A few years ago I bought an 8824 loco (German crocodile 194) from ebay. It was sold as a non-runner, and lived up to its billing. I have finally got around to fixing it, using Labelle Motor Cleaner to free up the gears. It now running, but in the process of dismantling the chassis I have broken the black wires that power the headlights. So I need to strip these back in order to resolder them.The wire strippers I have are too big, and a bit agricultural, so I have ordered a pair that will go down to AWG 34. Does anyone know what the gauge of the black wire is, so that I can set the stripper to the right size?

I almost never use wire strippers, I just roll the wire along a sharp X Acto blade to score it and pull off the covering. It is amazing to me how fine the wire can be for Z scale but I don't have any numbers. I do know solid wire is to be avoided, only multi strand flexible wire holds up. Hopefully you have a soldering station with a fine point iron. And I prefer very fine solder as well for this type of work.

I really wouldn't lose sleep over a few strands of copper. The current will be so low (probably just a few milliamps) that a single strand would be more than adequate.

However, to be sure I'd just work down from a larger size until the wire is stripped, that way you can't go wrong.

As for the solder, my advice would be to tin the stripped wire end by touching the soldering iron on the wire and then feeding in a tiny amount of solder. Do the same on the PCB or wherever the wire needs to make contact and then to make the joint hold the tinned wire in place and then heat (you won't need to add more solder) to make the joint. 1mm should be fine for this but, as you're in the UK, I'd be happy to pop a few lengths if finer solder in the post to you if you'd feel more confident with something thinner.

One piece of advice is to make sure your soldering iron tip is clean. Dampen a piece of cellulose sponge or a wad of kitchen paper and wipe the hot soldering iron tip on it. Feed a bit of solder onto the tip and wipe off the excess on the sponge/paper. The tip should be clean and shiny before you try to use it.

Hope this is of help


Chris

Thanks for the kind offer of the solder, and the advice on soldering technique, but I ordered some 0.6 mm solder from Amazon before I saw your message.