Problem with MTH Passenger Car Couplers

First off, welcome to the Forum!!  

I have the same issue (with the same cars).  I used small orthodontics (braces) rubber bands nestled in the coupler to hold the hidden coupler release tab forward and that seems to have helped with mine.  I haven't seen if it works with my 15 car consist, but it works fine with the 9 cars I currently have on the layout.

C&O Allie posted:

First off, welcome to the Forum!!  

I have the same issue (with the same cars).  I used small orthodontics (braces) rubber bands nestled in the coupler to hold the hidden coupler release tab forward and that seems to have helped with mine.  I haven't seen if it works with my 15 car consist, but it works fine with the 9 cars I currently have on the layout.

Thanks a lot! I'll try that out as soon as possible. 

Thanks for welcoming me, too. I love the auxiliary tender you put on your engine and have been working on making one for myself.

Here is the result = works great!

stormsrailroad posted:

C&O Allie posted:

First off, welcome to the Forum!!  

I have the same issue (with the same cars).  I used small orthodontics (braces) rubber bands nestled in the coupler to hold the hidden coupler release tab forward and that seems to have helped with mine.  I haven't seen if it works with my 15 car consist, but it works fine with the 9 cars I currently have on the layout.

Thanks a lot! I'll try that out as soon as possible. 

Thanks for welcoming me, too. I love the auxiliary tender you put on your engine and have been working on making one for myself.

No problem.  I'm glad it worked for you too.  Let me know if you need help with your aux tender (like the decal template, etc).  

I had the same problem with a PRR passenger car set I purchased last year.  Only 1 car in the set had the issue.  I sent it back to MTH and the replaced the offending truck.

Tony

Tony_V posted:

I had the same problem with a PRR passenger car set I purchased last year.  Only 1 car in the set had the issue.  I sent it back to MTH and the replaced the offending truck.

Tony

I just used the method so I can operate the car with the rest of the train until I head over to my local train store. I'm going to buy either new couplers, or send it back to get it fixed. Thanks for the reply!

stormsrailroad posted:

Tony_V posted:

I had the same problem with a PRR passenger car set I purchased last year.  Only 1 car in the set had the issue.  I sent it back to MTH and the replaced the offending truck.

Tony

I just used the method so I can operate the car with the rest of the train until I head over to my local train store. I'm going to buy either new couplers, or send it back to get it fixed. Thanks for the reply!

Yup, been there, done that!  I have many older freight cars that have week couplers.  They always seem to give up when I am not looking...

Tony

I was searching the forum for this same problem. Just got new MTH smoothside passenger cars. I have 11 cars altogether and it seems like 3 of them want to come unhooked. I put these 3 at the end of the consist thinking it would be less strain on them but when you are not looking they will come loose. I hate sending things back to MTH but if I can't find a inexpensive solution I may have to send them back 

I have an MTH tank car that comes uncoupled so I put a small tie wrap around the coupler shank.

Lee Fritz

I've never had any trouble with MTH passenger car couplers.  However, I have a couple of Weaver passenger cars that have troublesome couplers.

I went to the local orthodontist office and bought a baggie of retainer rubber bands, and they have kept the Weaver cars coupled since application.

I've got a set of super liners that always drop couplers. I have little black zip ties on the couplers that are troublesome. I could get new couplers n fix em but I never reall uncouple them so it doesn't matter to me

Hi,

I remember years ago MTH couplers with the same problem and the solution then was to stretch out the spring inside coupler. That's all I can remember about it, not how to go about fixing it.  

Joe B. 

I read a post a number of months back on how to fix a hidden couple tab uncoupling problem but I cannot find it in a quick search, sorry I just don't have the time to go through them all.  I'll try to summarize what the fix is here though.  The problem part may be the tab piece itself, specifically where it slides forward after release.  The spot to look for is where the tab hits or gets stopped by the coupler housing. Due to a manufacturing process that does not remove enough metal or just too lenient tolerances , this tab part cannot slide far enough forward to produce the correct pressure to keep the coupler connected.  It could be stated that the couple is always in a state of releasing.  The fix was to remove just a bit more of the metal from the tab piece where it intersects with main coupler housing.  Please excuse all my non technical terms.  Also, I do not recall if the fix was for MTH or Lionel or another mfg. but I thought I'd submit here just in the chance it might help.

Best of luck!

They sell neoprene O ring assortments in flea market variety stores that work great. The assortment costs about $1.00 and you slip one of the smaller rings around the coupler. They will still open with the uncoupler track.

stormsrailroad posted:

I have an MTH Ex-Reading T-1 2101 Chessie with six (6) cars, and the RPO car seems to uncouple at speeds of twenty (20) or so SMPH.

I was wondering what I should do for this, whether I should get an entirely new coupler, or new parts for it.

Also, this is my first post on the forum and I don't know all of the specifics about O scale, since I've always been two rail HO.

Could you take a picture of your coupler? There are basically two types of couplers. One has a pin that retains the knuckle from underneath. The rubber band trick can work with this type.

The other has a bar that slides in from the rear of the coupler. This type can be fixed by removing some metal that prevents the bar from moving all the way into the knuckle. If you look at and move the bar back and forth you will see where the metal can be removed to increase travel.

The pin type can also be made to work by either increasing the tension on the bar holding it up into the coupler or by removing some metal on the underside of the coupler so the pin can move further to engage the knuckle.

To me there is no point in having operating couplers if they don't operate. Why not just put non operating scale couplers which look better and will never open on their own.

Pete

Pete,

The Chessie Steam Special cars have the slide type couplers.

Thanks for the replies. It has given me something to think about. They all seem to be good fixes. I just don't want to send them back to MTH if I can fix it. Thanks again

I have the same problem with my premier amtrak rpo, I don't run it because I will lose all 16 cars behind it. 

can someone post some pictures of what you did to fix the unplanned leaving the rest of the train on the mainline.

The rubber band trick does not work on the MTH coupler in question. It does not have a pin coming in from under the coupler, rather a bar coming from the back.

Pete