Choosing couplers

[chicken45]

It's still mostly a mystery to me.
I'm trying to body mount couplers on to Bowser hoppers. They recommend 1015-1.
MBK has 1015-1. It's 2 pair. There's a 1015-1-B, which I guess is the same, but brown. I need lots of them, so there's the 1015-10, which I guess is the same as the 1015-1 but the -10 means it is a bulk pack unassembeled?
Then there is 1015/1016 Unassembeled RDA. How can it be both? Does it come with both short and medium shanks?
Why did this lose the "-1?" Does it mean anything?
What is RDA, and why/when/where would I want to use it?
Why does it the RDA only come in packs of 3?

[SP-Wolf]

This may or may not help, but- -here ya go:

http://www.micro-trains.com/ConversionsN.php

RDA-- is -- Reverse Draft Angle (The centering spring is in front of the mounting post/hole) The RDA coupler was designed to eliminate unintended uncoupling in long trains. I had thought that most of the common couplers had been updated by now but looking at MT's product reference sheet, only the 1015 / 1016 coupler has the RDA face on them.

Hope that helps,
Wolf

[Ed Kapuscinski]

It is confusing.

It's even more confusing because MTL changed their product numbering a number of years ago too.

It makes plenty of sense when you see all of the packages together though.

[Kisatchie]

This may or may not help, but- -here ya go:

http://www.micro-trains.com/ConversionsN.php

RDA-- is -- Reverse Draft Angle (The centering spring is in front of the mounting post/hole) The RDA coupler was designed to eliminate unintended uncoupling in long trains. I had thought that most of the common couplers had been updated by now but looking at MT's product reference sheet, only the 1015 / 1016 coupler has the RDA face on them.

RDA has nothing to do with the location of the coupler spring. It refers to the revised shape of the coupler face.

All Micro-trains couplers are RDA now, unless I've been asleep for a decade. 


Hmm... I can hear Kiz
snoring...

[chicken45]

...soooo
I should order Micro-Trains N 00110001 (1015-10) Universal Body Mount Short Shank Couplers (10 pair, Unassembled)?

[Chris1274]

[Philip H]

it's a good start.

I've got 1015's, Accumates, Bowser Bucklers (for Gary and Ed's neat etched pockets), and a few Mc Henry's in the fleet as well.  Just trust the force . ..

[jcox3751]

Please be careful.

Not all MT couplers are RDA.

Please read the packaging.

An example of one that is not is #1027 (old number), and also a (#1019).

Joe Cox

 

[davefoxx]

...soooo
I should order Micro-Trains N 00110001 (1015-10) Universal Body Mount Short Shank Couplers (10 pair, Unassembled)?

Yes, look close at the picture of the package of the #1015-10.  It clearly says "Reverse Draft Angle."  The #1015-10 will get you ten pairs of black unassembled #1015 couplers.

Hope this helps,
DFF

[bbussey]

There is a brown 10-pack also, which probably is what I would use on the Bowser Pennsy hoppers (so that the coupler box has the appearance of being part of the body).

[jdcolombo]

Hey folks, let's not make this harder than it needs to be.

If you need a lot of couplers, order the 1015 bulk pack if you are willing to assemble your own.  They are black.  The 1015-B is brown.  I think the brown ones look terrible, but to each his own.  Otherwise, they are identical.

If you've never assembled MT 1015 couplers before, you're in for . . . a learning experience.   I think that the MT coupler tweezers (item number 98800061 at MB Klein, $3.39) are useful to this process, but pass on the coupler assembly jig.   Here's how I do it.  You will need a hobby knife with a new #11 blade; a pair of small needle-nosed pliers; a small flat file; a small plate (a cup saucer works well); and infinite patience to begin with.   If you're a beer drinker, have at least two handy.  I find that an ounce or so of really good bourbon helps quite a bit.

There are 6 pieces to each coupler: the box, the lid, the two halves of the coupler knuckle (the "knuckle" half, and what I call the "other" half for lack of a better name), the trip pin, and the centering spring.   Find a nice, clean place to work.  Open the bulk pack, and take out ONE "tree" of coupler boxes/lids and one tree of coupler halves.  With a brand new #11 blade in a hobby knife, cut the boxes and lids and coupler halves from the plastic tree.  Put the individual parts in small piles - one pile of boxes, one pile of lids, one pile of knuckles, one pile of the other half of the knuckle.

There also will be two clear plastic "bubble" packs, one containing centering springs and the other containing trip pins.  Open these and dump them onto your saucer.  Keep the springs in one pile and the trip pins in the second.

Now take your needle-nosed pliers and small flat file.  Now look at the trip pin.  You will see that it curves around like a sort of elongated "J".   Pick up one of the trip pins with your fingers, and then clamp it in your pliers with the straight part of the "J" sticking out about 1/16".  Now take your flat file and take a few swipes on each side of the very tip of the trip pin.  You want to take off any burrs, but not really file down the tip of the trip pin any.   Do this for 10 trip pins (you are going to need 20 to do all 10 pairs of couplers, but start with 10) and set them aside in a separate pile.

