Has anyone used rapido railcrew uncoupler with ho kato unitrack? I got the uncoupler working. That is not the problem. The problem is when I put a railcar on the unitrack over the uncoupler the coupler barely moves. When I remove the unitrack and place the railcar directly on top of the uncoupler the coupler responds to the magnet. Before I start cutting on the unitrack I wanted to see if anyone has had this happen and how did they handle it? Thanks in advance for any help.
Using rapido railcrew uncoupler on kato unitrack
- Thread starter jhfvandy
- Start date
Mixed Freight
Well-Known Member
Although I have no experience with these Rapido Rail Crew Uncouplers, I do have some experience with using magnets for uncoupling. I'm guessing that the RRCU's either have under-sized magnets, or under-powered magnets, or a combination of both.
Rare-earth magnets have a much stronger magnetic field than a same-sized ceramic magnet would have. However, the further away a piece of ferrous metal is held from either type of magnet, the less "pull" the magnet's field will exert on it. By varying the size and type of magnet, you can fine-tune it into the desired pull it will have on a piece of ferrous metal.
With that in mind, the size and type of the magnets used in the RRCU's are having less affect on the coupler trip pins, due to the small amount of added distance that the thickness of the ties and molded-in plastic roadbed of the Unitrack is adding to the magnetic field. If the RRCU's can't be opened up and larger and/or stronger magnets installed, then you'll probably have to resort to cutting the Unitrack's plastic base in order to get the RRCU's installed up as close as possible under the rails in order to minimize the distance between the RRCU's internal magnets and the coupler trip pins.
Hope this helps explain the situation a little bit.
Thanks for responding. I decided to remove part of the plastic roadbed and place the uncoupler directly under the track. It works well.Although I have no experience with these Rapido Rail Crew Uncouplers, I do have some experience with using magnets for uncoupling. I'm guessing that the RRCU's either have under-sized magnets, or under-powered magnets, or a combination of both.
Rare-earth magnets have a much stronger magnetic field than a same-sized ceramic magnet would have. However, the further away a piece of ferrous metal is held from either type of magnet, the less "pull" the magnet's field will exert on it. By varying the size and type of magnet, you can fine-tune it into the desired pull it will have on a piece of ferrous metal.
With that in mind, the size and type of the magnets used in the RRCU's are having less affect on the coupler trip pins, due to the small amount of added distance that the thickness of the ties and molded-in plastic roadbed of the Unitrack is adding to the magnetic field. If the RRCU's can't be opened up and larger and/or stronger magnets installed, then you'll probably have to resort to cutting the Unitrack's plastic base in order to get the RRCU's installed up as close as possible under the rails in order to minimize the distance between the RRCU's internal magnets and the coupler trip pins.
Hope this helps explain the situation a little bit.
