Hi I had ordered on ebay last month,the Kadee 11 bulk 20 pair #5 couplers.since I have been using them most all of the springs have popped out.I emailed kadee about this issue.They said the cannot help me out since it,was from ebay.Has anyone here had the same issue with,these couplers? And what are the best couplers to buy in Ho? So I dont have the same problems.
Kadee #148 whisker coupler is a drop in replacement for the #5 and its goofy brass spring.
The #148 does everything a #5 will do and fits everywhere the #5 fits just by removing the spring needed for the #5.
There are other couplers that work well but none can claim to be better than a Kadee. In my experience Kadee are the best choice over all the others I have tried. Walthers Proto are basically the same as a #5 and the #148 is a better design. Bachmann EZ Mate II work fine but are plastic and not as robust as a Kadee metal coupler. I don’t like McHenry couplers nor the two piece accumate. I also don’t think much of those Macdonald-Cartier copies of Kadees used by Rapido for reasons unclear to me. Kadee are better than all of those.
I am puzzled by your description that the #5 springs “popped out”. Once theyre installed they can’t pop anywhere, there’s a lid screwed down on top of the spring and coupler (or snapped on if you’ve moved up to Kadee’s newer snap together coupler boxes which you should if you can).
Once the coupler and its spring are installed you can’t even see the spring and it cannot pop out of the coupler box.
What rolling stock are you fitting these to?
Metrolink,
No matter where you buy them from or how you store them, the tiny springs on Kadee couplers will occassionally pop out. It happens. When it does it’s very fixable though. What you need is a pair of good-quality, fine-tip tweezers - e.g. #3C or #5.
Using your tweezers:
- Grab a coil near one end of the spring and push it onto either one of the protruding knobs on the side of the coupler - I prefer the one on the shank side because of Step 2
- Place your thumb tip over the top of that end of the spring to hold it in place - This will keep the spring from either slipping off or launching into the etherworld
- Grab a coil near the other end of the spring with your tweezers and compress the spring until it slides onto the other protruding knob
It may take a little practice at first but you can re-install a spring in 15-30 seconds. What is also helpful in accomplishing this is 1) a good task lamp, and 2) a magnifier - e.g. Opti-visor - to aid in seeing what you are doing.
Some folks have had success in using a #11 X-acto blade to accomplish the same task but I find tweezers easier to use. The jaws of quality tweezers are ground flat so that align properly. A pair can cost $20-$30 (or more) but they are worth their weight in gold in my book and I use them all the time for various tasks.
So, the springs on those Kadees are going to come off from time-to-time. However, all hope is not lost if you have the right tool. [:D]
HTH,
Tom
The OP is talking about the knuckle spring; not the copper[-color] center spring.
There should be nothing wrong with the Kadee couplers. First look just to make sure there is a pointy nub on the ‘‘head’’ of the coupler and a non-pointy nub on the ''knuckle" where the spring will sit on. The ‘‘Kadee spring pick #235’’ is a good tool to have around if you have not found anything else to do the job by this time. (and extra knuckle springs, copper in color). Put the spring on the ''knuckle non-pointy nub first then on the ‘‘Head’’ pointy nub second. Some people have put a VERY LITTLE DAB of GOO glue at the spring and non-pointy nub at the “knuckle” end. I have never needed the GOO glue band-aid fix.
When I started this reply, nobody replied yet, guess I was a little slow with one eye at this time. Maybe I just took more time to read the OP’s question and understood what he was asking. I am slow.
“They all do that” but I’m surprised that “all” of them fell out. Kadee are the best at holding onto those springs. Certainly no other brand does any better. Maybe these EBay sourced couplers are not the real Kadee?
Kadee’s uncoupler tool (dual tool #241) is the easiest method I’ve found. Fit the broader end of the tool into the coupler knuckle spring about 2/3 of the way along (Kadee instructions say at the last two coils from one end but I just eyeball it). Fit the longer side of the spring onto the nub on the shank, compress the spring and then slip the shorter end over the corresponding nub on the knuckle. Easy peasy…most times.
I find working with the free end of the spring pointing toward my locomotive foam cradle as a kind of backstop can help locate a knuckle spring that flies off while you attempt this. Practice makes this easier.
All brands that copied the Kadee design present the same problem. Unsurprisingly, Kadee are the best.
The only way I can see that “they all fall out” would be…
1)wrong springs (too short).
2)soft spring.
3)wrong tension (heated the spring and lost tension).
4)no nubs on the coupler to hold the springs.
When you get the spring back in place, the spring should close the knuckle fully. hold the knuckle closed with your fingers and recheck that the coil spring has no free play forward or backward on the nubs. You can not go wrong with Kadee couplers.
I suspect these are knock offs. If so, then deep six all of them and buy proper Kadees from a reliable supplier. Whisker couplers are superior to the old #5 although the knuckles and springs are the same.
One thought: Kadee supplies bright brass springs for regular couplers and blackened ones for scale head. #5 need the bright brass colour.
Just btw, copper isn’t springy. Kadee says their springs are phosphour bronze which makes sense as that is a springy alloy.
We’re talking HO, right?
When you buy replacement knuckle springs, be sure to get the right ones. Springs for the ‘standard’ size #5 knuckles are different from spings for ‘scale’ head couplers in the #58 family. Tweezers or the Kadee coupler spring pick are the right tools for placing them.
