Tethers between Steamers and tenders

I imagine it is best to leave them be as much as possible seeing as how they are only friction fit. That is what I aim for.

Hopefully this isn't too offensive for me to say but the socket was wore out on my Lionel B6. So I would be chuffing along and then suddenly...silence. I decided that a TINY dab of super glue was the solution. You can't even see it. I basically squeezed the tube to get some on the opening. Then I plugged the tether in and smushed the glue into the corner made by the side of the plug and the engine body. I haven't tried to take it apart but I also haven't had to. I think it would be easy since a dab isn't going to be very strong and I could pull a razor blade across it without much effort to cut the glue.

Arnold, I unplug the tethers to take the engines off the track because I am afraid I will drop them otherwise.
It is true tethers can get worn and not stay tight.  I bought a RailKing ProtoSound (PS1) Hudson from someone when I switched to O gauge 8 years ago, and the tether would slightly loosen on 036 curves.  I wedged a folded piece of paper in to hold it tight, but it had me going for a while why it would quit running.  I have no idea how the Hudson was treated before I got it though.

Bill, if what you did works, then more power to you. You are more bold than me, probably because you have been more successful at fixing things than me.

If the engine is still within the warranty period, then I think it best to get an RA from the manufacture for shipping and get them to fix it for free.

If outside the warranty period, if I was to use a glue, I would be more inclined to use rubber cement. That way, if it doesn't work, it can easily be peeled or scraped off. Arnold

Fixing things has become a career by accident. But it pays the bills and that's what counts sometimes.

The engine was bought used and well out of warranty as far as I know. I would not do this fix on a longer engine because of what @Mark Boyce said about dropping the engine if the tender is attached. But the B6 is a small loco and easy enough to handle so I went with it.

Once connected, I rarely (if ever) disconnect my MTH ps2 and 3 steamers from the tender. After reading some of the problems experienced by others and the fact that i’ve never had any problems, I don’t plan on changing anytime soon.

I have yet to wear out a Lionel Wireless IR draw bar.  I always found the term "wireless" when it came to MTH a bit odd.  That being said, I would certainly avoid unnecessary connecting and disconnecting of them. 

I leave my steamers on the layout, diesels go on a shelf.  I have found pins on the tethers get loose from simply running trains and more so from handling them.  They can be closed up a bit with a small bladed screwdriver but that's only temporary.

Whenever I have to take a steamer to the bench I make sure to check the connectors before I put it back on the layout.

Arnold,

I do not disconnect tethers anymore.  With that being said, the engines in question are not large and are easy to transfer.  I have replaced sockets on steam engines in the past from excessive handling.

John

Arnold,

A couple of years ago, I had some trouble getting the PS 2 tethers connected to the engines. I now keep the tethers always connected. I store my steam engines on MTH track in a bookcase. I have only one premier steam engine so it does make it a little easier to pick up an engine with two hands and place it on the track.

Charlie

I find it hard to handle the MTH Premier Big Boy and tender while still connected together, so they have to be separated to move them to/from the layout.  I'm fairly certain I couldn't even get them off the shelf at the same time without dropping at least one piece and wrecking something, the locomotive is HEAVY!

Arnold, I want to add to my comment yesterday.  Having heavy steam engines is what I get for buying several Premiers  , although the largest are only 2-8-0 consolidations.  The Russian Decapod has two more wheels, but a much smaller diameter boiler and shorter tender so it isn't as heavy.  My intent once I get heavy construction done is to park the heavy engines on my two engine house tracks and a siding, so I don't have to move them on and off the layout except for servicing.  That will allow me to 'hopefully' only unplug them once a year.

Now, there is another nightmare situation in my opinion dealing with MTH engines.  That is the F3, F7, FA, and I assume E-units and PA ABA engines that have couplers and short tethers between each unit.  I bought a beautiful Western Maryland F7 ABA set but always fought with the short tethers.  I could have upgraded to PS3-2 getting rid of the tethers, but would have needed upgrade kits for both powered engines.  $400 more; no thank you!  I finally sold them to another Forum member before I broke them.    As with John's Big Boy, there is no way I could move three tethered units on and off the layout with the tethers plugged in.

I think MTH Premier engines are a bit heavier than others. I know their FEF is considerably heavier than a Lionel Niagara and the MTH Big Boy takes two hands without the tender. Lionel's Southern RR style Mikado, lettered for other roads from the '90s is also pretty sturdy. Not sure if they were US made or not.

Pete

For me, it depends on what it is and the difficulty in making/breaking the connection.  I never worried about wear or damage to the connection.  So far, I have only had one (an MTH wireless drawbar CAB end connection) that got a kink in the plastic.  I had to replace the drawbar.  And since that was the cab end connection, it doesn’t really play into this discussion.

For tethered diesels and steamers, I generally disconnect the tether when removing from the layout.  A bit of a pain, but not hard to do.  I lay a towel down adjacent to the track and make/break the connection with the loco(s)/tender on their side.

For wireless drawbars that I have not yet installed the tender drawbar holder or a wire tie, it’s fairly easy to make or break the connection the same way I do it with tethers.  I sometimes break the connection and sometimes not.

For wireless drawbars that I have installed a wire tie or a tender drawbar holder, I only disconnect the drawbar if service is needed.  I have found the drawbar holder difficult to remove.  My biggest steamer with a wireless drawbar is a Railking northern so it’s not impossible to move it from track to shelf.

For the articulated Burlington Pioneer Zephyr, I only disconnected the cars one time to install passengers.  The Zephyr is always either on the layout or on a staging area siding.

I posted this in another thread but it applies here.  People complain quite a bit about the MTH wireless drawbar but I've had no issues with the 3 locomotives I own that have it (Premier AC6 Cab Forward, Premier DMIR Yellowstone, and Premier ATSF 3460 class Hudson). I run on 072 curves and haven't had an issue with the drawbar coming out. Put the locomotive on a straight section of track, pull the tender up behind, line up the pin on the tender with the hole in the drawbar, push up, click, done.

That being said it isn't the best design, and I say that because it's not idiot proof like the wire tether. The wireless drawbar leaves a lot of room for user error to cause issues.