Really: making the modern, large O-gauge couplers work much better

Interesting, I'll give it a try this weekend.

I will try that on a couple that rarely close. The vast majority of my coupler problems are related to staying closed!

I have the opposite problem!!!  I can't get my RK couplers to release.  I've tried a bunch of techniques - nothing that I tried has worked so far.

They mate up too tightly and just won't separate.

Maybe there's a fix for that too????

- walt

Lube Walt, Lube.

Good idea on the depth of the plunge, D500.  I have found that about 11 SMPH when I bang them together seems to work most times.    It doesn't look too bad either.  Some couplers don't open far enough so that if only one is open they won't mesh either.  Maybe those require a Dremel.

.....

Dennis

Tried that John.  Used powder graphite.  There is just no "wiggle room" when the couplers are coupled.

- walt

On some couplers, notably some that are on 3rd Rail passenger cars, I've had to take a Dremel tool and grind off some metal at the side edge of the coupler where the knuckle pin is located. This makes the front facing width of the coupler narrower so when two couplers are joined they fit better with some side-to-side play.  

thanks for that tip mtnhi7.  I don't quite picture what you did but maybe if I took some old, unused trucks I could figure it out.

thanks - walt

This sketch depicts what I do to get nuisance couplers working properly. I also weight some of my freight rolling stock with loads to improve coupler operation. Flat cars and gondolas especially need weight.

I've taken to bringing all my cars up the NMRA weight standards, it does make things generally run smoother. 

We used to have a poster that went by raymondstrains or something very similar.  He had an exceptionally nice layout and one thing I remember was his use of ground up tires for ballast that looked very nice.  He did quite an extensive review on different couplers and where to grind to make most of them compatable. His tips were very good but unfortunate I have lost them.   I haven't noticed a post from him in a few years.  I have a few newer cars that I installed Lionel postwar ww coupler trucks to get the command control feature and easy closing couplers but then there is the problem with the poor rolling charecteristics of these old trucks.

Look at Bobby Ogage's drawing: see the blue knuckle and its tab with the arrow pointing to the top of the pin? I grind off some metal at that vertical edge, top to bottom. This is where many couplers are too wide, so when they are joined, not enough side-to-side clearance exists inside each knuckle. I have also ground away some metal at the inside part of the solid knuckle toward the back. Be careful that you don't grind too much and get things too thin. I've also removed the pin, taken the movable knuckle out, and polished its surfaces with a wire brush wheel in a Dremel tool, then reassembled it and lubricated it with powdered graphite. I don't use oil on couplers. I use synthetic oil (Militec-1) on axles because it does not dry out and it gets into the pores of the metal.

mtnhi7: what do you use to get inside the knuckle to do the grinding?  If your answer is 'a Dremmel', then which attachment do you use?? 

thanks - walt

Aluminum Oxide Grinding Stone

Thank gunrunner: I have that attachment.

- walt

Sal,

You are talking about "raymanssr2".  He also did excellent detail modeling of small scenes on his layout.  I have been wondering about him myself, so I just sent him an email to see if he is OK.

.....

Dennis

Geez. I always just used J B Weld on the stubborn ones: that kept them closed.  I had to lift and drop to couple cars, but hey - they never slipped again!