Lionel Berkshire 6-11389 Coupler Randomly Opening

Could be a weak spring in the electro-coupler, or possibly there is a loose wire somewhere on your layout creating transient voltage spikes. 

I would try to rule out the electrical first.  Just trace all of your leads to your track from the base station and make certain any mechanical connections are tight.  Check the screws and wire nuts.

If that doesn't resolve your issue,  there was a thread about taking out the coupler rivet and carefully stretching the spring inside the body of the coupler coil.

Fred

Open the tender and unplug the coupler.  It will be connected to the board via a white 2 pin connector.  Put the tender back together and run it with your consist.  If it still opens, then you know its a mechanical issue.  If not, you know its an electronic issue.  You have to figure that out first before starting to repair it.

There's been a lot of posts about this problem. You can try cleaning the track and wheels or you can add a cap across the coupler leads to suppress the electrical noise that causes it to fire.

I'm sure someone will chime in about the cap size you would need.

Hope this helps,Doug

trnluvr posted:

There's been a lot of posts about this problem. You can try cleaning the track and wheels or you can add a cap across the coupler leads to suppress the electrical noise that causes it to fire.

I'm sure someone will chime in about the cap size you would need.

Hope this helps,Doug

The Legacy engines already have the CAP across the coupler.  Joe has a good suggestion.

These are really good suggestions. I will try Joe's first to isolate the problem to either being mechanical or electrical. The problem occurs frequently so this should be easy to do. Thanks all and I will post what I find.

Thanks Marty,I didn't realize this was a legacy engine.

Doug

Joe Fermani posted:

Open the tender and unplug the coupler.  It will be connected to the board via a white 2 pin connector.  Put the tender back together and run it with your consist.  If it still opens, then you know its a mechanical issue.  If not, you know its an electronic issue.  You have to figure that out first before starting to repair it.

I followed your excellent advice.  I disconnected the coupler and made sure that the remote would not open the coupler. I then ran the train and after a few minutes the coupler opened. So it looks like it is a mechanical issue. I ordered a replacement coupler.

I want to play around with it to try and fix it and I noticed that the knuckle pin is different than the ones on the box cars. Can this be removed and are there replacement pins available.

Also what tools would I need if I wanted to fix this coupler and also another dump car that opens by itself? I looked at Carl's Toy Trains web site at The Brakeman's Riveting tools but I am not sure what I would need from the large selection of tools/parts that he has. I have some postwar cars but most are modern issue cars.

Thanks for everyone's assistance.