Easi-shunt Dapol Easi-shunt magnetic couplings in N

[mjkerr]

I used some rare earth magnets which can be bought from eBay very cheaply. Check out my earlier posts on this thread for how to install them and make sure they work properly.

Are there any issues when an item of older rolling stock, with exposed springs, sits over these magnets?

[roundhouse]

If the spring is brass then there will be no effect from the magnets. More likely to be affected will be the steel axles.

[ian b]

Used some 2 x 3mm magnets as recommended by Karhedron above and works really well! All terminus platforms now fitted although can't get the delaying action to work so will use Dapol's own in a couple of places.

 

Thought this might be down to the code 80 track vs code 55 so tried raising the magnets by a mm to make up for the increased depth. Result? Magnets pulled the coupling so hard my 03 couldn't move the coach off them! Placing them at the lowest height between the sleepers was ideal for uncoupling.

 

 

Ian B

[Kris]

Used some 2 x 3mm magnets as recommended by Karhedron above and works really well! All terminus platforms now fitted although can't get the delaying action to work so will use Dapol's own in a couple of places.

 

Thought this might be down to the code 80 track vs code 55 so tried raising the magnets by a mm to make up for the increased depth. Result? Magnets pulled the coupling so hard my 03 couldn't move the coach off them! Placing them at the lowest height between the sleepers was ideal for uncoupling.

 

 

Ian B

I tried moving a magnet up and ended up with a wagon doing a wheely

[andygif]

Not all 3x2 are the same strength. Wonder if karhedron can remember the N strength of his were.

I did a trial with some similar to his and could get a mainly consistent uncouple but no delay.

Heres a link to one magnet seller, .25kg pull no wonder wagon wheelie or rocket!!!

www.first4magnets.com/3mm-dia---max-029kg-pull-75-c.asp

Edited January 27, 2013 by andygif

[Karhedron]

Not all 3x2 are the same strength. Wonder if karhedron can remember the N strength of his were.

Afraid not, the best I can remember is "ebay strength".

 

I found that getting the delayed action to work was not a function of magnet strength but the position of the trip pins. Tweaking these inwards so as to be closer to the centre line increased the coupling deflection and activated the delayed-action feature. This was just what worked for me though and I haven't tried a Dapol magnet to see if they would work with that without adjustment.

[ian b]

Mine were 'strongest N52 grade', whatever that means! Could be renamed 'anti-03 magnets'...

[NZmodeller]

Hi guys,

 

There are factors that may impair the delayed action which have nothing to do with the magnet strength. Close coupled Farish Mk1s will couple and uncouple perfectly but will not go into the "opposed" position due to the spring in the close coupling mechanism. Also, your shunter, 03 , 08 or other is at the mercy of the track in how the chassis is aligned on it's approach to the magnet. If it comes off a bend it may not be straight enough to allow the coupling to open far enough. Another problem with shunting close coupled coaches on delayed action is that the centering spring in the coupling mechanism may cause derailments when pushing coaches over curves (points!).

 

With this in mind I have experimented and moved my magnets to the effect that I have all but given up on delayed action (other than a gentle little push to get past the magnet). Although this is a shame the opportunity then arises to then mount the magnets lower and out of sight so it doesn't really matter how many you have and you can cover all your options and sidings.

 

I haven't used rare earth magnets yet but they must be pretty easy to hide. Dapol magnets can be hidden in the following way. Note this is also an effective way of hiding the void if you remove a magnet for some reason.

 

Take an offcut of code 55 rail

 

slice off 8 sleepers level with the bottom of the rail, this leaves a .5mm thick "ladder" consisting of the centre section of the sleepers complete with the chairs and spacers.

 

Remove the centre sections of 8 sleepers where you want the magnet to go on your layout and recess the magnet into the baseboard. Then slide the ladder in to place over the magnet with each side in the grooves in the bottom of the insides of the rails. You may not even even need to glue the magnet in.

 

Re-ballast and weather down as necessary.

 

I'm in the process of hiding my magnets now, so far I have not experienced any problems with reliability.

 

Peter

[Les1952]

Hello all.

 

those nice people at Liverpool (the ones who used to send out Julie Andrews parcels) have just supplied me with three packs of the NEM pockets for fitting to older stock.   I've started fitting them to 21-tonners for Hawthorn Dene Colliery.  I'll keep on converting until I run out of wagons or lose the will to live......

 

Some initial thoughts.

 

Tip one- The instructions say to glue the mounts to the wagon with epoxy, and mean exactly that.  You need a good strong bond or the coupler can come off when used.   HOWEVER  I strongly suggest you do the first two or three with something you can pull apart more easily as you will want to adjust the position from the default.  Go to epoxy as soon as you are happy you know how far back you want to mount the pocket.

 

 

This was the first pair of couplers I did- using the gauge supplied to mount the pocket exactly where the instructions said.  Note how far apart the wagons are.