Some days I have to work with them inside a giant freezer bag to corral the springs. Putting a tiny dot of clear parts cement on the end with the long nub helps to keep them in place. If you are losing a lot of them, you need to review your coupling and uncoupling techniques.
When installing springs, you can use a piece of thread looped through o loop of the spring to keep track of it should it fly away. You can waste a lot of time looking for lost springs. They’re like single socks that get lost in the dryer. Keep some spares around.
It does make you wonder if they are ‘knock offs’'. I’d like to see the package they came in.
I did not say the spring was copper, I said copper color.
If they were genuine Kadee’s, I’d think Kadee would stand behind them and not make excuses to avoid support. Disappointing if so.
The Kadee knuckle springs generally stay put but can pop out. I’ve always saved any extra’s for replacements. You should be able to purchase a package of the springs separately.
Some Companys do not honor warrentys on E-commerce purchases if not purchased directly from them.
EDIT: yes i should have added above “Kadee Licenced Dealer or Kadee Authorized Dealer” after the words ''directly from them."
There were always extra coil springs in the packages. The hardest thing is to seperate them when they get coiled together. I found out that two #11 blades worked the best to seperate the coils.
What Kadee’s do you recomend I buy not the ones I had? So this problem dose not occur again.
My first HO scale trains, acquired in the mid-'50s, all had Kadee couplers. At that time, uncoupling was done by a diamond-shaped mechanical uncoupling ramp, which was remotely activated from the control panel. The ramp simply forced apart the straight wires which extended from the knuckles, opening them.
If the cars in those days had been more free-rolling, it might have been possible to do a flying drop if one was quick to re-align a turnout.
Here’s what they looked like…
The knuckle springs were much stronger than those used nowadays, so they seldom popped-out of their own accord.
I was disappointed when Kadee phased them out, and for several years, simply snipped-off the magnetic “glad hands” from the newer style couplers, as, to me at least, they looked even less prototypical than the earlier ones.
I eventually did come around to accepting the magnetic uncouplers, and especially enjoy the delayed uncoupling feature, where a car(s) can be spotted anywhere beyond the location of the magnet.
A friend gave me one of those Kadee tools for installing knuckle springs, but I’ve always used a #11 blade in an X-Acto handle for installing knuckle springs: simply slip the tip of the blade into the tightly-wound coils near one end of the spring, then position the free end of the spring onto either one of the nubs meant to hold it. You can then manoeuvre the other end into place. I’ve lost very few springs over the years.
An often-used tip from the past for preventing knuckle springs from randomly popping out was to apply a very small dab of contact cement to one of the nubs, before installing the spring. Since the contact cement was not used in the proper manner (applied to both surfaces of the mating piece
The Kadee #5 is an excellent coupler. I doubt they are knock-offs if they came in the blue background package and said Kadee. My only thought would be you accidentally knocked them out. Even a light brush with a finger over the spring can cause them to come out.
Maybe Sam will see this post and comment.
I would just chalk it up to accidental handling and order replacement springs.
I think you should contact Sam at Kadee and see if he can help you.
Edit:
I can’t remember a Kadee spring ever coming out without some external help. They have always had something help them.
Mel
Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951
My Model Railroad
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
Bakersfield, California
Aging is not for wimps.
No the sprongs poped out when theywere in use on my fright cars,locomotives some wre already pioped out in the package after i opened it.I really dont want to buys these ones again.What ones shall i get are athearn ones pretty good?
Kadee is the best and the most robust. The other “brands” - most plastic - just don’t hold up.
I originally thought you received a package of the #5 couplers and they came off inside the package. If they are coming off during use then there must be something happening during coupling/uncoupling that isn’t normal. I would investigate that first before switching to another brand.
Tom
Hello All,
Kadee has been the “Gold Standard” of couplers for decades.
As soon as I get a new piece of rolling stock I replace the stock couplers with Kadee.
I prefer the tried and true #5s. I have had problems with the whiskers on the 140-series breaking off.
To date, I have had 15 whisker failures with two (2) couplers having both whiskers break off. This has happened with OEM coupler boxes and the aftermarket Kadee ones- -both the #242 & #262. All body mounted.
Yes, occasionally I will lose a knuckle spring.
This has been traced to coupler shanks being too short through my 15-inch curves, “bucking” from locomotives that weren’t speed matched and, “hard” coupling- -when the cars slam into each other during coupling.
If you are using truck-mounted couplers this could also cause problems with the knuckle springs.
Also, if the coupler heights are not aligned this can cause problems with the knuckles.
Using a Kadee #206 HO Insulated Coupler Height Gauge will also help you diagnose any misaligned, drooping, and other coupler problems.
Be careful using adhesives to secure the knuckle spring(s). Because of the close tolerances of the knuckles, it is easy to get some adhesive in the mechanism and foul the operation of the coupler.
When I do need to replace the knuckle springs I prefer the MicroMark Spring Grabber over the Kadee tool.
You would be hard-pressed to find a more reliable coupler, despite your unique experiences.
I doubt it is a fault with the couplers per se.
When/how do you notice the knuckle springs are missing?
Does it happen seemingly randomly, over a specific section of track, or after a period of running time?
Answering these questions w