Some of the coupler styles only come assembled and are not
available as kits. For those, I graphite both sides of the knuckle,
the pushing face, and apply as much as possible in the slot on
the back of the pushing surface, so that some graphite gets into
the ball and knuckle tongue area. Before installing them, I go
through the same break-in procedure as the kit couplers. The
factory couplers can be disassembled if they have problems, but
that must be done with some care. I have rebuilt a few particu-
larly uncooperative ones, and they operate just fine now.
– James Ogden
The only thing out of your recommendations that I did not do
previously was to apply graphite to all the internal parts. All the
couplers passed the upside-down working test before installa-
tion, and all of the working surfaces of the knuckle were pol-
ished with a graphite pencil in the same manner that James
suggested.
As an experiment, I went back and looked at some of the cou-
plers I've been having problems with and applied some graph-
ite inside. I took a tube of graphite, made a small pile of it, then
took a fine brush and picked up some of it, carefully placing it
inside the assembled couplers both upside-down and right-side-
up. I then used the magnet wand to cycle the locking ball several
times to be sure that all sides were coated. I'm happy to report
significant improvement.
When I assembled all these, I was not a stickler for flash. I looked
at only the two spots recommended on the instructions. Now I
know a few other places to check.
– Kevin
Taming helpers
Q.
We are trying to run helpers on my layout, which includes
several 2% grades and 30" radius curves. So far we have shoved
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