 

 

For comparison the unconverted ends of the same wagons.   Hence the epoxy comment- these have now been dismantled again (superglue doesn't stick the pocket to the wagon very well and is easily removed)

 

 

Here's one I got wrong earlier- both these wagons have couplers that are too long- I think the shorter one is shorter than spec but it might be the longer one is too far out..   

 

Tip two is this- If you are hamfisted like me don't use a knife to take the old coupler pocket off- the buffers will stand a much higher chance of surviving if you use side cutters for this job.  this then allows you to knock the buffers off filing the floor flat just like I'm still managing one time in three........

 

I'm documenting progress in getting the wagon gap shorter on my Hawthorn Dene Colliery thread under layout topics in case anyone is interested enough to look.  Each time I set one pair a bit further back it will be tested to see that it will safely propel round the 9" hidden curves on the colliery section.  Fortunately I've a couple of very tatty Farish 7-plank wagons missing a coupler box after being dropped.  These will be converted into coal carts to allow me to avoid doing some of the engines.....

 

Hope this lot helps wihout actually offending anyone.

 

Les

 

 

[ian b]

Spot on Les! Having fun converting old farish stuff which is so proving worryingly easy...

 

Ian B

[roundhouse]

This evening (after taking over two hours to get home from London Bridge due to our class 377 failing at Purley - should be an hours trip) I decided to spend what time there was left of the evening fitting magentic couplers to stock.

 

However I ended up losing more springs than I actually managed to fit couplers, so did not help calm me down at all. I lost all the spare springs in one pack just trying to replace one spring, so this coupler has been glued in the closed position. I now have a nice collection of these couplers with no springs.

 

Eventaully I did get two of the short shank couplers to one end of a pair of Farish Mk1's. I did need to remove the lower part of the buffer beam for them to work but it would appear that with these short couplers that the coaches will go round 11 inch radius curves.

 

These Mk1's form part of a charter rake so the couplers will be put to the test on Banbury at the Tonbridge show.

[Les1952]

I find the best way to avoid losing springs is to apply a small dab of superglue to one end.    The easiest way to lose springs is to forget to do it.....

 

Farish Mark 1s are the hardest "NEM" pockets to fit them to- despite protestations (which will no doubt be repeated loud and hard here yet again) they appear not to be made to true NEM dimensions.  The articulation is incorrect for true NEM standards in that they are steered by a depression in the end of the bogie- true NEM swing mounts are steered by following the next vehicle in the train.  They also seem to be too tight to tolerance- I've found that not only do they not like Dapol couplers but try putting a Brawa or Fleischmann Rapido coupler head into a Farish mark 1 and it just doesn't want to go.

 

All the very best

Les

[roundhouse]

Les

 

I have started putting a bit of Canopy glue on one end of the springs but as you say I forgot last night.

 

Too true about the Farish Mk1 NEM sockets. I actually bent one of the Dapol couplings trying to get it into the socket. Thats when the spring headed off into the living room carpet!

 

If the springs were bronze coloured as Microtrains and Kadee then there would be at least a slim chance of finding them.

 

Ian

[D1059]

Tip two is this- If you are hamfisted like me don't use a knife to take the old coupler pocket off- the buffers will stand a much higher chance of surviving if you use side cutters for this job.  this then allows you to knock the buffers off filing the floor flat just like I'm still managing one time in three........

 

Les

 

ROTFL - I'm having exactly the same problems cutting the pockets off stock to fit MBD couplings

 

STEVE

[andygif]

ROTFL - I'm having exactly the same problems cutting the pockets off stock to fit MBD couplings

 

STEVE

think i'll will use my old xuron track cutters then,  the ones i tried to cut piano wire with and put a huge ding in the blades.

The more modern farish wagons are a lot softer than the peco ones,  dremel and diamond files for these me thinks.

must be time to build the sterile room for carrying out this sort of operation in, all white tiles and spot lights for finding the bits that ping off into the carpet/layout scenary, springs, whole couplings etc....

will have the plasters and first aaid kit on standby, not to mention the swear box!!!!!

Edited February 8, 2013 by andygif

[roundhouse]

This morning I woke up really early so decided to put some springs in the couplers where they went missing. Even under an illuminated magnifying glass I lost 6 out of 10 springs with two more damaged trying to separate them. So just two couplers repaired , Another thing I noticed is thst these springs are steel so any magnetic field and they ard on the move.

 

Anyway, the more productive task this morning was to put a tiny bit of canopy glue on the springs to the couplers already fitted to the container fleet so hopefully no more lost springs on these vehicles. I have now checked and used dome Greasem in the coupler boxes fitted to the Dspol wagons so that the couplers csn mkve more freely on the curves out of the fiddleyard

Edited February 9, 2013 by roundhouse

[roundhouse]

Royal Mail just called. A parcel frmo Hattons containing the Dapol conversion pack and adaptor , so now I can crack on and convert some wagons with the older Rapido style box.

[engage]

 , Another thing I noticed is thst these springs are steel so any magnetic field and they ard on the move.

