Anybody having coupler problems with the new Lionel GP-35?

I have had coupler problems with a majority of Lionel engines produced lately. Yes majority.  It seems at least one of them has an issue on any given engine. My Milwaukee GP is the exception. They both work! Unfortunately, the only way I know how to tell the difference is to unplug the electrical connection. Most of my coupler problems on engines are electrical. But thats just my experience. A few have been sticky and won't open. Many I have unpluged and plugged in again and they work. One coupler was positioned such that it would almost miss the mating coupler. That was on the new Burlington F units. 

try working the coupler a few times.  uncouple with remote and push closed with finger. I had one on my SD70 that all of the sudden started uncoupling and this solved the issue. 

I have the same problem with a Chessie unit(#3044) from several years ago. I replaced the couplers with new ones from lionel and they still open randomly. It is a mechanical problem. I've since glued the long nose end coupler closed and run the engine double headed first with a western Md GP7.

romiller

i had a loco like this. The problem went away when i coupled a weaver car to the engine with a plastic coupler.

romiller,

Funny you mention this.  Same unit (Chessie 3044), same problem.  I simply used a plastic tie to keep the coupler closed.  Must have been an issue with a great number in the lot.

The couplers work fine on my Milwaukee GP35.  I have a few locomotives where the couplers have been stiff when new, but as I always give my couplers a light puff of graphite powder when new, any stiffness then disappears after a few activations.

If yours are a bit stiff, it could be that they are not closing properly, and a light puff of graphite powder may well cure this.  Whatever you do though, don't use oil on the couplers. That tends to gum them up completely. 

The first step for me is to determine if it's electrical or mechanical.  That involves pulling the coupler plug and seeing if it still uncouples.  If it doesn't, it's electrical.  I find the usual fix is a 1uf 50V non-polarized capacitor directly across the coupler connection fixes most of these.  If it's mechanical, I like Nicole's suggestion first, failing that a replacement coupler is not that expensive.

Might want to check your non-powered units too...

My new GP & RS non-powered units had to go back to Lionel.

The tolerance on the knuckles was too tight. Cars and engines from other suppliers including theirs would not connect together causing the coupler to stay open.

Even when placing a freight car coupler directly over the closed diesel coupler, the cars coupler would not slip into it and sit flush.

The couplers were made wrong from a particular vendor and were replaced with the correct versions. Another company had the same problem concerning rolling stock couplers probably from made from the same overseas supplier.

The coupler issues were not mentioned in the GP-35 OGR article. Dummy units and connecting to other supplier’s rolling stock should also be part of all reviews as well.

This engine has the  newer RCMC board and not a R2LC or R4LC. Adding a capacitor will blow the driver circuit for the coupler. It probably is a mechanical problem.

Bill

Thanks bill, have to adjust to the new world!   Keep me honest.

Thanks for all the help, everybody!  The more I read and look into this problem, I believe it is a mechanical problem.  I'll try the remote open & manual close a few times and see if that helps any.  I'll also pull the plug on the coupler and see if that makes a difference too. 

Thanks again,

AF

SIRT,

The unpowered unit is where it's uncoupling from.  It looks to be in fine shape.  I took it off the train and it still uncoupled from the first car.

AF

Good Afternoon!

Anytime I have this problem, I take the coupler apart and lengthen the spring about a 1/4".  Then file the radius where the pin sits into a reverse corner.  The locking pin then hits the side of the knuckle, instead of the radius in the corner causing the pin move back and uncouple.  Cost of this fix is a coupler rivet.