American Flyer - Headlight Wires

[richhotrain]

On my American Flyer #312, the two headlight wires are soldered to the top of the smoke unit. 

When I disassembled the boiler to get at the smoke unit and the open frame motor for repair purposes, i cut the two wires in order to lay the boiler aside.  Then, when I reassembled the boiler, I added a little bit of wire for added flexibility and then soldered the connections after first placing heat shrink tubing onto the wires to insulate the soldered connections.

After all that, I disassembled the boiler again recently to replace the motor brushes.  So, I cut the headlight wires again.  Now, I have to resolder and heat shrink the soldered connections.

Has anyone devised a way to "plug" these wires together, perhaps with male and female fittings, so the wires can be unplugged for servicing parts inside the boiler?

How do others deal with the wiring from the headlight to the smoke unit?

Rich

 

[Anonymous]

Rich,

            I unsolder the wires at the socket when removing a boiler.

[Sturgeon-Phish]

Isn't there a screw holding the lamp bracket in place?  I've removed several without needing to detach the wires from the lamp.

Jim

[richhotrain]

Sturgeon-Phish

Isn't there a screw holding the lamp bracket in place?  I've removed several without needing to detach the wires from the lamp.

Jim

Dunno, but I sure wish that I had seen your question before I reconnected those wires last night.  I never thought to look to see if the lamp bracket is held in place by screws.  Nuts.

I spent an hour last night disassembling the boiler so that I could re-splice the two headlight wires.  Next time, I will follow green97probe's advice and remove the wires by desoldering them from the lamp socket.  But if the lamp bracket is screwed into place, that would make things even easier.

Oh well, there is always a next time.

Rich

[Timboy]

Rich:

I allers keep a little slackeration in the wires so I can pull the headlamp out more easy to replace a bulb.

Regards,

Timboy, The Linguistics Expert