Now pick up the "knuckle" half of the coupler knuckle.  Notice that it has a small hole right behind the knuckle.  You are going to insert the trip pin into this hole.   Notice that the hole is not round; it is actually a very small rectangle.  Pick up a trip pin in your pliers with the straight part of the "J" sticking out.  Orient the trip pin so that its rectangular tip lines up with the rectangular hole in the BOTTOM of the knuckle.  Push the top of the trip pin into the knuckle until just a tiny bit comes through the top.   Repeat this process for all your knuckles and set them in a pile.

Now pick up one of the knuckles with trip pin installed, and hold between the thumb and forefinger of your left hand with the trip pin facing down.  Pick up one of the other half of the knuckle (from your pile).  Notice that it has a flat "face" and a small oval hole behind that flat face.  Slip this oval hole over the trip pin so that it comes together with the knuckle half to form a complete knuckle.  Now if you have the special tweezers, use them to press the front of the knuckle together (there's a small notch in the tweezers for the trip pin; the two jaws of the tweezers will fit over the top and bottom of the knuckle, with the trip pin in the little notch).

Now it gets harder.  Take the very tip of your hobby knife blade, and insert it between the coils of ONE of the springs near one end.  Make sure you only have ONE spring - they sometimes get intertwined, and you can usually separate them by gently rolling them on the plate.  You will get a lot of extra springs in your bubble pack - there's a reason for this, as you will soon find out.  Once you have snagged a spring with the VERY TIP of your knife, lay the knife down with the spring on it (the spring isn't going anywhere; the knife edge is lodged between the coils).

Now pick up the bottom of the coupler box between your left thumb and forefinger, with your middle finger underneath serving as a sort of shelf for the coupler box bottom, and with your right hand, pick up an assembled knuckle (if you have the tweezers, the knuckle will be in the tweezers, with the back end "loops" sticking out).  Slip the "loops" of the knuckle over the post on the coupler box (remember that the trip pin goes DOWN), and shift the very edge of your thumb so that it is holding the very back of the knuckle "loops" in the box.  You want your thumb to also be pushing the knuckle as far forward as you can, so there is space between the post and the front of the knuckle.  Slip the tweezers off the knuckle at this point.

Now it gets really hard.  With your right hand, pick up the knife with the spring.  Lever the spring between the post and the knuckle inside the "loops", then slip your thumb forward to "cover" part of the spring as you slip the knife out.  If you are lucky, the spring will stay put.  If you are human, the first couple of times you do this the spring will pop out.  You'll never find it.  This is why they give you LOTS of extra springs.  Take a sip of beer or a swig of bourbon, get your knife, and get another spring and try again.

At some point, you will in fact succeed in getting the spring sitting between the post and the knuckle, COVERED BY YOUR THUMB SO THAT IT DOES NOT POP OUT!  Now with your right hand, pick up a coupler box cover.  Note that one side of the cover is completely smooth, and the other side has a small notch around the hole.  The smooth side is the top side.  Orient the top with the smooth side on top and the narrow end to the front so that it is in the same orientation as the box.  Holding the top with your right thumb and forefinger, slip it onto the top of the box, under your LEFT thumb (which is covering the spring, remember?) until the front of the top lines up with the front of the box.  The top of the box will be under your left thumb at this point.  Shift your left forefinger so that it is under the bottom of the coupler box, and press down with your left thumb until you feel the top of the coupler box snap into place. 

You now have one assembled coupler.  Reward yourself with another sip of beer, bourbon, coffee, a glimpse of Halle Berry on your phone, whatever it takes.  Repeat until you've exhausted your supply of boxes and tops, and then take out two more "trees" and start the process again until all 20 of the couplers (10 pair) are assembled.

DO NOT DESPAIR.  The first few times you do this, you will get frustrated.  You will lose springs.  The coupler top won't seat properly and the whole thing will come apart just milliseconds before you were going to be finished.   You will want to throw things, break things, curse, scream, whatever.   BUT KEEP GOING!  YOU WILL DEFEAT THE COUPLER!  YOU WILL WIN!  And after you've done it a few times, you will find that you can assemble a 1015 in about 30 seconds flat. 

John C.

[Teditor]

A brilliant tutorial.

[Lemosteam]

I find the assembly jig to be very helpful, particularly when installing the spring and lid. The tweeters are a must! My fingers are much too large to hold those boxes.  I also use a small nut driver over the jig pin to snap the lid down straight.  Never needed any liquor so far!

[SP-Wolf]

RDA has nothing to do with the location of the coupler spring. It refers to the revised shape of the coupler face.

All Micro-trains couplers are RDA now, unless I've been asleep for a decade. 


Hmm... I can hear Kiz
snoring...

See- they got me too!! Thanks Kiz- for setting me straight!!  No Snoring!!!

Wolf

[mark.hinds]

FYI on RDA,

1) * NOT* all MT current couplers are RDA. 

2)  The couplers which are not RDA can be modified with a sharp hobby knife to give them an RDA ("reverse draft angle" to match the throat of the mating coupler, thus avoiding unintentional uncoupling with long trains). 

3)  Last time I checked (a few years ago) the design of the MT RDA couplers did *NOT* work well for automatic magnetic uncoupling, as the coupler tip was thickened too much when they added the RDA.  I modify my RDA couplers individually to fix this problem, but If you plan to uncouple manually, don't worry about it.  Details on this modification have been posted in various threads, but the essence of it is shown in the following image: 



MH