I recently ran one of my 6466WX tenders over a lionel switch and - BAMM - the magnetic coupler pickup snapped off. [banghead]
If I was to obtain the replacement parts (looks like a rivot and plate the rivot goes through) - can this be repaired with everyday household tools? … or do I need special tools to fix this? The picture below is oversized so you can see the broken part.
The tender in the forground has the pickup connected and the tender in the background is the broken one.
Would a local train shop have these types of parts or would I go through some place like Olsen’s Hobby in OH?
What you need are a 480-20 rivet and a TC-109 shoe plate. They shouldn’t cost much, but won’t come close to a minimum order from a seller of train parts. You’re not likely to find them anywhere else. I would take the coupler assembly off the truck to work on it, by removing the wheelsets, not by bending the tabs. The only tools you should need are a center punch and a hammer.
Before you try to get the parts, consider (cyanoacrylate?) gluing the shoe plate back together, in place on the shoe (with the shoe put back into the coupler assembly). If that doesn’t work, you can always go ahead and replace it.
Don’t use Gorilla glue, it is a wood glue. I have used a lot of it for woodworking projects but doubt that it would work for this application. Use a good super glue as Bob suggested.
In addition to Bob’s recommendation, I use the shaft of a small straight blade Craftsman (square shaft) screwdriver under the pick-up shoe to support the bottom of the rivet, and keep the bottom fins of the pick-up shoe off the table, while tapping on the top of the rivet.
It just sank in that the proper name for the kind of coupler you’re dealing with is “electromagnetic”. A magnetic coupler is the later kind with an armature that is pulled down by a magnet in the track. However, we all knew what you were talking about!
Gorilla Glue makes several types of glue. Only one of them is a wood glue. The others are all purpose super glues (which can also be used on wood).
I have used the all purpose maple syrup colored glue on the plastic base of some turnouts. This works well and creates a very strong bond. The downside is the color isn’t clear and you need to clamp it for a while in the beginning. During the clamping period it foams and expands a bit, so you don’t use a lot!
Gorilla glue now has a clear super glue that bonds in 30 seconds and does not need clamping. The glue does not foam or expand like the all purpose glue. This stuff is great! I’ve used to glue cracked plastics, glue items to glass, and also to glue wood to wood. It definitely sets in 30 seconds, and the bond is very very stong.
Thanks for the correction. I was going to call a local train shop tomorrow to see if they had these parts - It’ll be good to be able to reference the correct type of coupler over the phone.
Is it normal for the these pickup shoes to snap off while going over a Lionel switch? After I get it repaired, I’m concerned about running the tender over that same switch again. Could it be the switch itself?
Birds - I’ll take a look at my bottle of Gorilla glue in the morning to see what type it is … I might get lucky and already have the right type of glue.
I’ve had sliding shoes get snagged in switches before and I fix it by filing the plastic shoe into a shallower taper on the leading and trailing edges. (so as to avoid causing inadvertant decouplings, be careful to make sure the rivot head remains below the ridges on the sides; file it down if necessary) That way when the shoe contacts a part of the switch it glides up and over. Make sure the shoe freely moves up and down when you’re through with the repair.
Roland’s advice is probably the answer you need. I solve the problem by wedging a piece of wire under the plate to raise the shoe completely out of the way. Of course, it doesn’t work then; but I have a little circuit that I use instead to allow me to uncouple anywhere on the layout. It charges a capacitor when the locomotive is in neutral for more than a few seconds. Then, the next time the locomotive starts, it discharges that capacitor into the coil of a relay which then activates the coupler.
It’s not for everyone. You need also to be running your motor(s) on DC and using an e-unit for reversing, which happens to be my situation. That’s actually not too hard to do, just a bridge rectifier upstream of the e-unit-motor combination. But you do have to isolate the e-unit frame, improvise a new e-unit on-off switch, or disable the switch completely.
