Rewiring a 3472 Milk Car

[jimmyswan]

The two wire leads out of the internal coil of my 3472 milk car are badly cracked and in need of replacing.  Any recommendations on what type and size of wire to use?  It appears to be a 22 ga stranded wire.  It is also difficult to tell how to attach these wires to the coil due to tape around the assembly.  The wire ends seem tricky to expose.  Would it be easier just to splice new wire sections onto wires coming out of the coil?  If so, what's the preferred method of making the splice for such a small gause wire?

 

Jim    

[servoguy]

 I recently rewired one of these milk cars, and I did what you suggest.  I cut off the wires near the coil leaving enough to splice new wires onto.  I made a solder lap splice and put shrink tubing over the splice.  I used the soldering iron to shrink the tubing rather than a match due to the proximity with the coil.  I actually used wire from a clip lead I bought at Radio Shack.  It is very flexible, and not too expensive and readily available.  I have some 24 ga that I am going to use in the future.  The wire doesn't need to be very big as the wire in the coil is probably 30 ga or smaller.

Bruce Baker

[luther_stanton]

I tried 20 gauge stranded wire from Radio Shack.  It was just too stiff for running through the frame to  the shoes on the trucks.  The shoes had less freedom of movement and the stiffness of the wire kept the wire rubbing on the frame - it would have worn the insulation through pretty quickly.

I purchased "super-flex" wire from Olsen's - you should be also be able to get some from a service station or train show as well.  It sells for around fifty cents a foot.  I bought both 22 and 24 gauge - and ended up using the heavier wire because of the current draw of the milk car.  Worked much better than the radio shack wire and the shoes are much more able to move around to get over switches, etc.  The 24 gauge is good for replacement for caboose lights, etc.