PS3 Loco Tender Connection Fail

Yes, it does happen often. There is no easy fix that I have found since the connector needs to stay seated but I have yet to find anything that works well to keep them seated. It is very annoying at best....

We can not help much without the item #.  The drawbar loss of connection can be caused by numerous things.  Your profile has no info.  Where in MD are you?  Check my profile, I may be close and can help.

bruce

Al,

I don't feel a click when I try to reseat it. 

It sounds like you aren't firmly seating the connection at the tender. You need to press firmly until it cannot be seated any further. As long as you line up the connection properly (and it's kind of hard not to line it up correctly), you can exert a fair amount of force without doing any damage.

It's also possible, though less likely, that the press connection at the engine side is not firmly seated. You should be able to see if it's tight by visual inspection.

Inspect the connector on the drawbar that plugs into the tender.  No bent pins, no folded over plastic on the connector that might prevent it from seating fully.

If that is ok, put both on the side on a table and press drawbar into the tender connector firmly.  Visually see that it is seated.  When done right it takes good pressure to remove it.  Once you see it fully seated and feel the necessary pressure you will be more capable to seat it when on the track, but many just do it on the side and then move it to the track. G