# COUPLERS/ Revell



## litefoot (Feb 7, 2015)

Changing out my 1958 Revell couplers to Bachman EZ mate. LHS gave me McHenry MCH41 scale HO couplers saying , will work ? Looks like Backman couplers ... BUT they will not return to center freely. Binds! If I shim behind the coupler / pivot post its free. Doesn't sound right. I do not want the shim to fall out onto the track having other problems. Is it a matter of thousand's of an inch and maybe need other couplers. Again 1958 cars to Bachman EZ mate couplers so I can use the old cars. Appreciate any ideas?


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## riogrande (Apr 28, 2012)

My experience with McHenry coupler's has been not so good so far. I took 20 new-in-the-box Athearn Thrall coal gondola's which are factory equipped with McHenry's. I ran the train for a couple hours on a large modular layout and the train randomly uncoupled at different points in the train. Upon closer inspection, I noticed the couplers were not remaining closed - due to the plastic closure finger having become fatigued while the train cars had sat in the boxes for a few years.

Moral of the story, any McHenry couplers that have the plastic finger spring to hold the coupler head closed, will likely be unreliable and not keep train cars coupled.

That said, I have seen some plastic couplers which have Kadee style metal coil closure springs on them, so at least they would be unlikely to randomly uncouple from adjacent cars.

As for not centering, that isn't an issue with the couplers per se, even Kadee mounted improperly can bind and not center, and Kadee are the best you can by bar none. If they bind, you may need to do some tweaking, filing or something to make sure they center freely.


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

I have no connection with company but you can't beat the "ole reliable" Kadees. Say no more.


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## riogrande (Apr 28, 2012)

Cycleops said:


> I have no connection with company but you can't beat the "ole reliable" Kadees. Say no more.


Pretty much this. From what I've seen of the Walthers Protomax couplers, they look like they should hold up as well as traditional Kadee's, being all metal and very similar in design. But I'll stick with buying Kadee's for rolling stock that have plastic couplers that don't operate well for sure, and leave the Protomax in the Walthers cars that came with them.


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## JNXT 7707 (May 5, 2013)

The thing to keep in mind is - the Bachmann EZ Mates/McHenrys will work, but how well do you need them to work? If the car will spend 99% of its time on a siding, or sporadically used in short consists...then fine. But if reliable operation is paramount, and/or the car will be used in longer consists...then save yourself some trouble and go with the Kadees. Maybe a few more cents but well worth it.


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## riogrande (Apr 28, 2012)

JNXT, your call of course. Ideally I want nearly all of my freight cars to be able to operate in trains and stay reliably coupled. If there is a "display model" that is going to be sitting at an industry, then if looks is most important and it isn't going to operate in a train, you could really go crazy and install a Seargents brand coupler, which look the most like the real thing available in HO.

Universally, model railroaders will tell you to go with Kadee's. I've got a few hundred cars to outfit, so it will take some time because I can't afford to do them all at once, but that is my goal too.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

All of my Bachmann locos have the original factory couplers.
I have had no coupling problem, they've done fine pulling
very long trains of Kadee equipped cars.

They are less likely to uncouple with a Kadee over a magnet, and even
the HOG wand has a tussle with them.

If you have a choice, stay with Kadee throughout. The less
mixing of brands the better your operation.

Don


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## Mr. SP (Jan 7, 2015)

*Kadee Couplers ONLY*

The McHenery and other imposter couplers are waste of money and time. Use ONLY Kadee couplers. Might try the new "Whisker" coupers. Number 148 or the old number 5
All my equipment is equipped with Kadee couplers
The main problem with the imposters is that they are made from a slippery plastic and the shank of the coupler can flex both of which will cause break in two's
Save your self a lot of grief and problems and use ONLY Kadee couplers


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## riogrande (Apr 28, 2012)

I'm all for that Mr. SP. Just don't have the clams to go all Kadee at once! I'll replace the misbehaving couplers first and work my way through the roster.

