to use or not to use kadee uncoupling magnet

I use Kadees and the uncoupling magnets with no issues. If the 700 series are installed at the correct height, they dont need bent at all. The 800 series do need bent even if the are installed at the proper height.

Why cut them off? Air hoses on real trains cause issues if not hung properly as well. If you use the Kadees, remove the air hose on Atlas cars. If youre not gonna use the Kadees with magnets, cut off the trip pin and install an air hose detail part. There are many out there that look good.

They are the 700 series.  I think my issue is I have pretty tight turns, O60 on my main and O36 on a few switches.  With the O60 curve going up a 3.5% grade it really causes the issue.  I didn't design the layout with Kadess in mind, and decided to go with them when I got really frustrated trying to a lot of switching with my lobster claws.  Plus they look so much better.  

 

One thing for me to consider that this will not be my last layout, but all my cars and locomotives I plan to keep for an indefinite amount of time.    They will be used on all future layouts.  If I were to get rid of the uncoupling hoses then build a layout with much larger curves and much gentler grades, I would have to repurchase and reinstall all my kadees to use the magnets.  

 

What I do wish is that they made coil coupler kadees.  Ones I can install onto a few of my locomotives that do the most switching and uncouple that way.  Maybe they will come out with that in the future.     

I designed my layout so I could reach anywhere I needed to uncouple a car.  If you can reach yours, I'd leave the "hoses" on.  You can bend them (they even make a tool) up enough so they will not touch the rail (bending them too high is not against the law , but then the magnets may not be able to do their job).

 

I tried installing a set of un-coupling magnets, but I did it after I had everything (track/ballast) put down and it didn't work so well.

 

The main problem I have is seeing well enough to place the tip of my un-coupling tool (an old TV tuner blade) between the couplers.  Mounting a tiny flashlight to the un-coupling tool would help, but so far I haven't bought one.  I saw some small LED flashlights at Lowes that might do the trick.  At one time I had some "Finger Lights" but they all went dead and the batteries cost more than the whole lights did!!!

 

I bend my "hoses" using a regular pair of pliers, but if I'm not careful they'll slip and could cause damage to the coupler.  Next train show I'm getting the tool they sell to bend them correctly.

Unfortunately, those tight curves and steep grades are going to be an issue with Kadees. Not really a way around it either.

 

700 series couplers don't need bent if they are installed at the correct height. I haven't found one yet that I had to bend. 800 series are bent a little differently out of the package, and I've had to bend every single one of them.

 

If I do have to bend them, I use a pair of heavy duty needle nose pliers, hold the coupler in my left hand (without the draft gear box), grab a hold of the pin and bend slightly up.  

 

If both of your spurs tracks are on the same lead, you only need one magnet.

On the 800 series of couplers, the centering spring causes the train to accordian. If it does this over an uncoupling magnet, the result may be an unwanted uncoupling.

 

I have found that the uncoupling magnets also tend to pull the iron/steel wheels to the magnet. This can also cause unwanted uncoupling.

 

So, I am not a fan of uncoupling magnets for cars with iron wheels. 

 

ok.  so I can use a small screw driver to uncouple two cars but when it is some distance away is there any trick to uncouple without me leaning way over the table?

I suppose a Rix Products Uncoupling tool could be mounted to a stick:

 

http://www.rixproducts.com/6280014.htm

 

I don't know how easy it would be to hold the stick steady, avoiding knocking around any rolling stock.  I had one when I was in HO and it seemed to work fine.

 

A light could be mounted to the long arm and the whole thing could be mounted to a stick.  Depending on how long a stick you need, it might just work.

 

Maybe we all could contact Rix and get them to make an O scale version.

Can't understand how the pins are coming in contact with any of the rails if as you said, you have adjusted the pin height correctly?. Please say that you are using a Kadee couple height gauge to set both coupler and pin height. If so, the pin should be well above the top of the rail so as not to come in contact with it at anytime. For adjusting the pin (which as you know is hard to bend) I use the Kadee pin adjusting pliers. I find it an excellent tool for the job. On my sidings, of which I have many, I use the #809 uncoupling magnets. I place just one magnet on either side of the center rail and shim it up to just below the top of the rail. I find the operation to be very good.

