I just bought a bulk package of the Proto Max Magnetic Couplers from Walthers which are supposedly just as good as the Kadee. I installed them on a coupler of my freight cars and already there is a problem. The black metal brake/air hose i’m guessing is too long as it derails the cars when they come to the turnouts or crossings etc. If I take a pair of needle nose pliers I guess I could the brake house down some but then I wonder will I somehow affect the coupler itself? Also the curved proto look would be probably gone which wont look as nice. Was there a reason why manufactures make them so long? Any suggestions?
i would be skeptical about anything that claims to be “as good” as anything else. but, let’s forget that for now before i open a can of worms and the cheerleaders start ranting.
do you have a pair of trip pin pliers? i use Kadee number 5’s almost exclusively and i need to adjust the trip pin or air hose as you call it on most of them. it can be done with a pair of needle nose pliers but i find it much easier to get it right with the special tool.
kadee and micromark sell them to name a couple of sources.
Be happy in your work.
Charlie
Regg,
It may not be the coupler. I have installed about 40 sets of the Proto max couplers w/o any issues thus far.
It sounds like either the cars are sitting to low or the couplers are drooping in their boxes. The Proto max is a copy of Kadee #5 but even the #5 (ol Reliable) did not work on every application. Kadee supplies a conversion chart to assist in the matters. When installing knuckle couplers check the work against a height gauge (lKadee / Micromark / NMRA Gauge are a few available).
Vertical play in a coupler box will also cause the coupler to droop. Elimiante the vertical play with the Kadee red or gray washers. Once all your couplers are fitted to the coupler height gauge you will no longer have these problems.
Hope this helps
Even Kadees need to be adjusted, that’s why they sell a jewler’s tool as a ‘trip pin adjusting pliers’
That said, I still see no reason to switch, since they aren’t substantially cheaper than genuine Kadee, and Kadees always work. They are the only couplers I use.
–Randy
Thanks Charlies
I’m new to the hobby so I didn’t know that was called a trip pin Lol I thought it seriously was a brake hose or something. Where do I get a pair of those types of pliers? A local hardware store or would i have to find a hobby shop for that? Do you just bend them forward some or??? I had thought about taking some needle nose pliers and cutting part of it off or something like that…
If you’re new to the hobby one of the first “tools” you should purchase is a Kadee coupler height gage and learn how to use it. That will help you determine if the coupler installation is the problem, or the cars are the problem. This is what one of them looks like: http://www.kadee.com/htmbord/page205.htm.
This is what the trip pin adjusting plier looks like: http://www.micromark.com/trip-pin-bending-plier-ho-and-o-scale,7521.html.
I just always used a regular pair of needle-nosed pliers to adjust the trip pins.
Yes, that’s what I used to use. Then I changed to a pair of slip-joint pliers, a 16 inch adjustable wrench, and finally a Binford Robo-Max multi-bending action Super Crimper. And then I bought the proper tool when I found out that it had the capability of bending the wire in the other direction in case I went too far the first time.
Too bad ‘Tool Time Tim’ wasn’t a model railroader; he’d have the right tool or break something in the process!
-Bob
PS: I don’t think Binford makes the ‘Super Trip Pin Profile Adjuster’.
I’m with Jeff, I use a needle nose pliers. Although, because of this thread, I looked at the tool that is made for this, and I see it’s merits. I’ve also been known to nip off a bit of the pin, and then do a slight bend up. I have had a few cars guilty of the “coupler sag”, and when they didn’t work right with other cars I coupled to, I made the necessary adjustments. The only thing with using a needle nose, you need to hold on to the coupler firmly.
Just my thoughts,
Mike
OK, I just added this link to my Photobucket pictures, and it does work. What did I do wrong?
Even with Kadee couplers the ‘trip pin’ should be checked against the Kadee gauge on each install. The Proto Max couplers are pretty good - They may be just a little more ‘bulky’ than the Kadee #5. Every once in a while Walthers has a good sale on them - the bulk packs are pretty competitive with Kadee bulk packs.
Most of the time I just order Kadee #140 bulk packs of the #148 ‘whisker’ coupler - I really prefer them anyway - No phosphor-bronze centering spring to wear out and fail within a couple of years!
BTW, I also called them ‘glad hands’ as well - Then I met Kadee’s ‘Sam the Coupler Conversion Man’ at the 2012 Naperville RPM - He said that Kadee has always called them ‘trip pins’ - So I guess that is the ‘official’ name!
Jim
Not sure why you posted this question on this particular thread, but I clicked on your link, http://s1297.beta.photobucket.com/user/wirails/library/layout%20progress#/user/wirails/library/layout%20progress?page=1&_suid=1363407767527004546916409592411, and it opened to a Photobucket page called layout progress.
Because I responded to the coupler question from the OP, and I added this link to my “signature” and I didn’t think it worked, because after I posted my reply, I couldn’t open the link I added to my “signature” So, I responded right back to my own post, wondering why it seemed not to work. But, I guess it does work, Thanks! So, thanks for informing me that the link does work.
Mike.
“Trip pin” dates clear back to the original K coupler, which had a vertical pin that had to be ‘tripped’ by a diamond shaped ramp that rose above the railheads to open it. (I still have some in service, minus the pins.)
My tool of choice for trip pin modification is a pair of long-nose (blunt needle nose) pliers.
If done carefully, it’s possible to re-position Kadee trip pins to the reverse position. Don’t know if Proto-Max allows this.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with Kadees and the occasional clone)