Repairing prewar box couplers

Hi David,

  I'm here to provide moral support if nothing else, my friend.

  As you know, and we've discussed, these prewar switchers are pretty cool, but they can also can be a handful (of potential grief).

 Would a thin coat of white grease work on the inside of the tube? I see the drivers of what looks like one of your prewar switchers in the 4th image, which one is that? 

 Tom 

You replaced the wire the really, really hard way. I cut the wire all off except about 1/2 inch (all the old insulation removed) and solder a new flexable wire on and add a piece of heat shrink up to the metal box to shield the wire so it doesn't touch. I have had 100% success rate this way. 

But to the current problem. I can't tell if the spot welded return spring is still there on the backing plate, that should move the plunger back far enough for the hood to drop. The long plunger rod tends to bind in the coil tube. What I always do on these is take your bench grinder and grind the plunger end to a point instead of a blunt end. Step two is I use a postwar coil coupler spring and enlarge the last turn of the spring with a pair of tweezers.  Place the spring on the plunger rod with the unwound end back against the plunger. Insert the rod and spring in the rear of the plunger tube. So the plunger rod assembly should spring back when pulled forward. A couple of drops of WD40 and the assembly should work without binding in the tube.

Chuck,

  Thanks for chiming in. 

Tom 

Thanks for your comments. The flat spring that spot welds to the coupler assembly is there. I have seen some plungers ground to a point. I may try that. I was also thinking about adding a coil spring. I think the graphite that I polished the inside of the tube with is probably all the lube I need. 

David,

The problem you're having is due to the distortion of the tube when you remove it as well as when you reinstall it. If you were to make yourself a mandrel that fits snugly into that tube and use it during the removal and the later reinstall, most of the problem would be solved. There is one aspect though of the repair that you need to be careful with and that is the wire you solder to the coil itself. It doesn't need to be any heavier than 22 to 24 gauge. Plastic coated wire works, but the fabric covered wire currently available works better as you can solder it more easily to the coil and use a good grade of paper tape to insulate the work as opposed to the white tape you use. Why? You're adding to the diameter of that coil, and when you put the coil back into its housing, you're squashing it just a bit which distorts it and puts pressure ont he tube.

You can fashion new tubes as the material is available in aluminum and brass, although doing so is a pain. Over the years I've done hundreds of these couplers and there's never been a need to file the tubes, grind a point on the plunger or add some type of spring. These were designed to operate dry, no oil, WD40 or anything else.

Dennis

Dennis, thanks for your comments. I am using a fabric covered wire, #24 I think.   I am looking for a brown paper tape for this application. The white tape is a high temperature glass tape, but it is thicker than it should be.  A mandrel to push the tube in and out is a good idea. I have a friend who can machine something out of brass stock. I was going to ask him to make a tool to remove the slotted nut on the 400E and 700E brush tubes.  By the way, I got the 230-10 couplers you sent me.  Just exactly what I was looking for.  Thanks for them.  

A questions for you. Tom and I were discussing how many of the semi scale and scale 0-6-0 switchers were made by Lionel.  He was thinking there were thousands of them made, but given all the design and tooling expense Lionel went through to make this family of engines, I was thinking it must be more than that, maybe in the tens of thousands. On the other hand they were never very prominent in the catalog. Do you have any idea how many of these locomotives might have been made during the few years they were in production?  Thanks again. David Johnston. 

David,

We use common thin paper packing tape with water activated glue. Cut to width and length, wrap and dampen the end and seal.

On those slotted nuts, you may want to search for a miniature slotted lock nut wrench. Here is a link to see what they look like. I've had mine more than 50 years, so it may take some searching. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUQpIx1AHEY

On the B6 switchers, I have some collector corporate paper on the releases of the various models. There were 10k 701's made, 15k of the 227 and 228. There were 5k each of the  230, 231, 232 and 233 made. The paperwork doesn't distinguish which were separate sale or as part of sets.

Dennis

Dennis,

  The production numbers for the switchers that you supplied were very interesting. Thanks for supplying that. I will be sending you a separate email. 

Tom