I like the Kadee #148 whisker version of the #5 and just picked up a bulk pack of them to continue converting. The early McHenreys with the plastic finger for a closure spring were/are very unreliable - those will go first and then I'll look at the versions with the metal spring next. I'm not a big fan of the Accumate couplers either.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

I'll have to jump on the bandwagon here. If you're going to replace couplers, do not replace them with inferior models -- and by inferior, I mean ANY brand that has plastic as part of the coupler itself or the centering mechanism. These brands include, but are not limited to, Accumate, McHenry, and EZ Mate.

Go with either Kadee or Walthers ProtoMAX. My fleet is mostly the ProtoMAX couplers, since Walthers was giving them away at two shows I attended, just for "adding" my name and e-mail address to their mailing list (since I was already on it, no harm done). I have never had a problem with one yet in probably 6 years. Kadee still has more options, but otherwise, the Walthers are equivalent.

Yes, the price for these guys is higher, but it's a once and done operation. For the cheap imitations, you will probably have to do it several times (my record for failure on an EZ Mate was two days out of the box).


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## riogrande (Apr 28, 2012)

Sweet, how can I get some 'give away' Protomax. Heck, I go to shows 4 times a year for the past 6 in my area and never saw that deal, nor where I lived before!


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

There is one 'minor' problem I've had with Kadees...if you bang 'em to hard
when coupling you can pop a spring. Hardly a week goes by that
I'm finding a car uncoupling because the coupler spring popped out.
I've started putting a tiny dab of glue to the bottom of the spring
to resolve that.

Don


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

riogrande said:


> Sweet, how can I get some 'give away' Protomax. Heck, I go to shows 4 times a year for the past 6 in my area and never saw that deal, nor where I lived before!


Don't know that you can, anymore. It was back when they first came out. I got them at the Amherst show in Springfield and the National Train Show in Hartford. Two packs of 12 pair each. :smilie_daumenpos:

I'm sure they wanted people to try them and report that they worked well. I'm sold.


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## Joefrumjersey (Apr 16, 2013)

I agree that Kadee and/or Porto Max couplers are the way to go. The best way is to buy them in bulk packs, rather than individually.


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## litefoot (Feb 7, 2015)

Went with multi/pk Kadees #148. Conversion went find , old and new cars all Kadees now. Now working on a larger layout , wasn't satisfy with just a small one. Can see this is easy to get hooked on.


Litefoot


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## riogrande (Apr 28, 2012)

Train you well Padowan, we did! Forever will it dominate your future!


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

CTValleyRR said:


> Yes, the price for these guys is higher, but it's a once and done operation. For the cheap imitations, you will probably have to do it several times (my record for failure on an EZ Mate was two days out of the box).


I've just got my first Bachmann loco, an S4. I'll let you know how long the couplers last!

By the way, does anyone know why McHenry couplers are so named?


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## riogrande (Apr 28, 2012)

McHenry is the brand name - probably named after the person who the company was formed by. Athearn bought McHenry so they would have knuckle couplers to provide on their rolling stock products.

Your choice on if you want keep the plastic couplers on. They may last a long time, but Kadee's perform best - that is universal.


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

Thats interesting, I always thought McHenry was an in house developed product.

Kadee also offer plastic versions of their coupler. How do you feel about them?


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## riogrande (Apr 28, 2012)

> Thats interesting, I always thought McHenry was an in house developed product.


No, not in house developed but purchased. Here is a link to Athearns page with info about the company which lists McHenry as part of their line and when they purchased McHenry (in 2006):

http://www.athearn.com/About/



> 2006
> On May 31, McHenry Couplers is purchased by Horizon Hobby.


Horizon Hobby owns Athearn products.



> Kadee also offer plastic versions of their coupler. How do you feel about them?


