Anyone have experience with Kadee (was Atlas 2-rail) Electrocoupler?

Those Atlas "scale" electro-couplers would only work with Lionel TMCC equipped models. They where not real easy to install, as compared to mounting Kadee couplers. They also were VRY difficult to close, i.e you had to bash the crap out of them, and they still wouldn't close & latch.

Thus, they are no longer available from Atlas,,,,,,thank heavens!

These couplers were released in June, 6 months ago.  They are in stock at Atlas.  I thought I had read on the Forum that Atlas was reworking the.  Perhaps someone on the 2-rail forum has additional information.

Jan

I thought Atlas had dropped them. I have a few. On one engine that I use to switch cars they work OK. I had one that did not couple very smooth and took more force. That one would only work to couple with a string of about five or more cars. The others work best with more than one car.

 I have seen them drop the string of cars when I was pulling a very long train. Overall I think they have their place. They have a large box that needs a big opening in the pilot. They work with my MTH boards so I'm pleased. I don't think they are what some 3railers are used to. I like them for making up trains out of my yard. Maybe I'll asign them as pushers so they can drop the train at the top of a hill.

Are you sure that you are not referring to the "new" Atlas O 2-Rail Scale couplers, which came out this past summer? The previous Atlas O-Scale couplers (Adjust-A-Coupler) from some years ago, kept breaking so Atlas re-designed them and all their current 2-Rail rolling stock come equipped with those "newer" 2-Rail scale couplers. However, these "newer" scale couplers are NOT electric/electro-couplers.

I have not seen ANY of those "electric electro-couplers" in MANY years.

 Well, I'll be...

https://secure.atlasrr.com/ato1/itemdesc.asp?ic=7038&eq=&Tp=

so would this work with a dcc set up?

I would think it would depend on wether the board could drive the solenoids on it's function outputs. You'd have to know what the cap is for the functions and how much it takes for the solenoids to operate so you don't overtax the board.

The function outputs on the DCC boards I have are set up for low current bulbs and I doubt would drive a solenoid.  It  might be worth an inquiry to a decoder manufacturer to get a definitive answer.  Jim Scorse of NCE posts on the 2 rail forum and could provide info on his decoder line.  An alternative approach to driving a solenoid scale coupler would be to put a turnout decoder in the locomotive and issue a DCC  accessory command to trigger it.

About 2 years ago a fellow on the 3RS forum posted videos of his approach for an electronic scale coupler.  He used a body mounted solenoid to pull an actuating arm connected to the knucke of a slightly modified Kadee coupler.  He posted videos showing them installed on the pilot and tender of a Sunset B&O locomotive, as well as on a caboose.  They looked good seemed to work well.

Ed Rappe

I've been experimenting with these on a 3 rail TMCC equipped Weaver Baldwin VO1000 switcher.  Out of the box the coupler is as Hot Water describes.  It takes too much momentum to couple nicely.  However, the coupler can be tamed a bit. 

I haven't finished the experiment yet, but the first thing I did was to compare the profile with a Kadee coupler.  I then took a Dremel and tried to match the profile of the Kadee. 

All Atlas couplers have always had a centering spring that was too stiff.  Many including myself use a Kadee centering spring to get better coupling action.  The problem with the electro coupler is that the wires require a stiffer spring to compensate for the extra friction caused by the wires.  I haven't replaced the Atlas centering spring yet, but the ability to use a softer spring would help.

What I have come up with so far is that after modifying the electro coupler's profile, coupling with an electro coupler engine and a Kadee equipped freight car works decently with the electro coupler closed and relying on the ability of the Kadee to easily go off center to make the joint.  There is no problem with uncoupling.  The biggest problem is coupling with the electro coupler open.  I haven't done enough work to tell whether the effort needed to get the electro coupler to close can be overcome.  The coupler can be triggered by both TMCC/Legacy and MTH's DCS. (I tried it with Proto2 DCS board.)  I haven't worked with DCC yet.

I remembered this post from the now defunct Atlas Forum by JoeW14626 on his attempt to make an electrocoupler version of the O scale Kadee coupler.  I've included the posted video and a Pdf version of the post.  Here's a link to his original post for as long as it remains working.

http://forum.atlasrr.com/forum...e&TOPIC_ID=51541

Unfortunately, the link to the photo album appears to have expired.

He uses a HO switch machine motor to operate the coupler via a linkage.  His method is too bulky for locomotives unless it can be miniaturized.

Jan