I fitted a couple of my cars with MTL couplers. Today, I installed a MTL 1310 magnetic uncoupler in a piece of track, and the uncoupling doesn’t work at all.
If I push a car over then magnet, the coupler moves to the side as expected. But 2 cars coupled together will not uncouple at all. If I move them back and forth they uncouple sometimes, sometimes not.
Is there anyone here who has experience with uncoupling MTL couplers using magnets and who can help me with that? Does this uncoupling actually work??
I think you have to come to a stop over the magnet and let it force the two couplers apart. Then you pull away and back up again to puhe car with the spread couplers into position. That lets you puhe car without recoupling.
There was a cool little demonstrator display at the local hobby shop that performed the coupling/uncoupling function endlessly as long as you held down the button. That was how it did it.
You have to stop with the couplers over the magnet, backup slighly to release the knuckles, then pull forward. The cars should uncouple. Then when you back up again, the magnetic force on the drawbar pulls the knuckles to an open position and then you can pu***he car to its desired location and pull away.
I tried this procedure on a short piece of track with a magnet installed.
When I pu***he cars by hand over the magnet, the couplers move to the outside
as they should. But when I couple 2 cars and move them onto the magnet, the
knuckels won’t disengage, even when I slightly rock them back and forth, to create
the needed slack. Sometimes they do though, but it takes some time.
I wonder if it is a matter of greasing them, so that they come apart more easily.
I ordered the MTL grease, and hope that this will fix my problem.
I just like to know that it works at all, so that I don’t waste time and money on
something that doesn’t realy work.
Make sure the couplers move freely and the centering spring is not binding. Kadee greasem[ graphite] may be needed. Make sure the glad hand/ trip lever is as low as the gauge allows- the coupler operation especially delayed action depends on this. Many times modelers will bend the pin up for clearance but have it too far away from the magnet for proper operation.
Bob K.
Also try this little trick I learned from a trainclub I used to belong to.
Take a look at the knuckle of the coupler, you will see the molding lines. Take a small file and file them down smooth. Sometimes there is just enough extra material to make them bind a little. Doing that will them operate better.