A coupling conundrum.

Hi Nicole, I did read a little about the new bottom plates on the Lionel couplers causing some problems, but I never seen or heard anything like what you describe.

It dose go to show though just how much heat 18VAC can generate.

 

With all the testing how much damage was done to your new car?

I know some of them get close, but I've never had one actually contact the rail and flash over. 

I suppose a small piece of electrical tape over the plate could fix it.

Sounds like what she did.

Maybe there is some slack in the release plate. Does it seem loose when it moves? If so, inserting a small object at the loose point(s) may keep it above the center rail.

 

Lionel used release plates on postwar 15" streamlined aluminum cars for years without causing shorts.

 

Perhaps components of the couplers and trucks on that car are the right (or wrong) combination to invoke Murphy's Law.

I have seen this with some cars down at the club, usually with the 'thumbtacks." It's usually related to a drooping coupler bar that needs tightening, or in the case of Weaver cars, the truck is too loose on the car frame.

 

On the "plate" type, it's usually a plate that's too loose as mentioned above. The only thing I can think of to fix that is bending the retaining tabs on top of the truck (complicated) or using electrical tape (simple.)

Have you tried different engines or cars to couple to it? Here's a big if, but if the engine's coupler has too high (or the car's coupler is too low, or both), when it hit the coupler it might push it downward a bit. The long shank may make it easier to get moved downward.

 

J White

 

FWIW dropping your track voltage down to 15v or so will stop the "welding".

I've got the same problem with the refrigerator cars on my recently purchased BNSF Ice Cold Express.

I also applied the same fix, tape.  Problem solved.

 

Gary

I've used the liquid electrical tape a few times in this situation.  Seems to stay on better than the electrical tape.

 

Jim

Golly!  Thanks for all the replies. My apologies for the tardy response, but I was asleep.

 

From reading your replies, it would seem that I've managed to find a couple of trucks where all the manufacturing tolerances may have gone the same way. I suppose that the release mechanism has to have a bit more play on these trucks to allow for them being sprung.  Still, a piece of black tape cured it, and I shall make fitting a piece of tape standard practice on any other new cars with the same trucks. 

 

Mario, no real damage to worry about. Just some neat little spot-weld marks on the trailing edge of each plate. The track just needed a good polish to remove the matching marks on the centre rail.  I'm glad that I was only using one 150W transformer at the time instead of the full 300W, otherwise the welds could have been much stronger.

 

Gunrunnerjohn, It was quite an experience. The flashes were quite brilliant.

 

Readingfan & Matt, Yes, the plate assembly does have quite a lot of free movement, but I expect that most of this is necessary for the design and to allow for sprung trucks. A piece of tape seemed to be the simplest cure. 

 

J White, yes, I tried different cars with different coupler heights. I even closed the coupler manually with my finger. All had the same result - flash-zap-click.

 

RickO, thanks, but I keep my voltage at 18v as some electro-couplers seem to be a bit reluctant at less than that voltage.

 

Gary, Phew! I'm so happy to hear that I'm not the only one who has encountered this. I wonder if we should ask Lionel to apply the tape at the factory to save us having to do it?

 

Jim. I'll have to try that. But I have lots of black tape that is just the right width at the moment. Thanks for the suggestion. 

 

Thanks again everyone.