ez mate couplers stop working

[jmazzeo]

I have a number of both Bachmann and Walthers Amfleet cars which have Bachmann EZ mate couplers. New and out of the box they work great. But after a while the EZ mates just woun't coupler any more! No mater what I do they just stop working.

I know this must be something I am doing but I can't for the life of me figure it out. also when they do couple going over a EZ track rerailer or a little hill they will uncouple.

Anyone have an idea as to what might be wrong?

[Santa Fe buff]

Simple magnitisum.
You have two magnites sticking to each other, sooner or later, the magnitisum in the magnites will wear of, then you should try to make the couplers less movable, I DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT TO DO..
but I can tell why the magnitisum is going away.
try to call the service department for a refund. If you get new couplers it might happen again, you should likely get the other couplers that aren't knuckle ones, I forget the name, but they are black and are on every life-like product.

[rogertra]

Replace them with Kadees. 

The ONLY coupler worth considering.

[Conrail Quality]

Simple magnitisum.
You have two magnites sticking to each other, sooner or later, the magnitisum in the magnites will wear of, then you should try to make the couplers less movable, I DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT TO DO..
but I can tell why the magnitisum is going away.
try to call the service department for a refund. If you get new couplers it might happen again, you should likely get the other couplers that aren't knuckle ones, I forget the name, but they are black and are on every life-like product.

Magnets have no part in keeping the couplers held together. The only thing magnetic about the coupler is the trip pin, which is used for automatic uncoupling. The couplers themselves are held together simply by friction. I second Roger's suggestion of Kadee couplers; they are easily the best on the market. The Kadee #148 is a drop-in replacement for an EZ-Mate (And it rhymes! ).

Timothy

[Jake]

Simple magnitisum.
You have two magnites sticking to each other, sooner or later, the magnitisum in the magnites will wear of, then you should try to make thecouplers less movable, I DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT TO DO..
but I can tell why the magnitisum is going away.
try to call the service department for a refund. If you get new couplers it might happen again, you should likely get the other couplers that aren't knuckle ones, I forget the name, but they are black and are on every life-like product.

Magnets have no part in keeping the couplers held together. The only thing magnetic about the coupler is the trip pin, which is used for automatic uncoupling. The couplers themselves are held together simply by friction. I second Gene's suggestion of Kadee couplers; they are easily the best on the market. The Kadee #148 is a drop-in replacement for an EZ-Mate (And it rhymes! ).

Timothy

It was Roger that recommended the Kadees

If you get new couplers it might happen again, you should likely get the other couplers that aren't knuckle ones, I forget the name, but they are black and are on every life-like product.

I REALLY hope that was a joke...

[SteamGene]

The original EZ Mates were mostly nice looking trash.  The EZ Mate II is much better, but if you are going to replace them, follow Roger's advice and get Kadee's.  The vast majority of conversions can use a #5. 
You haven't done anything wrong at all.  It's the coupler that is wearing out/down. 
And yes, magnetism has nothing to do with the coupler's connectability. 
I hope that was not a horn hook being suggested.
Gene

[Conrail Quality]

Simple magnitisum.
You have two magnites sticking to each other, sooner or later, the magnitisum in the magnites will wear of, then you should try to make thecouplers less movable, I DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT TO DO..
but I can tell why the magnitisum is going away.
try to call the service department for a refund. If you get new couplers it might happen again, you should likely get the other couplers that aren't knuckle ones, I forget the name, but they are black and are on every life-like product.

Magnets have no part in keeping the couplers held together. The only thing magnetic about the coupler is the trip pin, which is used for automatic uncoupling. The couplers themselves are held together simply by friction. I second Gene's suggestion of Kadee couplers; they are easily the best on the market. The Kadee #148 is a drop-in replacement for an EZ-Mate (And it rhymes! ).

Timothy

It was Roger that recommended the Kadees

If you get new couplers it might happen again, you should likely get the other couplers that aren't knuckle ones, I forget the name, but they are black and are on every life-like product.

I REALLY hope that was a joke...

Sorry, I don't know how I missed that .

Timothy

[Jim Banner]

While most of the cars and locomotives on my H0 layout are fitted with Kadee's (about 600 of them), the ones with E-Z Mate II have stood up well too.  E-Z Mate II are easily identifiable by their bronze coloured knuckle springs.  These metal coil springs are infinitely better than the plastic knuckle springs used in the original E-Z Mates.  That fiasco is best regarded as an experiment in simplification that went one step too far.

As to whether the E-Z Mate II's will last as long as Kadees, ask me again in 40 years.  Over the past 40 years, I have replaced very few Kadee's because of failure.  And most of the ones I have replaced were damaged by dropping off the layout and onto the concrete floor 400 to 500 (scale) feet below.

[Running Bear]

Every Bachmann car I get, I replace the EZ-Mate couplers with Kadee #5's before it gets anywhere near the track. The EZ-Mate Mark I's don't hold up at all and the EZ-Mate Mark II's twist out of shape and uncouple. Kadee is the way to go.

[Yampa Bob]

It the car comes with EZ-II, I run it till the coupler breaks off or gets bent, then replace with 148.