 

 

Hi Ian,... If your observation is correct then a good way to search for lost springs would be to use a large magnet.......Tip !...  try not to loose them in the first place

by working in a shoe box or large plastic bag......Tip.2...This might not appeal to everyone but I have cut several of the magnets in half and so get two for one.The

main advantage being that one does not need to remove so many sleepers but the disadvantage is that shunting to align the couplers over the magnet must be

very precise and there needs to be marker of some sort on or near the track to achieve this.  Another tip for newcomers to this latest uncoupling craze is to

remember that space must be left at the rear of the train so that it can be pushed backwards off the magnet or the wagons will not recouple...Like some other

members I have given up with the delayed action but otherwise find that they do work very well.

 

Cheers

John

[roundhouse]

Thanks John

 

I might just try that but I bet they have got lodged in the woolen throw over the sofa in the conservatory.

Maybe i will have to remove it next tiem I try to replace the springs!

 

I have been fitting the conversion packs today to some VGA wagons. very easy to do. I will post some photos later.

I have also fitted a conversion box to a bogie mounted Rapido box whihc is under a Farish container flat. I will give it a good test on Banbury next weekend before converting any more but ther is no reason why it should cause any problems.

 

Ian

[roundhouse]

Here is a sequence of photos showing the conversion of the Farish VGA

 

The VGA before commencing work

 

Wheelset removed making it easier to remove the Rapido coupling assembly which just pulls out.

 

Once the Rapido coupling is removed, the plastic moulding on the chassis is kept

 

Using a suitable width file, the moulding is filed both sideways and down in th middle so that the Dapol box sits snuggly inthe resultant gap. The axle is regularly reinserted and the wagon offered up to the Dapol gauge to make sure enough is filed out. The two remaining lugs on the chassis need to be filed down a touch so that they dont interfere with the little wings on the moving piece of the coupler is inserted into the box.

 

This shot shows the box in place but set further back than the Dapol gauge would position it. I position the box far neough back so that the inside of the knuckle is just proud of the wagons buffers. Holes are drilled ither side of the box and hten a U shaped piece of fine brass wire is inserted and glued carefully around the box(so that no Superglue gets inside the box).

This gives the box some mechanical means of fixing thus making it a stronger bond.

 

I have also used a drill bit through the pivot hole of the box through the floor of the wagon to make sure that there is no glue in the way which may affect the operation of the moving piece when it is inserted into the box. I found this had happened on the first VGA I converted.

 

Then the inside moving part is inseterd and the coupler then inserted into the whole assembly

 

The finished coupling.

Edited February 11, 2013 by roundhouse

[engage]

Hi Ian.... Thanks for posting the above pics,I do not have any VGA's in need of conversion at the moment but I am sure that those that do will find

the pics most helpful. As the members in the south west would say " it Looks like a proper job" and I like the strengthening loop that you have added

and the side pieces you have left from the original moulding will also help to hold the coupling in place, I don't think that one will move far.

I look forward to seeing a pic of your bogie conversion, I have not done one yet but I think there could be a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth before

all bogie conversions are complete, so I think any advice would be much appreciated all round.

 

  Any members looking to uncouple  similar trains in a hidden siding etc and in the same place every time mind find the tips given on our HF thread

useful,  See...link.......Horseley Fields - N Gauge layout (was Dibben Junction) - Layout topics - RMweb - Page 8......#103----#106.....  We have been

using the decouplers very successfully for about a year now albeit with the factory fittet NEM sockets.

 

Cheers

John

[Karhedron]

I have also fitted a conversion box to a bogie mounted Rapido box whihc is under a Farish container flat. I will give it a good test on Banbury next weekend before converting any more but ther is no reason why it should cause any problems.

I look forward to see how well that works. I have a fair amount of bogie stock to convert mnyself.

[roundhouse]

I think it will work well as seems to give more sideways play then the Rapido coupler, so curves should be fine.

 

The one vehicle i have mounted it to is a Farish container flat with the added end buffers from TPM. So sticking the Dapol box on the end of the Rapido box means a standard length Dapol knuckle works out just about fine. Any other bogie mounted vehicles will probably need the short knuckle or the existing Rapido box cutting back a bit.

 

I may well convert naother one of the container flats - if it doesnt work then its easy to remove the Dapol box and stick the Rapido back in whihc I can do at the Tonbridge show this weekend if they cause a problem.

 

if I do another one this week I will take some photos of the conversion. I will also try and photo the conversion I have done on some of the Farish class 66's.

 

Apart from the losing of the springs obth from the coupler and when trying to replace them, I am generally very happy with these couplings and believe it will be a worth while excercise

 

Ian

[peak experience]

maybe it would be a good idea to have a separate place to put all our conversion photos so that they build up into a coherent workbench type thread?

[DapolDave]

Nice review in the latest RM showing a Peco wagon converted by Peco using our NEM sockets.

They also mention that they will work on their NEM fitted 009 stock too