Is anybody else having the knuckles pull out on thier. Ethanol cars? I had two fail. Both at the pin. The loop that wraps around it split. This is the first i ran them, and it didnt make.it the first trip.
Sounds like a cheap coupler issue. The best and quickest solution would be to replace both sets of couplers with Kadees. Problem solved…
Tom
What is the designation (gallons) of the car, and what scale? An item number would provide all of the needed info.
That is what I did. Used Kadees shelf coupler. If that is a common problem with those cars thou, then I will have to invest in a bunch of the kadees.
If these are the Accurail ‘Acumate’ couplers that are normally supplied with Atlas cars, they should not do what you describe. They are a little ‘stiff’ and oversize(even compared to standard Kadee couplers). They are good enough that I use them unless they break(then replace them with real Kadee couplers. I see you got the ear of Paul Graff(President of Atlas). I am sure he can work things out to your satisfaction.
Jim
Get used to having couplers fail until you’ve replaced them all with Kadees. Decide which Kadees you like the best and buy them in bulk.
That’s what I do with all my rolling and locomotives, as I acquire them. And I don’t even bother keeping the old couplers. I just toss 'em in the trash…
Tom
Even for plastic couplers, this is an unusual failure mode. I suppose it could just have been a badly-molded batch with a weak spot, but…
Are these long cars and are you running them through tight curves, in particular an S-curve? My thinking is that such a curve might put too much stress on that pin and the point at which it mounts. If you replace the couolers with Kadees of the same size, you will prevent the couplers from breaking but you may find that the cars derail as the couplers won’t swing far enough to navigate the curve.
i don’t throw them out I remove the horn hooks from train set cars glue in the plastic and use them for display. Only Kadee are used on the actual layou.
Assuming yuo are talking about HO scale, look at this Kadee chart under where is says “Kadee HO-Scale Mounting Screw Sizes” The shelf couplers are in the 3 right hand columns
Mr.B,I had a Atlas J.M.Huber Slurry tank car with Accumates to operate trouble free for three years on a club layout before I realize I had forgotten to change out to KDs. This car was a miracle of the first order since it was switched a lot during those two years.The layout was point to point and every train was rebuilt in the yards.
They say the look on my face was priceless when they handed me the car after being told the coupler broke.Yes,they had a good laugh.
I’m thinking about rejoining that club after the first of the year even though its around a 45 minute drive.
So come on, NVSRR, Mr. Graff from Atlas posted here asking about your issue. Any time a rep from the company sounds interested in a consumer’s problem it is generally beneficial to provide the requested info.
Sorry about the delay. So the curves are 22" and 20" radius curves. Shouldn’t be much stress. The cars are the Trinty TILX 25, 500 gal cars. I did replace the failed couplers with kadees. I also took a pic of one set and have sent it in to my photos so once it gets posted to the site you can see what I have. The production run at the latest is 2014.