Kadee does not produce any "all plastic" couplers. If you follow the following link, I think the website clarifies the plastic coupler better:

http://www.kadee.com/htmbord/clones.htm



> Kadee® HO Couplers are Metal &/or Plastic.
> 
> Kadee® "ALL Metal" Couplers are our Strongest & Most Popular, all come with Insulated Draft Gear Box (except #4 has a metal Draft Gear Box) & "ALL Metal" Knuckle & Centering Springs. Are manufactured & assembled in the U.S.A. (Metal Couplers include #3 Whisker®, #4, NO.5®, #7, #8, #9 #115 Whisker®, 40-Series, #58 "Scale", #78 "Scale" Whisker®, #118 "Shelf" Whisker®, #119 "Shelf" Whisker®, 140-Series Whisker®, 150-Series "Scale" Whisker®, #2100 "Scale" Couplers) *Kadee® "Plastic" Couplers have "Metal" Knuckles and "Plastic" Shanks, all come with Insulated Draft Gear Box & "ALL Metal" Knuckle & Centering Springs. Are manufactured & assembled in the U.S.A.
> (Plastic Couplers include #17, #18,#19, #20 NEM 362, 20-Series, 30-Series Couplers) "Clone" Couplers are "All Plastic" with "ALL Plastic" Knuckle & Centering Springs, some have "Metal" Knuckle Springs or Centering Springs* they may or may not come with Draft Gear Box. Are made Overseas, and imported into the States. Here are a couple simple tests that any one can perform to see for yourself "you get what you pay for".


The long time metal head and plastic shank coupler has mainly been supplied for people who needed/wanted to mount them on old blue box Athearn engines with the coupler mount part of the metal frame. If you used their "all metal" couplers on both ends of a blue box engine, it would short out the tracks. Kadee offered the plastic shank couplers to mitigate that issue.

Kadee's website also says:



> You've Tried the Rest...
> Now Buy the Best
> No Breaks, Non-Functions, Sets or Disappointments.
> Often Imitated, Never Duplicated.
> ...


Ask any experienced model railroader and they would agree 100% with the comments on Kadee's own website. The only thing that comes close these days are Walthers all metal Protomax couplers


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

I have to say the Bachmann couplers are not too bad. They work well with my Kadee equipped rolling stock, but for how long? I am retaining them for the moment to see what happens.


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## riogrande (Apr 28, 2012)

if they have the metal spring on them for the closure of the knuckle, they may work ok; if they have the plastic finger for the closure spring, they may be unreliable. Thats the experience I have had with limited running.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Those little plastic fingers have a tendancy to develope a "memory" if they are left in a compressed position for too long, then they don't operate as they should. The little metal springs are more forgiving.....


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## riogrande (Apr 28, 2012)

Old_Hobo said:


> Those little plastic fingers have a tendancy to develope a "memory" if they are left in a compressed position for too long, then they don't operate as they should. The little metal springs are more forgiving.....


Thats what I found. I have 4 sets of Athearn RTR Thrall coal gons I got out and ran at a large modular meet (20 cars) and the train kept uncoupling randomly at different points in the train. Guess what? They all had those plastic finger coupler springs and had developed a memory in the box. Those cars were new and had never been ran before that. I'll have to replace them all to fix that random uncoupling problem. Now Athearn has retooled the Mchenry couplers to have metal springs now, but that won't fix my problem, unless Athearn agree's to replace the couplers for me. I should contact them but Kadee's will be the ultimate solution = $$$


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

This past week my brother and I tried a 5 loco consist of our combined Bachmann
GP40s with factory installed Bachmann plastic couplers. Because we can't 
truly speed match the locos with our EZ DCC controller,
we tried them in various combinations of lead, follow. None worked well.
The couplers would not hold. I will be changing mine out to Kadees.

Don


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

I'm guessing that's due to the plastic Don. My layouts won't take five wagons, let alone a five loco consist so I'll probably be OK with them.


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