While at the LHS yesterday, I purchased a pack of the new “whisker” couplers
from Kadee. I love 'em. They center every time and do it smoothly. They also
don’t stick to one side like the brass centering springs on the #5’s sometimes
do.
I installed them on an P2K E7 that I bought while I was there(yea, I really
needed another E unit[B)] ). They dropped right in, without the extra step of
trying to hold the centering spring in place. These seem to be a big improvement
over the other Kadee’s… but only time will tell. Good Luck, Dave
Could it be that your coupler box screw is too tight? In order to get the right amount of tension on the coupler box, I usually pu***he coupler to one side, tighten the screw to the coupler box down till it just binds the coupler, let go of the coupler, then loosen up the screw till the coupler springs back to the center again.
It’s about time!!! I like the knuckle on KD’s, but I always hated that brass centering spring. I have a lot of Mc Henrys and they work great for some applications, but they only work so so. Isn’t it funny how the knuckle coupler companies are going back to the old horn hook centering spring mechanism. I always thought they worked the best.
Too bad real trains didn’t use horn hooks.
Tom,
What I have found is the little brass “finger” tends to lose it’s spring action. I might have
worded it wrong, I should have said the coupler doesn’t return to center as well as it should
with the brass centering spring.
The new BLI E8 that I got for Christmas came out of the box with a damaged centering
spring on the rear coupler. I replaced it with one of the whisker couplers( they come
in a four pack by the way). I left the front coupler as is. I plan to only replace the couplers
when they go bad… that is if these whisker couplers work out over time. We’ll see. Dave
Loathar,
I have tried McHenry couplers in the past and these blow them away. The plastic whiskers
on McHenry and the old horn hooks just didn’t work that well. The whiskers on the new
Kadees are made of metal wire and are very durable. I tried (gently) to bend one of the whiskers
and it stayed straight.
I’m probably starting to sound like a commercial for Kadee, but I really like the way these things
work. They are smooth. Dave
Dave9999-COOL!!! This is the way I’ve always thought this product should be made. I have some locos that have very shallow factory draft gear pockets that I don’t want to cut up and modify.(newer Bach locos can’t accomadate a standard KD centering spring without a bit of cutting and filing) I hope they offer this new coupler with offset heads and shank lengths. I look forward to buying some and trying them out.