I have some freight cars that need new couplers.I noticed that Bachmann has the EZ couplers and now I’ve noticed an EZII coupler.From what I read the EZ coupler wasn’t to hot but are the new ones acceptable,or do I have to spend the extra money for the Kadee’s
Thanks
Terry
What scale is this? I know in N they have this new one called ‘Dummy Knuckle’ and Con-Cor have these on all their rolling stock and passenger cars as well and seems to be the new standard 'economy; coupler. I personally don’t like them as they are very sensitive to tight corners and kind of too fiddly for N scale…it’s either that or the spring on my Life-Like is too stiff…either way, I am still using the goo old Rapido’s and seems to work well.
In HO, at least, it’s a no-brainer. Go with the Kadees. They work, they are reliable, and they don’t break in service. The cheaper ones will likely fail and have to be replaced, and there goes your savings, not to mention the effort to replace them a second time.
I second that, Kadee’s are definately the way to go if it’s HO. For a while I was sticking with the stock couplers on my rolling stock/locos and replacing as needed but it got to the point where I had many issues with the various coupler types not always playing well together. I’ve since started upgrading most of my fleet with the newer Kadee whisker couplers. They are fantastic, very easy to install and I haven’t had any centering issues. Of course the #5’s, old reliable, always work well too!
Kadee’s are the best way to go if you are modeling HO. I only use the Bachmann EZ couplers on cars that have metal chassis and cannot use the plastic Draft Gear Box such as the Round House rolling stock.
Most of the time you can mount the draft gear box and then use the kadee couplers.
Bill
Don’t the kadee 20 series have plastic shafts to insulate against that problem vs. using a Bachmann or McHenry?
Can’t speak as to the Bachmann EZ II branded couplers, I have been working with their McHenry equivalent KS - Knuckle Spring - series and found them to be quite acceptable.
Mark Gosdin
Yes they do…I use 28s on my Athearn BB units.
I’ve tried all the others and always returned to Kadee. However, unlike the others I will not write off a product until I try it. As this is the first I’ve every heard of an EZII, I won’t say it is bad without giving it a fair shake. Generally I would say if it has an EZII coupler already on it, just us it and see if any issues surface. If they do --THEN-- replace it with a Kadee.
In my earlier post I left out the difference between the Bachmann “EZ Mate Coupler” and the EZ Mate Mark II" coupler.
The difference in the two is the mechanism that closes the knuckle coupler and keeps it closed. On the regular EZ Mate it is a small sliver of plastic that pushes against the outside of the knuckle and closes it. If by chance the knuckle is forced open for a long time the little piece of plastic looses it’s spring ability and doesn’t close the coupler. Athearn uses these couplers on their BB line and the Ready to Roll line. I’m not sure about their Genesis locos.
The Mark II couplers are made like Kadee’s. They have a coil spring that pushes the knuckle closed and keeps it closed. Also these couplers cost more than the standard EZ Mate couplers.
I bought a card of 25 pairs of the Mark II couplers and found about 25% had bent shanks that made the coupler hang low and not line up properly. I paid $20. for a card of 25 pairs. I got a bulk pack (20 pair) of Kadee’s for $24. online.
If I had known at the time that Kadee made the 20 series plastic shanks I would have gone with them over the Bachmann EZ Mate II couplers.
Bill
I only use Kadee’s. I have not had a problem with the metal shanks shorting out because I clip off the “brake hose” magnetic actuator. I think the coupler mounted brake line looks silly with the scale brake hose right next to it.
I use the old fashioned ‘meat hook’ method for uncoupling the cars.
The “plastic draft gear box” should insulate a metal coupler from a metal chassis.
Older Roundhouse CAST metal floors (and coupler pockets) can take the KD #28 or 20 series plastic coupler using the standard flat centering spring.
REPORTS here from Forum members suggests that KD’s plastic coupler is superior to other’s. I interchange with #5’s regularly.
ON THE CHEAP - use the FREE OEM coupler 'till it fails (it will) then replace it w Kadees. CAVEAT: Matching types couple and UNcouple better. SOME OEM’s are so bad, I relace imediately.
i use easy mate 2s and i love them, no problems sofar, just uncoupling/failing when the train derails
hmm… I’ve yet to short anything out using the Roundhouse cast metal floor and the KD #5’s… granted I have the OEM plastic truck assemblies, so that might be doing it for me… I’ll just have to be careful about what I couple that car to until I can fix it…
(I bought the kit thinking it had a plastic floor, like the other one I had in my hand… I was wrong)
Thankyou all for the great responses
Terry
The Kadee coupler is better than bachmann’s EZ coupler because bachmann’s coupler is Plastic and Kadee’s coupler is metal.