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I'm wanting to do something quite unconventional. I have a steam loco I'm wanting to upgrade to either PS2 (donor 3V board) or PS3 (w/PS32 board from a steam upgrade kit).

I have already gutted the engine and have been playing around with where to put the board. Unlike the kit, the best location actually seems it would be in the engine, not the tender. I have a couple early PS2 5V engines that are designed like this and have taken them apart. One even got a board swap and this doesn't seem like it would be anything too difficult. Of course with the PS2 and 3 steam kits, they are designed for the board going in the tender so the included harnesses would not work.

Having worked on several of my own PS2 engines (5V and 3V), I am very familiar with the wiring harnesses. I know from reading some forum posts that the connectors are JST 2mm connectors for PS2 3V and PS32 boards. With that said, I have decided I would like to make my own wiring harnesses in order to accomplish this somewhat odd upgrade.

This leaves me with a few questions. First, where is the best place to source the connectors and crimp contacts? Second, in wanting to go the extra mile, where can I get a set of wire that matches the MTH factory PS2 colors? Third, having not done this exact thing before, where would be the best place to get crimpers for wires this small. I own a pair, but they seem a bit large for this job. And finally, has anyone done anything like this before with an upgrade?

I realize this will be very time consuming and plan to do this with lots of patience as well as triple-checking everything with my multimeter and comparing to wiring diagrams of other engines all to avoid smoking a perfectly good board.

Any tips or help is appreciated.

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@jaketrainz,

Try this relatively recent link as a start:

   Source for JST-EH connector kit | Norm Charbonneau



Mike

Thanks. I notice in that thread they mentioned the different series of JST connectors and even had a PDF showing all the different types. They were mainly discussing TMCC connectors. Are the EH series connectors the same ones used on MTH PS2 3V and PS32 boards?

I buy them on AliExpress as the larger sizes aren't in most of the kits available on-line.  You can buy one of the kits for all the connectors up to 5 positions cheap, then add in the additional connectors you need.  Here's the link to add-on JST-PH Connector Shells., they go up to 12 positions, the biggest one you'll need for a 3V PS/2 board or the PS32 board.

I buy them on AliExpress as the larger sizes aren't in most of the kits available on-line.  You can buy one of the kits for all the connectors up to 5 positions cheap, then add in the additional connectors you need.  Here's the link to add-on JST-PH Connector Shells., they go up to 12 positions, the biggest one you'll need for a 3V PS/2 board or the PS32 board.

Thanks for the link! I found a 2-5 kit and then will use your link for the rest.

What does everyone suggest I use for wire? 22 or 24 AWG? I have sets of both but only 6 colors for each type. Ideally I’d like to use all the MTH factory colors.

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