MTH tether coming loose

What's the MTH model number of your engine, 20-XXXX, 30-XXXX, etc?

Can you provide a photo?  Do you have the loop pointing up between the engine and tender (there's a direction arrow on the top of the plug)?

Do you have it pushed in all the way, maybe 1/4" or more?

I have never had a plug come out if inserted properly and never had one fall out sitting still (something has to be moving for it to come out, vibrations???).

If you can't post a photo (there's a guide on the forum to show you how) you can email me and I'll post it for you.

Bob

Thanks for your help.  The MTH number is 30-4038-1. 

What I meant about the sitting still part was that if I hold the tether in the plug, it works but as soon as I let go it will work its way loose.  I've tried putting it in both ways.

I attached the manufacturer picture of the train and a shot of the actual tether/plug combo.

Thanks again.

SJC....we won't plug it in that way, just made it easier to see in the picture.

I have had something similer. My fix was to lift off the tender body and turn the tether wire untill it "sat" in such away that there was less strain on the plug to the engine. I then refitted the tender body which gripped the tether wire and since then no problems. It did however take a couple of goes to get just the right position.

MIKE

Yeah, I'd at least take it to a local hobby shop that deals in MTH and let them take a look.  Just from looking at the photo it's hard to say if it's the tether coming from the tender or the plug on the end of the engine that's causing the problem.  Is the plug on the engine loose (I think there's 2 tiny screws holding it in place or maybe a cover with screws)?

There may be a couple of folks on the forum who live near you, hopefully one of them will pop in.

The reason I said I've never had any problems is because I rarely disconnect the tether to move my steam engines, moving both pieces together helps keep wear and tear down on the plugs.

Good thing is if the tether or plug needs replacing they're not that expensive, if they can be found.  I recall someone saying MTH was out of tethers, but that was months ago and they may have them back in stock.

GGG

The plug end of the tether won't stay secured in the pins on the back of the engine.

We were able to manipulate it to stay and get a few loops around the track but now it won't even do that. 

I have that 6-8-6 baby turbine and have experienced the same issue with it. 

I gave the tether a bit more slack and while I don't know if it's coincidence or not it's staying in this year (I only have a Christmas layout).  It might be when I plugged it back into the engine this year that I somehow did something different/better.

But in all of the years in the past, it has come out on occasion.  Not as often as yours, but it has come loose.

- walt

Walt....this is the first time my 10 year old has seen the 6-8-6, and he just loves the amount of smoke and sounds that it makes.  Quite a bit heavier than the other engines we have too.

I think that some of the pins might be bent and I am going to try and correct that tonight. 

Toothpick.

Doesn't qualify as a "protocol".

Update.  We straightened the pins so now the tether does not come loose and the train "runs" perfectly.  Except now we have zero sound.  If I barely touch the pins to the tether it crackles a little but otherwise nothing. 

Any suggestions based on this development?

Menu/Advanced/Reset Engine / Feature reset. for starters. good luck

Look closely at the female (tender) connector and make sure you can see metal extending into the openings of each location. You may have pushed the contact back with the bent pin. If that's the case you will have to replace the tether.

Pete

Gregg--I just tried to do the reset and it didn't work.

What do you mean barely touch pins to connector it crackles?  Are you doing this while the track is powered?  If the board is in the tender with speaker on this model, the harness connections will have little to do with this new problem.  G

G--after plugging in the tether, we powered up the track and realized that we no longer had sound.  I pulled out the tether plug and reinserted it while it was still on powered track and got a split second of sounds as the plug touched the connector on the engine. 

With everything plugged in, power up train and then hit 1 whistle and 5 bells for feature reset and see if sounds come back?  G

We got the train back from the "doctor" and everything working great!

Thanks for your help.

Here's a quick video of it running on our "always-under-construction" layout.  We have more fun running the trains than working sometimes!!!