The Rix uncoupling tool isn't the answer.  It's designed for HO and is too small to work reliably on O Gauge couplers.  I have tried unsuccessfully to modify the Rix tool to work on O Gauge trains. 

 

I have also successfully modified the Kadee electric uncoupler to work on 3 rail track (it's designed for 2 rail), but decided against installing them on my layout because the track is all down and ballasted and the installation would have required more work and rebuilding than I am willing to tackle. 

 

I use a variety of sticks and hand held magnets in addition to one permanently installed magnet (in a particularly hard to reach spot) to uncouple Kadees. 

 

I glued a small rare-earth magnet to the end of a stick that's about 6 inches long.  With this I can pull the "hose" on one car to the side and uncouple cars after backing enough to release all tension on the couplers.  Not perfect, because it takes a while to get the feel for how hard to pull on the magnet.  Most folks that come to my layout for operating sessions prefer to use sticks which are inserted directly between the couplers and release the couplers with a little twist.

 

A combination of methods for uncoupling Kadees works for me and I think it's worth the effort.  The appearance and operational improvements, especially when switching,  far outweigh the effort required to uncouple the Kadees.

 

Pat,

 

Are you saying the Rix tool is physically too small to fit around an O scale Kadee coupler or is it not powerful enough to open them up?

 

I like you idea of making a similar tool using rare earth magnets.  Also, I wonder if a battery operated electronic un-coupler could be made and contained on a handheld device (stick)?  Just position the electro-magnet on the sides of the couplers, press a button, and open the couplers.

 

I have a hard time seeing between two black couplers and have painted the tops of most of my Kadees silver.  Still, close-coupled cars are hard to see down between them, especially boxcars.

I haven't tried it yet, but what about those magnets on a telescoping rod?  They sell them at hardware and auto part stores for retrieving dropped screws and such.

I was talking to Rich Foster at MTH not too long ago and he said that these were pretty much ready to go.  It would be nice to see them available soon as I really like the remote uncoupling ability of the protocouplers.

 

Dave

 

Bob:

 

The Rix tool will fit over the O Scale couplers, but the distance between the magnets is not enough to allow the couplers to spread.  To work on O scale couplers, this type of tool would need stronger magnets farther apart and a longer handle, although the handle would be pretty easy to make longer.

 

The Rix tool is designed to pull both "hoses" aside at the same time to uncouple cars.  Although not 100% effective, I've been pretty successful at using a single magnet on a stick to just pull one of the "hoses" aside.  I hold the stick/magnet in one hand and use the other to move and reverse the train with a handheld.  This requires some practice to master and a gentle throttle hand (thumb) to move the train slowly - back to allow slack in the couplers, stop, pull and hold aside the hose with the magnet, very slowly move the train forward (I use 2mph on my MTH handheld).  Sometimes it takes a few seconds for the engine to move when the thumbwheel is only set to 2mph, but all my engines will move well enough at this setting to allow uncoupling and then you can increase the speed.

 

After lots of practice, I'm even able to get the magnet attached to the "hose" and apply the correct pull without being able to see between the cars about 60-70% of the time.

 

FWIW, real trains aren't always successful at coupling and uncoupling on the first try.

I was talking to Rich Foster at MTH not too long ago and he said that these were pretty much ready to go.  It would be nice to see them available soon as I really like the remote uncoupling ability of the protocouplers.

 

That would definitely be something that would get looking for MTH -2 engines to buy.  PS3 has me seriously thinking about it, but scale sized couplers would seal the deal.  I'd love to see some -2 switchers with scale couplers!

 

 

Thanks Pat, I couldn't recall exactly how big the HO tool was.

 

Are the magnets on the tool as big as the magnets on the Kadee under-the-track uncoupler kit?  Maybe we could use the Kadee magnets on a tool.  I think I'll give that a try and post the results.