New Weaver die-cast couplers don’t connect or disconnect…

1971,  I tried to find your post to ask you about them. Thanks for the reply.

Contacting Weaver.

Just spent over $150.00 retrofitting all my older cars last month with diecast trucks and couplers. No problems with any of those. Betterdorfs had round heavy metal tacks, these new cars have a half tack. My Rollerbearing trucks were OK containing the half tack.

So the new half tack Bettendorfs must have a tollerance issue.

I would expect a recall on all of them along with a stop production and stock purge.

When we discover aftermarket crap like this we send it back to the supplier and make them eat the cost. 

It's always something with these new products.

I got one coupler that didn't work and looked just like that a couple of years ago. Took a picture, e-mailed it to Weaver, and they sent me another coupler. Looks like maybe a batch of those bad castings got assembled into cars. 

Another reason to to up-grade to Kadee O Scale couplers! THAT sort of problem NEVER occurs, i.e. you NEVER have to bang Kadee coupler equipped cars together.

Has anyone called Weaver?

im planning on calling weaver tomorrow about my two cars i just bought  i will let u guys know whats going on i have been lucky not have any trouble with couplers i don't like the kadee couplers idk why i think the oem ones look more prototype

Get real, spending over a grand to convert a fleet of cars not to mention all the installation and weathering time just because 2 cars have issues is not very practical. All the diesels too?

The possible incompatibility of 7 different manufactures would be opening up a bigger can of worms.

Besides, when it’s all said and done, I’m still stuck with 3 rails and some items that are simply not convertible.

I don't think Kadees would look very good on 10 sets of subways either.

Too late to change now. 

"Shoulda Coulda Woulda"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwhTaa7rMSM&feature=related

Hopefully I will have an explanation from Weaver today.

Gentlemen,

I think it is time for all the manufacturers of trains to get together and design and build a better designed and completely compatible coupler that is more scale and also operable. With the quality of machine tools today this is not an unheard of request. The quality of casting and injection molding has and will continue to get better. This will have to be consortium of all the manufacturers. If Lionel and MTH can get together to build tin plate then certainly all can get together and build a good coupler.

Let me see I can explain what I am seeing in SIRT's pics:  The knuckle on one car looks like it is bent inward. This is overextending the knuckle into the space that the opposing knuckle should flow into and eliminating the slack which would normally be there.  Because it is bent inward, it is also taking up too much space directly across from the edge of the knuckle.

Now, get this, the problem is not new.  Lionel has had this same problem for decades in it's original die-cast trucks.  I'm guessing there's one spot in the knuckle casting tool that has a "warped" knuckle. Not knowing how many knuckles are cast at one time makes it difficult to determine how many bad knuckles are out there.  I figure there's a container of knuckles and there's lots of good ones and a few bad ones.  It's just luck of the draw which one gets out there.

Fred

I'm sitting here thinking do to the lack of play when manually coupled together, I wonder if the cars will derail going around 036 fast track curves?

Hey Sirt i called weaver this morning and told them the couplers was not couple or uncouple  so they give me an ra number they said i can send the two cars in or just take the trucks off send them in

Hot Water and all the others that believe Kadee couplers are the best. I like Lionel's, if we replaced all the couplers on all our equipment with Lionel's we would have no problems. A friend of mine believes the same thing about MTH, another Weaver. The point is if all the couplers are the same manufacturer then problems are minimized. Kadees are good but how many other manufactures do they mate with? When everything is the same problems are minimized.

Al

Kadee O-Scale couplers will mate with Sunset/3rd Rail lobster claws, and Atlas O-Scale couplers, and the old K-Line O-Scale couplers, and ProtoCraft O-Scale couplers, and San Juan Car Co. O-Scale couplers.

Need any more companies?

The perennial Weaver Coupler Problem apparently lives on even through new tooling.

The plastic trucks were fine, but the plastic couplers/"springs"/tolerances were hopeless.

The (first?) die-cast couplers wobble on the truck a bit, but the way too long thumbtack

assembly shorts way too easily (Lionel uncoupler electromagnets, and more).

Lionel magnets are admittedly partly to blame, but other brands pass over them.

(BTW, the Williams 027 Alcos won't pass over them either - not the coupler thumb-

tack - the truck casting itself; that magnet is too, too high, and for no functional reason.) 

Weaver is a nice bunch of people, and I do buy an occasional piece of rolling stock, if 

it is not available from another manufacturer. But I buy little Weaver for one reason

only:

The continually never-solved coupler issue (and the too-thick wheel flange edge doesn't help, either).

Silly idea, Weaver: purchase your modern trucks from RMT, which uses the excellent (best, to me) last K-line design. Maybe a steam-era ("Bettendorf") side frame could be developed.

i called weaver this morning and told them the couplers was not couple or uncouple  so they give me an ra number they said i can send the two cars in or just take the trucks off send them in

I knew Weaver would take care of the problem. Their customer support is second to none. 

FYI - here is a comparison photo of the bad coupler I got a couple of years ago. The bad one is on the right, good one on the left. You can see the problem easily; the one on the right is cramped into what should be the open space for the opposing knuckle. The knuckle itself is OK; the problem is the coupler body casting. I sent Weaver this picture and they sent me a coupler.