Kadee want a NON MAGNETIC wheel set, OK, using Metal wheels is against that or am I wrong?
Have 160 cars to convert and do not want to do them twice if you get the idea.
thank you
It’s the axles you have to worry about not the wheels you want non -magnetic axles
and metal wheels like proto 2K wheel sets.
Mike
As I presume you guessed, you’re wrong, all metal isn’t magnetic. So you could have aluminum, brass (eg. nickle-silver), copper, or even pot-metal wheels and/or axles and they would be “non-magnetic”.
Then, the reason for “non-magnetic” is so the magnets used to uncouple the cars don’t also move the cars or prevent them from moving. If you don’t use magnets for uncoupling (like I don’t) this is not an issue.
The object of the game is to prevent the track magnet from pulling slack into the couplers as they pass over the magnet, and may be rather overstated. I’m running magnetic cars (all steel) but don’t seem to be having any false uncoupling.
Quick test of your rolling stock - lay it on its back in a cradle and try to lift it up using a Kadee permag ramp. If it lays still, no problem. If it moves, you might have a problem.
Pretty much anything you get today has non-magnetic axles at the least and usually non-magnetic wheels as well. All the popular replacement wheelsets, for one - although I use exactly two types - Proto2000 and for where those don’t fit, Reboxx. You might find magnetic material in older rolling stock and in some brass models.
If the wheels or axles are attracted by the uncoupling magnet, it can interfere with the slack action required to allow the knuckle to open, or cause slack when you DON’T want it, making the cars uncouple.
Just another excuse to go easy on the permanent magnets - also grades can cause problems with this too. I will NOT have any permanent magnets on my main line.
And this is another excuse to bring this up, too - I use ONLY Kadee couplers - I change out all the other brands, ESPECIALLY Accumates and P2K. Those 2 piece (actually 3, the air hose is a seperate piece) designs are poor at bes when it comes to magnetic uncoupling, and the slightly different knuckle contours make using the skewer method more of a pain than it should be.
–Randy
What they mean by “nonmagnetic” is that they shouldn’t be made of a ferrous metal (iron based).
For the record, older Athearn cars have steel axles. These are attracted to a permanent magnet uncoupler and can make a car surge at the wrong time and uncouple the cars, since you ARE over the uncoupling magnet.
[#ditto] Worth repeating. And I’ll go one step further. The owners of more and more layouts that I am operating on are removing ALL magnets, not just from the main. We mostly use the bamboo skewers now. Learn from years of experience, don’t waste money on magnets that will just be ripped out later when they cause more trouble than they save.