I have a situation where I want to hastily remove a servo from a loco, and I want to be able to just pop the cable apart without worrying about the connectors.

My ‘smart watch’ has a magnetic connector on the charger cable that holds it against the watch side so the pins make contact - exactly what I need - except I need a 3-pin connector.

Anyone ever seen anything like that and know a source ?

This Kick Starter might be worth adapting for your servo

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1041610927/znaps-the-9-magnetic-adapter-for-your-mobile-devic/description

Hopefully it will reach the market soon

dave

David Bodnar said:

This Kick Starter might be worth adapting for your servo

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1041610927/znaps-the-9-magnetic-adapter-for-your-mobile-devic/description

Hopefully it will reach the market soon

dave

I like this

Promising link

http://rosenberger.de/ok/?new_lang=2&caller=searchcritax&sitemgr=0&nprop[30]=MultiMag

Bob, Dave,

All great ideas. The Rosenberger looks a bit expensive, and I don’t need 15 pins, but it’s the right design.

I found this cable which is pretty much what the Kickstarter guys are trying to do:

http://www.aliexpress.com/item-img/Hot-Sale-USB-Male-Magnetic-to-Micro-USB-5Pin-Charging-Cable-for-Samsung-LG-HTC-to/32437639004.html

Bit more digging found these guys

http://cfconn.manufacturer.globalsources.com/si/6008844589336/Showroom/3000000217371/36109/Magnetic-connector.htm

Though a minimum order is 5000…

This is interesting:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WSKEN-2pcs-Ultra-Small-Magnetic-Metal-Micro-Connector-For-Android-Smartphone-New-/371409077896?hash=item5679b4c688

Seems to be a male/female micro-usb that stays together by magnets. You leave one side plugged in to your device and the other on your cable. Yank it and it splits apart without dragging your phone on to the floor! [Maybe I need one of these for my tablet !]

Maybe not - it needs that $18 cable we noted before!

Could any of those be used between locos?

Probably marginal, I would suspect the contacts are good for about 1 amp continuous… you could try paralleling them, but most of these are set up for 5v and 1 amp charging.

Greg

Pete - is this what you had in mind:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MMhxv2vNRQ&feature=youtu.be

Details on my web page here:

http://trainelectronics.com/Magnetic_Connectors/

dave

Guys, thanks for all the suggestions. Dave’s magnetic connectors (see above) are exactly what I had in mind. However, Eric came up with a suggestion - using wipers, like an LGB loco. As I had some old wheel wipers in my junk box, I whipped up a quick solution.

This is the ‘pivot plate’ for the steam truck, which I want to pop the body off at a moments notice and not have to mess with connectors. You can see the two extra contacts next to the brass plate (which acts as ground.)

Here’s the steam truck with a pait of shortened Accucraft coach truck wipers mounted on a piece of plywood (it doesn’t melt very fast.)

And finally the big test, using my new WiFi recvr. It works!