Thanks Paul, I appreciate the help. If anyone out there know where I can get a P5 plug, please let me know.
Tom
Phoenix has been hard to contact lately. Maybe good old snail mail might work. You wouldn’t even need a new plug. Just the leads with the connector on them that would snap into the existing plug just like the other four leads.
Thanks Paul, I emailed them earlier, but I’ll try to call them tomorrow, if no luck, I’ll send a letter too.
I finally got around to calling Robby at RLD. he is out of Phoenix connectors and said Phoenix is out of business and is not supplying any parts or products. So, if anyone has a Phoenix P5 p[lug or two leads that will fit in the plug I would be happy to buy it/them from you.
Tom,
I just went through my junk box. I found a couple Phoenix connectors with a couple leads on them that might be what you need. PM me.
It looks like Paul may have your solution, but if that does not pan out we need to figure out the brand/model of the connector. Once that is known, sourcing them should not be too hard. You might need to buy 10 or more to get one, but this stuff is usually pretty cheap these days.
Would someone with one of these connectors please post a few photos?
Top, bottom front, and maybe rear…
Pin to pin spacing is also important. The same style connector often comes in both metric and imperial dimensions.
Looking at a P5 manual it looks like some flavor of JST connector:
If this were my problem, and I didn’t have Paul to help me out, here’s a few things that come to mind FWIW.
If there’s any part marking, and if that leads to a specific JST connector (they make a buzillion styles), I’ve had luck going to their site and ordering. I couldn’t make the min order, but they have (or at least did a few years ago) a “request samples” button. I clicked that, and before long I had 10 free connectors.
If there’s no part marking, maybe Phoenix has online documents mentioning it?
Last resort, use a digital caliper to get all the interface dimensions (spacing, pin size, housing dims, etc.) and try to hunt down several similar ones on Digikey or Allied Electronics or Jamco (etc.). Spec sheets, with dimensions, are usually available. But can be really time consuming. Digikey lets you put in parameters like pin spacing and count and sometimes size, that helps.
But fortunately, you have Paul, haha!
thanks Cliff, I’ll keep this in mind.
Thanks, Steve. I’ll give it a look.
IMO, the best option is to order on of the “variety kits” from Amazon, once you have identified the proper
connector. For the same money you end up with a “lifetime supply”, and probably have any pin count you might need in the future.
Be aware that there are a bazillion chinese sellers out there, some good, some bad. The real thing comes from JST Japan.
Also be aware that crimping the pins to the wire can be very difficult. You want a good tool. You can find pre-crimped wires on Amazon.
The problem has been solved thanks to Paul Burch. He sent me two leads that fit into my plug and I reinstalled the sound card. Everything is working great. A big thanks to Paul, and thanks to everyone else on this chain for their interest and great ideas.
For anyone else picking up this thread, the following information (received from Jim at Phoenix) regarding the connector types might be helpful:
The connector that fits to the board is a JST ZH, series, 1.5mm pitch crimped connector available from Digi-Key:
ZHR-4 connector:
CONN HOUSING ZH 4POS 1.5MM WHT, https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/jst-sales-america-inc/ZHR-4/608643
Crimp Terminals:
CONN SOCKET 26-28AWG CRIMP TIN, https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/jst-sales-america-inc/SZH-002T-P0-5/527363
The downside is the cost of the WC-491 crimping tool for this:
TOOL HAND CRIMPER 26-28AWG SIDE <new users can only input 2 links, sorry>
Chris,
Just curious. How long ago was it that you got that info from Phoenix? I have been under the impression that they are out of business. Although not verified.
It was in the last email I got from them, received 28 September of last year. Subsequent emails have gone unanswered.
Thanks Chris. Kind of confirms what I thought.
Yeah, I’m a bit concerned because I have my own Phoenix sound - Airwire problem. Maybe I’ll just piggy-back on this thread:
I don’t think the Phoenix P8 is the problem. I have it connected to an Airwire NW2 drop-in decoder. When I power up I get the startup sounds and the engine idles. But it seems there’s no DCC control signal going from the Airwire to the P8 – the bell and horn don’t respond to the function keys, and the engine sound doesn’t change with the speed.
I verified (using the Phoenix programmer interface) that the address on the P8 matches the DCC address on the Airwire. I even wired up a different Phoenix decoder and got the same result, so that strongly suggests that the Airwire decoder is at fault.
I don’t see any configuration jumpers on the Airwire that could be mis-configured. Can anyone suggest anything else to try (e.g. DCC CV settings on the Airwire decoder)? Or is it possible the Airwire decoder is just faulty? (I bought it new about 2 years ago, but I’m just trying to get sound working now).
Try re-entering the address of the decoder with the P8 connected. Even though the address appears correct in the programmer, I have found it sometimes is not being recognized by the decoder.