# Magnets for uncoupling Kadee couplers



## appa (Jan 22, 2013)

Anyone have any experience with the inexpensive new super magnets Neodynium for use under the track as a better uncouplet than the expensive
unreiable Kadee magnets

appa


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

I don't know about the magnets your talking about but i wish somebody would esplain me how these couplers work with the magnets. pete


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## appa (Jan 22, 2013)

pete
these magnets come in small cubes 1/8 inch thick or strips and u can put them under the track and they are very strong. Go to YOUTUBE and serach Neodynium nagnets and model railroading. These rare earth magnets are the ones that are on the back of all the new gadgets that need to stick and prices are very low now.
appa


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

90% of all rare earth magnets come from China. We have very litle rare earth magets here in the states. So what's the difference between the two? I know the magnets go under the track somehow but what makes them work? How do they uncouple a car? pete


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## rrgrassi (May 3, 2012)

You have to back the train up to uncouple them. Could not tell you the the position of the magnets though.


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## mackdonn (Sep 26, 2012)

norgale said:


> I don't know about the magnets your talking about but i wish somebody would esplain me how these couplers work with the magnets. pete


Look here http://www.kadee.com/html/308ins.pdf


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## appa (Jan 22, 2013)

*rare earth magnets*

Here in dallas you can go to CMS Magtnetics .com and purchse rae earth magnets for pennies or a few dollars for the strips. see the youtube video to see how they work on uncouplers
appa


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## wingnut163 (Jan 3, 2013)

after you back up,the "J" hook pulls the coupler to the side, then you pull forward till the couplers are apart. then you back up, the side of the coupler pushes into the knuckle and you can push the car in to the siding. then pull out. the couplers will spring back to potion to be coupled to the next car.


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

This might help

This is a good "home made" uncoupler using Neodynium magnets
The metal plate is the key to it all!
















This is how it's placed under the track 







This is an overview what the magnets and plate do to the coupler 























































You can run threw an uncoupler without it uncoupleing a set of cars, it will uncouple them if you stop over the magnets and plate.
This is how you uncouple and then push a car off without it recoupling.


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## wingnut163 (Jan 3, 2013)

that is one of the best infos i have ever seen.. it should be saved as keeper and as a sticky.

hope the MOD sees this. all so its a great idea to make your own.

skip


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## HardcoreABN (Jan 6, 2013)

I read Kadee now has remote ones....


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## pattaya65 (Nov 18, 2012)

*Magnets*

There was an excellent article in Model Railroad Craftsman several years ago about using "Rare Earth Magnets" for uncoupling. Check out MRC Nov, 2008 issue page 83. I did it on our layout and it works fine. It dosesn't matter what kind of magnets you use to uncouple it still requires some sort of markings to denote that you are in the proper spot. I use the orange safety cones that are used a lot in railroad yards. 

Thanks
Wayne


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## Southern (Nov 17, 2008)

pattaya65 said:


> ..... it still requires some sort of markings to denote that you are in the proper spot.....


 
I used a little change in the ground cover to mark the ends of the magnets.


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

OOOOOOOH! I see now. The little thingy that hangs down is attracted to the magnet and swings to the side causing the coupler to open.Thanks for posting that explanation Sean. It's clear as a bell now. pete


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## santafealltheway (Nov 27, 2012)

I'm finding that the 'bachmann magnet' is completely worthless...

having much better luck with magnets i took off my fridge.


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## andersley (Oct 24, 2010)

In past layouts I have used Kadee under track magnets, but to stop any false uncoupling, I hinge the metal plate so the magnet drops away from the track (a thin sheet of styrene holds the ballast in place). A simple rod and handle at edge of baseboard is used to move the magnet up when uncoupling is required.

I found this method foolproof and 100% efficient even during intensive periods of operation at train shows.


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## jjb727 (Apr 13, 2012)

I installed on on a piece of EZ track, but It wasn't doing anything. Am I supposed to let the cars sit there for a bit or what?


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

It should happen right away. The magnets need to be set right againt the bottom of the ties not the bottom of the roadbed.


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

the small cheap dollar store magnets also work well, they are 1/8 square, 3/4" long, glue 4 together, they sell here 20 magnets for a buck, so 20 cents per uncoupler set.. if you use 1/8 cork roadbed or similar, they slide under very easily into a small cutout..
i use a little yellow cylinder bead held in with a pin through it, looks like a little post marker after..


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## wingnut163 (Jan 3, 2013)

they will not uncouple unless you back up a smige.


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## appa (Jan 22, 2013)

*neodynium magnets*

i purchased 100 1/8 by 1/8 inch cubic neodynium magnetst for all of 10.59 locally. i placed 5 of them in theh space between 2 ties on my HO flex track. The quage of ho ( the distance between theh rails is exactly 5/8 of an inch for these tracks, so the 5 cubes fit exactly. Once glued in place they work 100% of the time when the couplers stop on top of the magnets. If the train is moving there has been no uncoupling Since they take up very little spce and can work when covere by ballast, unless you need to mark theh area well, because you wil have a hard time even findiing where you put them. Releaible uncoupoling for 10 cents that cant be seen. Thats my kind of model railroading.


