Lionel's New Auxiliary Water Tenders Coupler Height Issue and Fix

Good to know.  Thanks!

Thank you  mine has the same problem. Will give it a go.

Just got done with the fix on the tender. Did the dummy coupler had to add a extra washer under the truck mount to get the height right. Did the other coupler also as it was low. Did not have to add a extra washer on that one. Thank You again for the fix.

I had the same problem. I had to add several washers to get it right. After I did that the tender coupler on the Challenger started to open when running. Took the tender off. I'll look at it another day

Jim D.

@Davety posted:

I purchased 3 of the new aux water tenders from Lionel, which I received 2 of last week. Running them around my layout and up my steep grades (5%) the dummy coupler would detach from the car or tender in front of it. I looked at the coupler height and found it to be a bit low.

Looking at how the dummy coupler is attached to the truck it has the following components in this order when view upside down in my foam cradle. A C clip, washer, spring, 2 washers, the truck mounting, dummy coupler and finally the coupler T bar. To increase the height of the dummy coupler I decided to move one of the 2 washers that were together (don't know why they used 2 washers here). So the new arrangement of components is now as follows. A C clip, washer, spring, washer, the truck mounting, washer, dummy coupler and finally the coupler T bar. This moved the dummy coupler height up slightly without changing the spring tension, since I didn't add anything.

Running my tenders this way fixed my random uncoupling issue from my steep grades and they still swivel and center correctly. Sorry these pictures are from 2 different water tenders. I didn't think of taking a before shot until after I had a fix, but they both had the same issue and fix. I hope this helps out some folks who purchased one or more of these water tenders and are having this issue. Obviously better track work and easements on grades would also keep this issue from occurring.

My Vision Line UP “Flag” auxiliary water tender suffers from the low coupler height problem. Can you tell me if you had to remove the trucks from the water tender to shift the location of the washers? Or is there enough room to get the coupler T bars apart with the trucks still attached? I’m trying to evaluate the extent of this fix before I start. Thank you!

I just got my washers moved so that the coupler height is now more reasonable! I did not remove the trucks or the tender shell, but rather kept futzing with the couplers until I could swing them outside of the tender body. I did remove the C-clip, the washer next to the clip and the spring to loosen things up before trying to swing the couplers out. Once the couplers were swung outside of the tender body, moving the washers was relatively easy!

Here’s the correct position of the coupler assembly washers from the Wichita Toy Train Club video review of the Vision Line water tenders.

I was trying to remember how I flipped those around. I do remember a lot of fussing so it definitely can be done without removing the trucks. Although that might’ve saved the fussing but honestly I don’t think I could figure out how to get the shell off. Had the shell removal been known to be at the time that’s probably the way I would’ve gone. I’ve done so much with HVAC/R work where it’s just not worth working around something that you can move out of your way.