Nylon Screws?

I was able to find nylon screws at Lowe's when I converted my Railking 0-8-0 to TMCC. I think they were 6-32 thread. I don't recall if they had metric sizes.

Hi Mark,  I've seen them in the Grainger and Fastenal catalogs. Years ago Radio Shack stores used to carry them.  Are you using them to hold the shell?  If so drill the hole larger and use a nylon washer with the tape?

Doug

I think Ace hardware has them and if not, there are lots of them on ebay. Might have to wait a week or 10 days for them to get here from China, many of these ebay vendors offer free shipping. I got a nice kit of assorted nylon stand-offs and nylon nuts and screws in a small divided plastic container from one of these suppliers.

I found a good variety at the nearby Ace Hardware, along with nylon washers and spacers. Some hobby shops carry them as well. They are easy to cut with a wire cutter if they are too long.

On a related subject, does anybody have any good suggestions for insulating tape? The adhesive on electrical tape loses its grip after a couple of years. 

For really good insulating and longevity properties, use Kapton tape. It's normally used in transformers to insulate between windings, as well as insulating bus bars in high current/high voltage power supplies. A quick search on Ebay gave over 1200 results. great stuff- i use it a lot. 

Look at McMaster Carr on the internet they have everything including the kitchen sink.

I would rather not drill into the shell. I am hoping to find the correct size Nylon Screws that match the metal ones on the tender shell. and yes, Kapton Tape is recommended by ERR.

Well, there are plenty out there after doing a few searches, seems like it is now just a case of trying to find the correct sized ones that will work with the tender holes..

Thanks for everyone's input!

A bit smaller than #6-32.  #4-40  Micro fastener link  or even #2-56 screws can be made work. I have a tap sets for both.  It appears most screws in newer models are metric.   Along with the nylon screws, you may need small plastic/nylon washers and good quality electrical tape to insulate the tender shell from the frame.  I have done a couple of brass models, it takes some time to get it right.  

DigiKey has quite a selection (www.digikey.com) search on Nylon then scroll down to screws, bolts.  They have a fixed shipping charge for orders below a set value, but they have quite a few different sizes (down to 2-56), and they typically ship overnight.  Also, it doesn't take much to spend 5-8 bucks in gas running around looking for the right part

r0d

Nylon is soft enough that a screw that isn't quite the right thread can be forced in, and will re-thread itself with the metal tender shell acting as a threading die. You could also run almost-right nylon screws through the correct metric threading die before using them. It's easier and has less potential for messing things up than re-tapping the holes in the tender shell.

I am curious as to what other modelers do that perform their own TMCC/Railsounds upgrades.

Micro-Fasteners has metric nylon screws available in 20 and 50 piece packs for very reasonable prices. I use them a lot in my shop.

M3 is close, but not exactly, to 4-40, M3.5 to 6-32, and M4 to 8-32

ZWPOWER13:

Of course, the most wonderful TMCC steamer upgrade part is a PLASTIC coal load

(or better yet - a plastic tender shell!).

I really dislike all this "real coal load" nonsense - it often doesn't scale down well, anyway. A good plastic load looks nice and all you have to do is stick your antenna under it with silicone and off you go. 

Your Chessie T1 should have a plastic coal load - my NYC L-3 Mohawk from the same period does. My antenna on the L-3 is under the coal load. Done and done - no screws, tape or taps. Just like a plastic diesel body.

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In general, if you have a metal tender and a non-plastic coal load:

Having done a couple of dozen steam ERR (and earlier Train America) TMCC upgrades,

I have found that nylon screws can be had in sizes that will fit close-enough into a

typical Lionel, MTH or K-line tender-body hole. The very small screws typically used on

brass models usually requires drilling and tapping (easy; Micro-Mark carries small tap

sets, etc). I use a thick-ish tape the name of which I forget, but I think it is used

for wrapping baseball bat handles, etc - it's a "sporty" tape. I simply stick it down using a bit of silicone when I place it around the tender frame.  

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I just finished (yesterday) 2 K-line 1:58 USRA 4-6-2's with plastic coal loads. Antenna

mounting time, combined: 3 minutes, I suppose. Die-cast tender shells, but no tape

or nylon.

I find 99% of what I need on McMaster-Carr and sdp-si<dot>com  (Stock Drive Parts)

Larry

Great, Thanks! Unfortunately, all the coal loads are die cast metal.