E Z Mate MkII Couplers

[timbo48]

Can anyone tell me where I can buy replacement couplers for my Bachmann On30 stock here in the UK? Also, what is the part number? Thank you.

[davanuk]

I have been using KD #148 whisker couplers on the rolling stock. I haven't, as yet, tried to change any of the locos but would imagine KDs would fit.

I got mine from EDM models.

Regards,
Dave

[railtwister]

Timbo48,

Most earlier On30 equipment with the standard arch bar trucks and original frames will use the EZ-Mate medium length overshank couplers. Newer rolling stock equipped with the lower profile frames and standard archbars will use the medium length centershank couplers. For cars equipped with the lower profile frames AND the low archbar trucks (like the pulpwood and camp cars), you'll need the medium length undershank couplers. Sorry I don't have the sku#'s handy, but you should be able to get them online now that you have the coupler's description. To tell the early frames from the lower profile ones, look at the bolster where the truck is mounted. If there is an arched surface on either side of the truck mounting boss, it's the older frame type. If the frame bolster is flat with just a washer-like ridge around the boss, it's the newer frame.

I have had no luck using Kadees in the stock Bachmann coupler pockets, which are shallower than Kadee pockets. The thicker Kadee shanks jam and won't pivot freely when the coupler mounting screw is properly tightened. Loosening the screw enough for the coupler to freely pivot also allows it to sag, affecting coupler height. The best fix if you must have Kadees is to remove the cast-on Bachmann pocket and use a Kadee pocket instead, but that's too much work for me to bother with, especially since I have had good luck with the newer E-Z mates which have a coiled metal knuckle spring. I replace the very old E-Z Mates that used the plastic leaf knuckle springs which were not reliable. On any scratch built equipment that doesn't have built-in draft gear boxes, I prefer using the Kadee whisker type couplers, because they are the most reliable and durable. If you decide to go with the Kadees, use the whisker couplers and their snap-together coupler pockets, they are way better (and easier to install) than the old number 5's. The newer pockets also allow for better truck swing, since they don't have the "loops" for extra mounting screws on the pocket sides.

Bill in FL

[davanuk]

Bill,

Interesting to hear you have had trouble fitting KD whisker couplers into Bachmann draft boxes as I have just fitted two box cars after painting and they work a treat. All I did was to gently file the lip of the box and coat the box with graphite/lead pencil and they work fine.

Perhaps I have been lucky but both have the screw tightened up fully as well.

Regards,
Dave

[railtwister]

Bill,

Interesting to hear you have had trouble fitting KD whisker couplers into Bachmann draft boxes as I have just fitted two box cars after painting and they work a treat. All I did was to gently file the lip of the box and coat the box with graphite/lead pencil and they work fine.

Perhaps I have been lucky but both have the screw tightened up fully as well.

Regards,
Dave

Hi Dave,

That is very interesting! I just measured my couplers with a pair of digital calipers and the EZ-Mate shanks were .047" thick while the Kadee whiskers were a bit thicker at .055". The #5 shank was .048" thick, but it's centering spring has thickness as well, so it makes sense that the #5 might be slightly thinner than the whisker, and fit the same box. The #5 shank is still thicker than the EZ Mates however, especially if you consider the spring.

It was a few years ago when I decided to just use the EZ Mates with the metal knuckle springs, so today I tried to put Kadees into one of the newer lowered profile frames (which have come out since I last experimented with couplers), just to see if anything had changed. I found that I could make the whisker work only if I reamed the hole on the Bachmann lid so the Bachmann screw was a loose fit, carefully filed any bur from the rim of the hole, hit the shank of the whisker with a few licks of the file (just enough to remove some of the blackening and any manufacturing burs) and then left the screw about a sixteenth of a turn shy from being fully seated.

Since I haven't had any major problems with the EZ Mates,  up to now there's been no great incentive to change couplers other than to get rid of the ones with the plastic-leaf knuckle springs. Even the small amount of fine tuning of the box lid and screw is more time consuming than I feel is necessary, given that the factory couplers seem to work just fine. If at some point they become a problem, then I'll switch to the Kadees, but for now my motto is "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

However, as I said earlier, for any scratch built or other cars that might need a separate coupler box, the whiskers are definitely the best way to go.

Bill in FL

[davanuk]

Bill,

It would seem that I have just been lucky. I have one more underframe to do and will see what happens there. I did try and fit a set of KD #5's and the spring plate wouldn't fit over the centre post so I gave up on that and tried the whisker ones #148.

Each to his own, although new to On30 I do prefer the KD's to the Bachmann versions.

Regards,
Dave

[railtwister]

Dave,

I agree , and I prefer the Kadee Whisker types as well, but there's a limit to how much work I'm willing to do, just to put Kadees on my cars, especially since the EZ-Mates have been working for me so far. Any EZ-Mates that start giving me problems will likely be replaced with Whisker type Kadees.

Bill

[bobwrgt]

Timbo48

Try Hattons in the UK. 
Threr is always Ebay UK or Us for worldwide sellers.

Bob