Thalys Coupler Issue

[surfingstephens]

Hi all, I have been having problems with my Thalys uncoupling way to often.   Tonight I really took a hard look at it and discovered it is like a jig saw puzzle.  Meaning that if I change the order of the cars I can find a way to get a nice connection between the cars, but certain cars will not connect tightly with certain other cars?  Kind of odd.   I managed to get the right combination of hooking them together I think and it appears to be running nicely so far.   I went ahead and ordered some additional hitches (the grey ones, part k10918-29) from Europe because I suspect this will be needed.

 

Has anyone else seen this problem with this particular train?  Any solutions that you have come up with?   I run a lot of other trains (TGV (orange),N700, and some others and none of them have this particular issue.   Of course every single one of them has a different coupling set up!  Thanks. 

[Matteo_IT]

Hello, I have the Thalis, 1st edition...

I put lighting and DCC... never had problems... boh!

Try to check better if there are some screws too much fastened...

[Guest Closed Account 1]

For what its worth, sometimes the coupler inner half is worn out or a post is broken.

 

That inner half spreads out to lock against 2 posts. I suppose this tension could weaken over time.

 

This dual post design is used on many Kato passenger car chassis.

 

I somehow broke a post. Simply drilling through the existing hole into the lower part and snipping the drill bit for use as a post allowed the train to enjoy the rest of the train show.

 

Parts available through Loco1Hobby

Edited December 10, 2015 by Webskipper

[surfingstephens]

My challenges with this train go back years..   So I decided once again to try and get this Thalys going.  It ran for awhile after I took it to a hobby store twice to work on it, but now I am taking a try at it again myself.   Here is where I am.  I bought a new TCS NEM decoder and installed it.  After a lot of working on it I can get the train to go, but it cuts on and off.   After more trial error I can tell that I can get power from the rear trucks (light comes on), but if I lift the rear trucks up the front trucks do not transfer power to the train.   This is causing the power to the engine to flicker which  in turn causes the train to stop and start as it goes around the track. 

 

I have taken the train apart many times so I am comfortable doing anything anyone suggests.   I was wondering if I could just order new trucks for the train and possibly a fresh set of brass strips for the electrical.    Does anyone have the part numbers for this or where I can get them.     

 

It is really odd that I can't get power from the front trucks to the train as the set up is pretty simple.    Any ideas??  Anyone have this type of electrical problem before? 

Thanks

[Guest Closed Account 1]

I really doubt the trucks are at fault.

 

Did the hobby store decide on their own to bend the pickup strips?

 

I have seen some funky twisting,bending of Kato copper strips and even adding styrene strips to stiffen them, which then locks out the suspension; hence poor contacts; stupido.

 

I bet when you do a continuity test across the trucks' pickups on dead track that they are not dead.

 

You can send them to me. You'll be out of shipping round trip at worst.

 

Have a sleep and then look at it all again tomorrow.

[surfingstephens]

Well, before I called it a night I popped off the rear and the fronts and switch them and...now they both work...sigh.  I hate it when it is finicky.   Anyway, for the moment, it is running pretty darn well.  Let me spend some more time running it some more tomorrow and see if it settles down.    

[surfingstephens]

WebSkipper, care to have a look at this train for me?   I will ship it to you and will pay you to take a look at it.  I ran it some more this evening and sure enough about 5 minutes in it stopped and started it's whole bad electrical thing.  Then I took off the top and ran it and I can see the light flickering more than it should which I am sure is causing the problem with the decoder losing connectivity as well the stops and starts.   The train seems to be more "noisy" than I recall as well.     Not sure if you do this kind of thing, but at this point I am game for anyone taking a look at it because between the hobby store and me there is no telling how many man hours have gone into trying to make it work reliably.    I have a LOT of trains and this one particular train has been my nemesis.  LOL   Let me know if you are game and I will box it up happily and send it your way.  I must warn you, you may be joining the long line of failed attempts at making it work..haha.

Edited February 5, 2016 by surfingstephens

[Guest Closed Account 1]

I'm very game. I have this model and no worries.

 

Pm me.