# 302 Tender Wiring



## upsman55 (Jan 11, 2013)

One of my 302's quit running the other day. Old wiring and loose connections turned out to be the culprit. This 302 has the 5th wire. As per the wiring schematic, three wires are shown to attach to the same terminal on top set of fingers. Ive always had bad luck and made pretty ugly connections in the past. So I made a pigtail and hooked it up as shown below. So much easier dealing with one wire per terminal. This has probably been done by one or more of you on this forum, but I felt it might make an interesting post.


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## BrokeCurmudgeon (Feb 8, 2016)

Interesting but the photo is fuzzy and hard for old eyes to see.:laugh:


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## upsman55 (Jan 11, 2013)

You're right BC. Should have provided a better pic. I'll do that later today.


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## BrokeCurmudgeon (Feb 8, 2016)

upsman55 said:


> You're right BC. Should have provided a better pic. I'll do that later today.


Thanks! It is ok for most people I am sure. I appreciate your posting!:thumbsup:


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## chrisallen21 (Sep 1, 2016)

I agree, I also have an ugly solder job trying to put three wires in one. It never occurred to me to pigtail it. Nice alternative!


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## cramden (Oct 13, 2015)

Nothing wrong with that if it makes it easier for you. I won't win any awards with my soldering skills either, but I've not tried that before . Good idea.


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## upsman55 (Jan 11, 2013)

Here's a couple more views of the pigtail. These are a little more focused.


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## BrokeCurmudgeon (Feb 8, 2016)

upsman55 said:


> Here's a couple more views of the pigtail. These are a little more focused.


Thanks upsman55!:thumbsup:


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

I never seen a diagram that has 3 wires to same place. I try to learn something new everyday. I assume that is the fifth wire. I still say I might make all my engines 4 wires. I really do not care about headlight and smoke in neutral. I don't let
my engines sit in neutral.


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## upsman55 (Jan 11, 2013)

mopac said:


> I never seen a diagram that has 3 wires to same place. I try to learn something new everyday. I assume that is the fifth wire. I still say I might make all my engines 4 wires. I really do not care about headlight and smoke in neutral. I don't let
> my engines sit in neutral.


Check out this link from Portline Hobbies. Thats what I followed for the 5th wire set up. 

http://www.portlines.com/portlinesclinic10.htm

I pretty much feel the same way you do about that 5th wire. It's kind of a pain in the neck to deal with. I just figured since it had it, Id keep it. 

Also, you may have seen that flyernut has a thread on a plug he made for that 5th wire to make disassembly/assembly a bit easier. That was a pretty neat idea.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

upsman55 said:


> Check out this link from Portline Hobbies. Thats what I followed for the 5th wire set up.
> 
> http://www.portlines.com/portlinesclinic10.htm
> 
> ...


That's the page I've been using for the last 10 years or so... And I still have some of those 5th wire harnesses for sale, $12 bucks including shipping.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

That's a good device you have there flyernut.

Just for kicks and grins I would love to meet the engineer that came up with
the fifth wire that doesn't unplug even though the rest of the wires do. They
could have came up with a new plug that incorporated the fifth wire. Naw, that
would have been too easy. I don't hate it as much as I sound but it is goofy.


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