Microtrains Couplers - What do you do when they come apart?


NScaler

NScaler

Engineer in Training
I just pulled a truck out of the package and it was in pieces. For about ten attempts at putting it back together I had all the parts. Then the spring went flying. There went $2.50. Then I just found another one in pieces. I am contacting Micro Trains because this is bull. I am out $5 worth of couplers if they won't fix these. Anyone have any good tips for getting these things back together? I think I am going to glue the rest of these if they are going to fall apart like this. Very frustrating to spend this kind of money on these to have them far apart in the box.
 
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Kevin,

Kitbuilding or repairing MT couplers takes patience and some spare parts. 30 years ago, I could build a package of couplers and have springs left over. Today, I'm not so good.

The good news is you should be able to buy a pack of springs and fix the couplers. It sounds like the coupler boxes did not get snapped into place. I would check the boxes to make sure they will lock before you contact MT. A fine flat tip jewelers screwdriver or a spring pic (MT sells) will help you hold and position the spring. Insert the screwdriver or pic close to one end of the spring so you can compress it into the coupler. Put your finger on top of the spring and coupler when you pull the screwdriver or pic out of the spring. Then put the cover on. A self closing pair of tweezers can help hold the coupler and spring while you get the cover into position.

Hope this helps!
Glenn
 
I tried all of the things you just mentioned. I was trying to use the clamping tweezer, but it just got in the way. I just watched a video on youtube that showed using masking tape to hold the parts down. But that was for a body mounted coupler. That may work, I don't know. I will have to order some springs and try again I guess.

The box doesn't seem to "snap". It closes, but light pressure causes it to slide back off. Does that mean it is broken? I am too scared to open one of the other ones to see if they stay closed better LOL.

Thanks for the tips. If you say it can be done I will just try again!
 
You can seal the coupler box at the edges with a soldering gun. The edge has to be barely touched to seal the box. If you haven't worked with a soldering unit I wouldn't try this. The coupler box should snap together. You have to be very careful in handling these individual coupler boxes.

BTW, don't try to glue the other coupler boxes you have. :eek: You'll ruin them.
 
IIRC, doesn't MT offer a coupler assembly jig for sale. It seems like that would be the ticket for those of us who have fingers too big to do the job.
 
I also use tiny bits of TAPE, usually electrical tape to hold parts together while (re)assembling MT couplers. For springs I have used a pic (non-MT) with a straight end but made with a bend at an angle and/or a Xacto knife. I use the blade to handle the spring and also compress it when needed to get'er in place. To sue a knife blade, insert the blade between ciols


The JOY of Nscale is its small size, it's small size is also sometimes a curse to adult human fingers.


I always keep spare springs, MT and others on hand...or is that in a box/jar?

JD
 
I guess I am going to have to order some springs then.

Bob, I can understand why you would say glue would ruin a coupler. But I can also see a couple spots where I could put a "syringed" droplet of glue that wouldn't get anywhere near the working parts of the coupler. Is that why you state glue would ruin it?

I can handle a soldering iron. But I would be a lot more comfortable with a drop of plastic weld, at least on this one box if it won't stay in place.

Thanks guys!
 
Glue could make it hard to repair if you ever needed to. The coupler box on a pre-assembled truck has to slide outward just a bit after you seat it. This is what locks it into place. If you just press it closed and don't slide it to lock it in place it will just fall back apart. If you're planning on putting couplers in some of those older rolling stock you were talking about, you might just wait on ordering springs, as the couplers do come with extras. The 1128-type are too large, but the 1015 and 2003/2004 type do have the correct size springs for the trucks. Also note: While stand-alone 1015 couplers will "snap" together and remain assembled with reasonable care, 2003/2004 stand-alone couplers will NOT. You will have to carefully keep them squeezed together until they are fitted into the coupler receptacle on the locomotive.

The assembly jig that MTL sells is worth its weight in gold and will save you many frustrations. I'd actually suggest you work on some couplers using that jig and get a feel for how they go together before trying to tackle re-assembling a truck-mounted coupler. Those are tougher than stand-alone coupler boxes, but they're still very do-able. Pro tip: Use a TINY flat-blade jeweler screwdriver inserted into the spring to handle the springs, and another one to gently squeeze the spring into the coupler once it's partially in place. Another pro tip to KEEP springs in place before they have any load placed on them (ala 1128-style): Spit. A little saliva will keep a spring "glued" into place for a few minutes without leaving anything behind to hamper it once it's fully assembled.
 
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Haha, I actually thought about saliva, just as the spring flew into the great unknown. I plan on becoming a pro at this in case you couldn't tell by my latests posts ;) So I will order that jig and do some conversions as you said. I just need to get some more light around me I think to make this job a lot easier.

