I got Corey (my 4yo) his first engine for his birthday in August - the 0-6-0 dockside switcher from the Alaska Work Train Set (6-30045). The engine runs fine, however, the rear coupler opens constantly - the slightest bump, a sneeze, a cloud over the sun will cause it to open. Looking closely at the coupler, it’s a cheap, plastic thing with a spring that if you compress it a sixteenth of an inch allows the coupler to open. Anyone else run into this problem? Anyone have any idea how to rectify it? I’ll be pulling out my Halloween docksider soon, so at least I can compare the two and maybe figure out why one works fine and one doesn’t.
Spank,
Your Alskan Set is beautiful and It’s unfortunate that you have a problem with the engine’s rear coupler.
I checked my U.S. Army Transport. unit and I have no problems with both couplers.
My couplers look to be made of plastic, but actually the arm, head and knuckle are made of metal.
They’re articulted, self centering and each have a long spiral compression spring, which fits into the bottom of the couplers’ arm and each coupler has a movable sqare metal assembly plate, located on the underside of and at the pivot point of the couplers’ arms and these plates, when magnetically affected, cause the knuckles to open.
Each component, of an operating knuckle coupler, has their own spring, or springs:
Arm-(one-for self centering);
Assembly Plate and Knuckle-( one-the same compression spring keeps both the A.P. and Knuckle closed);
Knuckle-(one-another spring to pop open the knuckle).
Good Luck,
Ralph
Spanky,
If indeed the bottom of the coupler is metal (the part that has the pin in it), The Train-Station.com in Mt. Lakes, yeah, the same one you’ve been to, has a fix on their web site. They show how to bend the metal so that the pin is pushed further up and into the actuator. I just happen to come across this on their web site yesterday.
Dennis
If you can find exactly where that is I’d appreciate it - I just went through their website and didn’t see it anywhere.
Spanky,
I’m sorry I don’t have a digital camera to post a photo., but do your couplers have the same components, which I described in my previous post?
Ralph
Here ya go:
http://train-station.com/cgi-bin/shop.pl/page=1-00120.html/SID=729736023
Hope this helps,
Dennis
Yep, that pretty much sounds like it. I’ll try to take a picture of it at some point and post it.
Spank,
That’s a shame that your coupler is malfunctioning, the couplers seem to be made and work well.
I’ll keep an eye on my couplers.
I wonder if the compression spring, of your coupler, might need to be stretched.
I haven’t fooled with mine to see if the spring can easily be removed.
Please, notify us if and when you get it repaired.
Thanks,
Ralph
It’s very strange - all I need to do is move the release a tiny bit and the coupler pops open. And there doesn’t appear to be anyway to adjust it. As I said, I have another dockside switcher, the Halloween one (actually I also have the Christmas one too), which I should be pulling out for our Halloween display shortly - I’m going to compare the two to see what’s different.
Spank, I’ve had this problem once in a while and I’ll note that it can happen with any kind of coupler from any era… I’ve had it happen with postwar ones too.
The fix is easy and was mentioned. On couplers with a metal armature, you take two pairs of neednose pliers (two makes it easy but it can be done with one). With one pair you grab the armature as close as you can to the spring where it is connected to the coupler. With the other pair, you grab the end of the armature closest to the coupler pin and bend that side slightly upward… that should solve the problem.
On couplers with plastic armatures, I remove the armature and hold it over the gas jet on my stove with a pair of needlenose pliers… I hold it about 8-10 inches above the flame for about 10-15 seconds and then with a second pair of pliers, I bend the end closest to the pin upward and blow on it immediately to cool it and keep the bend in place. I’ve gotten real good at doing this one and it works everytime.
I’ll note here, it’s good to have some extra armatures on hand until you master the height and heat intensity needed to do the job right. The very first time I tried this one, I accidentally melted the coupler pin going off the end of the armature. I didn’t make that mistake again.
There are other fixes for older MDK K-Line couplers and Industrail Rail couplers, but that’s another topic.
Yeah, one “fix” that has been spoken of by Chief was to obtain dental rubber bands (kind they use with braces) and wrap one around the coupler shaft and armature.
Yepper as DENNIS and CHIEF does that’s what I do too. Wrap a rubber band used for braces, very small ones, around the shaft of the coupler, I had no problems with them coming open.
laz57
Spanky, I had the same problem after I replaced the rear coupler on my docksider because it snapped off during an “incident”. The replacement kept opening going around curves so I bent the metal armature slightly just like Brianel027 described and it has worked great since.
Paul