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## ktcards (Sep 22, 2012)

NIMT said:


> This might help
> 
> This is a good "home made" uncoupler using Neodynium magnets
> The metal plate is the key to it all!


Now for a few technical questions...

What size is the metal plate. Maybe around 1 1/4" square? Is it made of tin, aluminum, etc.?

What size magnets do you use? They look like 3/4" round, but how high are they?

Ray


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

ktcards said:


> Now for a few technical questions...
> 
> What size is the metal plate. Maybe around 1 1/4" square? Is it made of tin, aluminum, etc.?
> 
> ...


When ever I read or post a thread and there is a lot of interest in the postings I take note:
The uncoulders I have were made by a company that went out of business years ago.
I like them so much that I thought that I would make some up and offer them here.
So I bought quite a few of the right size magnets and they are being shipped here. The plates are being cut and will be here shortly too.
They are going to be offered at cost of the materials.
If you buy bulk you can set these up for fairly cheap, but who wants to have a couple thousand magnets and metal plates hanging around...We I do!

If you don't want to wait, here are the specs. 
The metal plate is 1 1/8" x 1 1/8" x 3/64"
The magnets are 3/8" dia and 3/32" thick


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

Sean you have a picture of that? Why do you need the metal plate? pete


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

See the magnets sitting on the metal plate, it is the key to making the magnets work right, without the plate the magnetic field is all over the place, the metal plate focuses the magnetic field.


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## jjb727 (Apr 13, 2012)

ok, im bad at science, so I got a question...
if theres a bunch of electronics inside a loco, wouldn't a powerful magnets mess with the motor?


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

Nope It does not effect the motor or any other electronic in them either.
It's not like we are unleashing an EMP pulse on the little trains!:lol_hitting:


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## New Berlin RR (Feb 11, 2012)

jjb727 said:


> ok, im bad at science, so I got a question...
> if theres a bunch of electronics inside a loco, wouldn't a powerful magnets mess with the motor?


technicially you already have a magnet in the engines...the piece that the comutator (spelling??) sits in is a magnet that when energized keeps the brushes spinning and away from the walls...not sure exactly how it all works when at play but thats what I gather when looking at it and based on my teardown of one last night...and keep in mind this is for MOST engines built similar to my Athearn SD9 and GP38-2...


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

I just now ordered me some neo magnets off ebay. 50 pieces for 12.34 shipped.
I have some kadee magnets but it sounds like these will work better. These are
10mm x 3mm. That size seems to be as close to Sean's specs as I could find. 50
of them should make me 12 good uncoupling spots. Need some plates now.

Sorry Sean, I missed the part you were going to sell these. You are buying in bulk and yours might be cheaper. I will need more than 12 locations so I
might still get some from you.


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## ktcards (Sep 22, 2012)

appa said:


> Anyone have any experience with the inexpensive new super magnets Neodynium for use under the track as a better uncouplet than the expensive
> unreiable Kadee magnets
> 
> appa


I just got some magnets from China in hopes of making un-couplers. The problem that I ran into is that the magnets are strong, REALLY strong and the stick to anything that gets within 6 or 8 inches from them especially other magnets.

I was not successful in trying to arrange then on a metal base. They kept crawling over and sticking to their neighbors. Finally I resorted to super gluing them in place. After the glue dried I placed one under the track and started to run a couple of cars over them to see how they worked. Well they started to march out from under the track on their own... seems there was a screw in my train board holding the top to the frame and my magnet wanted to be cozy with it. Break out the super glue. In the end it did work but now I have to peal the super glue from my fingers.

Ray


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## britblad (Jan 2, 2012)

why not use an electro magnet there easy to make and you can control when they uncouple?


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## tooter (Feb 26, 2010)

appa said:


> i purchased 100 1/8 by 1/8 inch cubic neodynium magnetst for all of 10.59 locally. i placed 5 of them in theh space between 2 ties on my HO flex track. The quage of ho ( the distance between theh rails is exactly 5/8 of an inch for these tracks, so the 5 cubes fit exactly. Once glued in place they work 100% of the time when the couplers stop on top of the magnets. If the train is moving there has been no uncoupling Since they take up very little spce and can work when covere by ballast, unless you need to mark theh area well, because you wil have a hard time even findiing where you put them. Releaible uncoupoling for 10 cents that cant be seen. Thats my kind of model railroading.


Hey appa, 

Your approach intrigues me because it doesn't use anything else except magnets. Could you post a pic of how you arranged the 5 magnets? And how did you arrange the poles? Alternating? Or all facing the same direction? And is one pole up? Or are the poles sideways front to back or side to side?

Greg


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## tr1 (Mar 9, 2013)

*Extra refrigerator magnets*

Currently unable to experiment. Has anyone here, tried using refrigerator magnets as uncoupling devices for Kadee couplers?
Thank you,
tr1


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

They are not strong enough! And the field is wrong.


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