while ago why they didn't just add a pig tail with the connector to the existing spring connectors (or screw terminals, etc) so that more technically minded hobbyists could remove the pigtail without modifying the accessory, and I was told we should just cut the wire off if it bothered us that much.  I guess that also wouldn't have supported the corporate desire to sell the FasTrack sections with the connector on it.

-Dave

Apples55 posted:

I recently purchased two of the plug-n-play Double Floodlight Towers, and both came with the pigtail to hook them up conventionally. ............. ................ Then I realized that I could just run standard wires to the tower and discard the plug-n-play wires altogether. Both towers work just fine. So my advice would be to check the connectors on any plug-n-play accessory to see if you can disconnect the original connector and replace it with conventional wire.

I only have a few items to go by in my collection so far, but3 of the 4 in my case have the wire terminated inside the accessory (Burning Switch Tower, Track Gang, Smoke Fluid Loader).  so for those, you at least would need to dig inside a little.  May or may not be simple to do so, but I suspect it's more trouble than it's worth (and you of course could/would void the warranty by digging around inside).

The 4th item (control Tower), while the wires go to the 3 metal rods that run up the center of the tower similar to previous models, they end on a solder lug that seems to be held to the underside of the base by pressure.  I didn't take it apart to fully understand, but on the underside of the base, the rods end, the lugs are assembled over the rods, and then there is a plastic "ring" mounted on each rod that keeps the lugs up against the surface of the base.  It's not 100% clear to me how these plastic "rings" are attached to the metal posts, but they look to be either a very tight pressure fit, or possibly glued in some way.

My point is that while the connections for the Control Tower are visible, it would be hard to attach other wire unless you clipped the wires and then spliced to them.

-Dave

Dave45681 posted:

Apples55 posted:

I recently purchased two of the plug-n-play Double Floodlight Towers, and both came with the pigtail to hook them up conventionally. ............. ................ Then I realized that I could just run standard wires to the tower and discard the plug-n-play wires altogether. Both towers work just fine. So my advice would be to check the connectors on any plug-n-play accessory to see if you can disconnect the original connector and replace it with conventional wire.

I only have a few items to go by in my collection so far, but3 of the 4 in my case have the wire terminated inside the accessory (Burning Switch Tower, Track Gang, Smoke Fluid Loader).  so for those, you at least would need to dig inside a little.  May or may not be simple to do so, but I suspect it's more trouble than it's worth (and you of course could/would void the warranty by digging around inside).

The 4th item (control Tower), while the wires go to the 3 metal rods that run up the center of the tower similar to previous models, they end on a solder lug that seems to be held to the underside of the base by pressure.  I didn't take it apart to fully understand, but on the underside of the base, the rods end, the lugs are assembled over the rods, and then there is a plastic "ring" mounted on each rod that keeps the lugs up against the surface of the base.  It's not 100% clear to me how these plastic "rings" are attached to the metal posts, but they look to be either a very tight pressure fit, or possibly glued in some way.

My point is that while the connections for the Control Tower are visible, it would be hard to attach other wire unless you clipped the wires and then spliced to them.

-Dave

Wow... That's a real bummer, Dave. Looks like I really lucked out with the light towers. I will have to be very careful before buying any more plug-n-play items. I've put too much effort into keeping wires hidden to change now. I don't think I even have a drill bit that would make a hole big enough for the connector.

Apples55 posted:

Wow... That's a real bummer, Dave. Looks like I really lucked out with the light towers. I will have to be very careful before buying any more plug-n-play items. I've put too much effort into keeping wires hidden to change now. I don't think I even have a drill bit that would make a hole big enough for the connector.

I agree.  I am not a fan.  Luckily I bought most of the post war classic accessory re-issues I am interested in when they did them in the early 2000's, so I am not going to feel the need to buy too many of these.  The Smoke Fluid Loader snuck in since PNP was not yet conceived when I ordered it.  The Burning Switch Tower is a vice I have that I need to kick , and the Control Tower color scheme interested me.  The Track Gang was a York impulse buy that I am not particularly attached to, so I may part with it some day.

I am not the audience Lionel is after with PNP, so I need to consider that their move may make sense, just not for me.

I just took a quick measure.  I think it's probably a minimum 1/2" hole (maybe add 1/8") for the plug to clear.  (I measured across the diagonal of the connector, perpendicular to the axis the wires are oriented in as they enter the plug) 

That's a big hole for accessory wiring.  Makes it a heck of a lot harder to hide holes if you decide to move something later.

P.S. So, for your light towers are you saying they did what I described in one of my previous posts?  Did they just attach the connector with wires to existing spring clips on the underside from the previous design, therefore making it easy to remove the connector without cutting anything?

-Dave