Thanks again guys!
 
Well, saliva doesn't fix everything, but it can help. It will help keep things in place as long as they don't have a load on them. But a spring that gets boing-ed out of place completely while compressed under a load is just gone no matter what. But, like I said, that jig does help with not ever allowing things to boing to begin with. Boing, by the way, is a technical term that means "where'd that $^%@& spring go?!?!?!"

As for light, I can highly recommend this from Amazon. Not the cheapest thing around, but LEDs have SUPER long life, and it works really really well working on N-scale stuff. I think I may have to get a head-mounted version for some of my on-the-layout work, but this guy is much less annoying than having to wear one while doing benchwork, imho. Opinions vary on that.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001064VTE/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
Mike, thanx for confirming something I saw years ago. I knew I had seen one of those jigs and sometimes wished I had one for HO. Fortunately those times I needed one for HO have been few and far between.
 
I just did one of those conversions to my Spectrum 2-8-0. It does take patience and a good magnifier loop with a light. I use a very small screw driver to go through the center of the spring and hold it to the back of the metal adapter with one hand and then wrangle the slippery delrin coupling halves into place. Only to find the Microtrains coupling box tabs were shorter than the stock box and had to carefully cement it into place.
I bought the engine 7 years ago and just took it out as I am getting back into it. I also did decals. I love N scale, but this kind of work is far easier in HO. If the thing doesn't come with Microtrains couplings on it, I won't buy it.
 
I contacted Micro-Trains and they sent me a replacement pair of trucks. I wasn't expecting that. What great people! I am going to buy their jig and learn how to convert all my rolling stock.

Brooksie - I know what you mean. I browse ebay daily, and after this fiasco I caught myself checking to see if rail cars I was looking at had MT couplers.

Thanks for all the help guys!
 
Footnote: Any (well, at least decently recent) Atlas rolling stock will accept MTL trucks with no fuss. At most a tiny bit of reaming. Beware, though, Atlas is producing some things like their coil cars with chassis-mounted couplers. Since Atlas Unimates have about a 15-20% failure rate, this is important. But you can fit MTL stand-alone coupler boxes to those cars. Roundhouse need to be drilled completely through or you'll have wobbles, but if you're careful and exact they'll come out okay. Bachmann...well, just avoid them unless you have to, but they're a pain. Con-Cor is iffy depending on what you get. I created an absolutely amazing NS well car set only to find out that the Con-Cor trucks I threw out didn't have any match in MTL. OTOH, their auto racks work wonderfully with MTL long-extension trucks. Etc., etc.

You'll get a feel for it.
 
Yeah, the problem right now is I don't have a huge assortment of trucks and couplers. My wife just decided she wanted to move our bedroom to another room in the house so I now have an entire room for my layout. And there is one area where I can build a cabinet into a false wall just to house all of my parts. So soon I will be able to start stocking up.

That LED lamp you posted the link for, does that clamp base come off? Because I need one that mounts to the wall.
 
The clamp base is not attached at all. The base is just a U-shaped piece with a clamping screw and a hole and the base of the lamp is actually a round probe that just sets into that clamp base. I've got mine simply stuck in a hole in the top of my workbench, so a person could for instance just mount a small piece of 2x4 to the wall and slip it into a hole in that. I would say that it could even slip into the wall at a slight downward angle all by itself, but I'm not sure if the lowermost pivot point would allow that without it binding.
 
I usually glue my coupler covers on using a jell type thick CA glue.Iuse a needle or a straight pin and just put the tiniest dab on both sides of the coupler lid.This serves two purposes it keeps the lid in place but allows removal if needed.ASs for the spring find some soft cell foam rubber and use it in place of the spring.MTL mounts the springs either in front of the pivot or behind it.This trick seems to work better if used where the spring is front mounted.
 
I'm a bit late the party but the MT boxes aren't so bad once you've done a few. :) I can confirm though that assembling the ones already on a truck is much harder than the ones intended for body-mounting. Taking the wheels out first helps but it's still a pain.

If the 'lid' of the coupler isn't staying on you either have a faulty lid (unlikely, pretty simple part) or (more likely!) it's on upside down. You'll see that one side of the lid has a ridge/butt moulded around the edges. That is the bottom side and it faces the inside of the coupler when assembled. It should clip in and won't come apart without a bit of force. Not much force, but it definitely shouldn't fall apart on its own.

Once assembled, don't glue them!! Even if you think you can, you'll get capillary action and very likely jam up the insides. As Powersteamguy mentioned, use a soldering iron instead. Just wait til it's at operating temperature and then lightly touch the seam of the coupler box and the lid. Easy. :)
 
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