what couplers are compatible with Kadee Magnematics (HO scale)?
most (if not all) of the crapy knockoffs are compatible with the kadee couplers. The only one I can think of that IS NOT compatible is the sergeant (?) “scale” couplers that look/work like 1:1 scale type E couplers. They use actual prototypical faces and everything, so they don’t fit the kadee couplers…
Personally though, I would swap EVERYTHING over to KD as soon as posible… or just wait til the non-kadee coupler(s) fail to replace them with Kadee’s
All Kadee couplers for their given scale are compatible with the others.
Why would you want anything “compatible with Kadee” couplers? If you’ve followed other threads in here about couplers, the other brands will be disappointing to you, to say the least. Although some of them cost less, they’re an excellent example of the old adage “you get what you pay for.”
Stick with the Kadee brand and save yourself a lot of headaches (and expense) in the future when you have to replace the impostors with the Kadees.
Clone knuckle couplers by McHenry, Bachmann and others will intermate the Kadee’s. Since the Kadee patents expired in the early '90’s most rolling stock comes from the factory with an all plastic molded knuckle couplers which intermate with Kadee’s. The cheapest of these molded couplers come with a plastic finger as a knuckle spring. These fingers often break off and then the coupler won’t stay coupled. A better sort has a bronze coil spring for the knuckle. The real thing, Kadees, have bronze springs and are made of metal, and are more desirable than any of the clones. Kadee’s now cost $2 a pair and are sold in two-paks and ten-paks.
I run the clone couplers that come with new rolling stock until they break, at which point I replace them with genuine Kadee couplers. At the hobby shop the clone couplers cost as much as Kadee’s, so why not buy the best when it doesn’t cost any more.
A slight correction/expansion on the subject of Kadee’s couplers:
NOT ALL Kadee couplers are metal, infact nearly half of the available product line is plastic. The plastic versions are recommended for installations where there may be a short circuit situation caused by the Locomotive using its frame as part of the electrical path to or from the rails AND mounting options prohibit use of an insulated coupler pocket.
I only offer this information because I was once under the impression that ALL Kadee couplers where like the immensely popular #5, and having followed Kadee’s application chart, purchased a ton of the plastic versions without knowing that they were plasic till I opened the packets and began installing them.
Apon further investigation, I find that there is a metal version of every one that
Thanks to all of you for the great info. My question was based on wondering if I bought rolling stock with, say, McHenry’s, they’d work with Kadees. Everything I now have is equipped with Kadees.
Thanks again.
This is correct. The 30 series of Kadee couplers are plastic to make them non-conductive of electricity. The metal chassis of most locomotives is electrically hot, and metal couplers secured to the chassis with metal screws become hot too. This will lead to electrical short circuits with diese
The only knuckle coupler (that I know of) that won’t mate with ANY Kadee is the Sergent knuckle coupler.
True for currently-available products. The ancient DeVore coupler wouldn’t mate with the contemporary Kadee K coupler either. (The K coupler WILL mate with the current Kadee and Kadee clones. I know. I’m using some, on cars which will never be uncoupled magnetically.)
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
The plastic Horn Hooky ones. [(-D] Seriously, I hate those. So Unrealistic.
If you cut the horn and the trip pins, they will mate with Kadee, but you got to skycrane the car into the coupler… don’t ask me how I know!