The telex coupler on the rear of the tender of a BR 50 functions (re up & down movement when engaged/disengaged) but will not hold onto a car for more than a few track lengths. It doesn't matter how the other car has been attached - it just won't hold on.

1. can the coupler be raised higher so as to make it more difficult for the coupler of another car to diengage?

2. can the coupler be tilted up & away from the other car?

3. how can I get access to the coupler? The rear truck on the tender blocks access and there is a red plastic piece that blocks access to the screw holding the truck on - how would I remove the red piece without breaking it?

4. can I get access to the coupler from the top - by lifting off the tender body? If so, how do I lift the tender body off?

5. Can I replace the telex with a relex coupler? If so, how do I do that?

6. is there any simple solution to keeping the cars coupled to the tender?

Thanks Dan

With what type of controller are you activating the mechanism?
I have the same set, and it works fine.

regards
Kimball

I have the same type of telex coupler on my Br44 37885. It only really works at all with Marklin close couplers. If I try to use it with relex or any other type it just won't hold on to it.

You could try to bend the coupler of the first car that attaches to the loco downwards and not mess with the telex coupler of the loco.

I don't know if the telex on a br 41 is the same as the br 50, but my br 41 telex seems a little low. It was a problem trying to couple some wagons and on uneven track. As the tender crossed a dip in the track the wagons uncoupled from the tender. I shimmed the track and fixed that. One day I'll get a coupler gage and adjust all my couplers, so I'm interested in how you solve this.

On a similar topic, one day I want to make a spring to center the coupler on my br 86, so when it comes out of a curve the telex is pointing straight ahead.

My photography skills need some work but I tried to get a couple of pictures showing the problem with the coupler.

This photo shows the Telex coupler resting on the gauge at the height I believe it needs to be.



This photo shows how low the coupler hangs.



There is a lot of up and down play in the coupler. You can see the difference using the bumpers as a reference. If anyone has had luck adjusting this please let us know. I am going to attempt an adjustment and I will let you know how I make out.

Dan, can you confirm this is the same problem you have?

Cheers...
Darren

Dan,
I did some work on my BR50 and here are some answers that I have figured out.

The red pieces on the trucks can be removed by gently pulling them away at the ends. There is a small square tab holding them on.

Remove the tender body by gently prying out the sides. There are 2 large slots and four small slots. The tabs holding it together are at the small slots.

Here are some pictures of the tender being disassembled.





The 2 screws that hold the trucks on connect through to a metal plate that the decoder and speaker are attached to. Sandwiched between the metal plate and the chassis of the tender are the plastic springs that allow the coupler to flex. There appears to be too much room for them and they have some slack that allows them to move up and down causing the coupler to droop.



My solution to try is adding a piece of cardboard to act as a shim to remove some of that play.



This seems to have removed most of the up and down movement of the coupler.

My observations during testing show that the coupler has improved. However the Relex couplers have to be well aligned and maybe even a little bit low for them to work with this telex coupler. This design seems to work much better with the Marklin close couplers. I never noticed the problem since my starter kit has all close couplers but when I picked up some older used coaches the problem appeared. I will be doing more testing but in the end I may have to concede that some cars will not run well with this locomotive.

Cheers...
Darren

Dan,
The problem with a wire or bracket to hold the coupler up is that it may interfere with the side to side motion of the coupler. There is very little room in between the trucks as well. In my third photo you see a Y shaped piece of plastic. This moves to allow the coupler to slide to the sides. The Y piece of platic seemed to have too much room allowing it to wobble up and down causing the coupler to sag.

I'll do more testing and let you know how well it performs.

Darren

I have noticed the CC/Relex height difference too. In my experience the close couplers will connect to each other reliably (providing they are are both centred and on straight track) as will the Relex, but coupling the two types often requires a helping hand as otherwise the loop on the close coupler just tends to hit the buffing plate on the Relex coupler, rather than lifting up and over the hook.