Kato GEVO couplers: why so high?

Chris1274 Jan 7, 2013

  1. Bob Horn

    Bob Horn TrainBoard Member

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    I might have the answer, if you installed short shank couplers where did they come from? These should have straight shank couplers, it appears that you have the off-set couplers instead. All mine are still stock couplers and not off-set. Bob.
     
  2. Chris1274

    Chris1274 TrainBoard Member

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    No, it's definitely not due to any of those factors, as can be seen when the shell is removed entirely:

    View attachment 50596

    I think Bob Horn may have hit upon it. I replaced the stock long-shank couplers with the same off-set short shank couplers that are used on the AC4400, Kato #923500. I figured that since the two engines are so similar, the same type of couplers would work for both.
     
  3. Bob Horn

    Bob Horn TrainBoard Member

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    That's what I thought. I have a ton of the 923500's and have to be sure I am grabing what I really need. Bob.
     
  4. Spookshow

    Spookshow TrainBoard Member

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    Isn't it great when mystery threads end with an actual resolution? I hate the ones that peter off into nebulousity :)

    -Mark
     
  5. ns737

    ns737 TrainBoard Supporter

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    HI JEFF B. just switch the railings and porch plates from the 4400 to the gevo no mod. needed they go right together.
     
  6. John Moore

    John Moore TrainBoard Supporter

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    Hopefully we can get an update if putting the original couplers back on solved the issue.
     
  7. Chris1274

    Chris1274 TrainBoard Member

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    Well, my plan at this point is to replace these with MT 1015s. The stock long-shank couplers are (in my view) too long, which is why I replaced them with the 923500 jobs in the first place. I'd rather not put the originals back in only to have to remove them again.
     
  8. Jeff B

    Jeff B TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks NS 737.
    Jeff
     
  9. ns737

    ns737 TrainBoard Supporter

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    JEFF also use the front cab railings from the csx 4400 so you have the right wide railings from the cab to the steps.ED
     
  10. Jeff B

    Jeff B TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks NS 737.
    Jeff
     
  11. Metro Red Line

    Metro Red Line TrainBoard Member

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    You're not crazy. I have the same issue. I'm doing DCC consisting for the first time and was going crazy because I have a Kato GEVO on the point and a Kato SD70ACe behind it. No matter what my speed settings were, the GEVO would break loose from the rest of the train on a grade and speed ahead, leaving the poor SD70ACe having to lug the rest of the train up the incline.

    Upon close inspection, the height of the coupler, also being on a higher incline than the SD70ACe's coupler, just pulled off vertically.

    My short-term solution: Reverse the consist and run the SD70ACe ahead of the GEVO. Everything stays coupled now :)

    I will plan to switch out the couplers on both though. I have to manually fit the couplers together whenever a Kato coupler needs to hook onto something else. Major pain!
     
  12. Chris1274

    Chris1274 TrainBoard Member

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    Did you have to modify the pilot to get the 1015s to fit? I can't seem to get mine to slide into the opening.
     
  13. Metro Red Line

    Metro Red Line TrainBoard Member

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    Don't use a 1015. Use a 2004, which was made for the Kato Dash-9, which has the same chassis as the GEVO.
     
  14. Chris1274

    Chris1274 TrainBoard Member

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    Have you tried 2004s? I've got some and they don't look like they'll work. They appear to be off-set just like the Kato 923500s, in which case they'll also ride too high.

    Edit: In fact I just checked and the 2004 sit way too high.
     
  15. Chris1274

    Chris1274 TrainBoard Member

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  16. Metro Red Line

    Metro Red Line TrainBoard Member

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    Hmm, I have a Dash-9 with an MT 2004 in it. Maybe it's another coupler with a 2004 draft gear box? I know the 1015's box is too big to fit in.
     
  17. Spookshow

    Spookshow TrainBoard Member

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    Confusing thread, but it sounds like the solution is to modify the Kato pilot (vis'a'vis a little filing) to accept a 1015. Either that or put the guts from a 1015 in a 2004 box.

    -Mark
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 12, 2013
  18. Chris1274

    Chris1274 TrainBoard Member

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    The solution for me is to stick with the Kato couplers and be done with it. I just spent the past two hours trying to take the MTs apart and put them back together. Fiddling with all those sub-atomic parts is enough to drive a man to drink.
     
  19. Metro Red Line

    Metro Red Line TrainBoard Member

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    Most interesting was CharlieVik's reply, which confirms the OP's suspicions that something is off with the GEVO frame:

    [TABLE="width: 100%"]
    [TR]
    [TD="colspan: 2"]Posted - 2012 February 22 : 9:34:09 PM [​IMG][HR][/HR][/TD]
    [/TR]
    [TR]
    [TD]When I was still at Kato the factory screwed up on the centerline height of the coupler. Instead of fixing the coupler they determined they could change the mounting height of all subsequent production
    This means neither the 20XX or 1015 series couplers will be correct for any unit issued after the RDCs (which had their own unrelated coupler height issues)
    I am not sure that MicroTrains was ever made aware of the problem....as far as I know this is the first time I've seen the issue raised!!!
    Charlie Vlk
    [/TD]
    [/TR]
    [/TABLE]
     
  20. Chris1274

    Chris1274 TrainBoard Member

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    Looks like Kato's been dropping the ball with recent releases. Crappy sprung trucks on the SD70ACe and multiple issues with the GEVO. The least they could have done would have been to include short shank couplers in the package, like they used to. The stock long shank ones stick out about a scale five feet from the pilot.
     

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