Lionel Electro couplers

A couple of things spring to mind.

Firstly, I find that a little squirt of graphite powder into the coupler makes them work a lot smoother. Especially if they are a little 'sticky' when new.  Don't ever use oil though, that is not a good idea with electro-couplers.

The other thought is that perhaps your couplings are not lined up correctly when you are attempting to couple. Have you watched the coupling process and checked that they are aligned correctly?  Sometimes one coupler can be too far to one side, and they miss. 

First, will the couplers mate manually? Push the two items together manually and see if they couple. If not find out why. If they mate without much trouble then do so automatically and watch to find out what the problem is. Some couplets will not mate due to design problems. I call these Green Giant couplers because it takes the Jolly Green Giant to lift the car and complete the couple. If it is a design problem then sending the item back to the Manufactur will not fix the problem.

Al

I can close the offending coupler by itself. I will try the lining up which I believe I already had done on a straight sectiobn of track and I will try closing the pass. car and loco couplers by pushing the two cars together. Nicole, maybe it just need a lube job or at least working a bit until it loosens up a bit. I will get back to you on this. Thanks for your help!

I think pretty much all electro couplers use a spring loaded solenoid plunger (metal slug) to hold the coupler knuckle closed. When energized the plunger gets pulled back releasing the knuckle. If the knuckle doesn't stay closed its likely the plunger is stuck, or the spring is missing or broken. Try sliding a small wire behind the open knuckle to see if you can move the plunger. I don't think a drop of WD 40 would hurt anything at this point.

Pete

Good news and bad news. I used WD40 and that worked. My smoke units on both A units aren't producing smoke. The on/off switch is on. Yes , I put fluid in both A units. I've run them long enough that they should have kicked in. I turned the on/off switch to off just in case they were wired backwards. I know Lionel has crummy smoke units but these should at least have a puff or two. Help please. 

It takes a bit for the fluid to get down into the wicking, and with these diesels its not a straight shot. Be sure to add a minimum of 10-15 drops, then gently blow down either stack while holding your finger over the opposite stack. Theres a good chance there is fluid trapped in the smoke unit outlet blocking the smoke not to mention that fluid needs to be down in the wicking. You may even want to blow down the stacks and let the locos sit overnight to allow the fuid to absorb into the wicking. Modern smoke units are thirsty and more often it is a lack of fluid as opposed to too much fluid that is your problem. Lastly the latest smoke units from Lionel increase their output when the locomotive gets under way as opposed to when it sits idling.

I've also found that the smoke units absorb the fluid better and operate more reliable when the wicking becomes "seasoned", with a brand new loco the fluid teds to sit on the wicking a bit kind of like water on a brand new sponge.

On your f7 the fluid goes down the stacks into the openings on either end of this funnel, to the center of the funnel and finally into the smoke unit. The fluid likes to "hang" in the base of the funnel. Its a long way to go unlike that of a steamer where you can see the resistor and the wicking looking down the stack.

Thanks RickO, I appreciate the help. NQDY, HOSO&NZ and Norton thank you all again for the coupler issue. I love this forum for all the help you can get from all the members!