I recently acquired some Athearn Genesis products. One of which was a SD70I Canadian Cab. When I tested this engine on my track layout, there was little to no power, this had me very concerned because I had read on MR’s forum letters that some folks were getting absolutely no answer back from Athearn when sending in correspondence about their problems. My problem was not warped trucks as some might have suspected, my problem was no power. I contacted Athearn through the email on their website. I sent a detailed letter concerning my problem . I have seen a lot of complainers and whiners on this forum and on YouTube about how Athearn products are junk, crappy built and just in poor taste. That was not the content of my letter. I was very professional in my letter, I explained my situation with the problem I was having. I left in that letter a phone number in which I could be reached at. Several days later Athearn’s tech dept called me. His name is Dave and he was a very likable guy. He asked me some general questions about the engine itself, stock number, type and the usual. I explained to him what my engine was doing, he in turn told me to remove the engine and send it to Athearn and they would replace it for free. I also had an F3A phase 2 that was off tracking from the rear truck forward axle. I had the engine disassembled. He explained to me that they have heard of the warped trucks on the SD 70-75’s, but not the F units. He was very polite and very knowledgeable about Athearn products. I sent both pieces in per his instructions. 2 weeks later I had the parts back brand new. I re-installed the truck on the F3A, it worked perfectly. I re-installed the motor, it did the same thing it did before, no power. At first I got a little miffed, then I decided t start looking at other sources for the problem. I removed the trucks from the SD70I and rolled them on a flat surface, they were good, a little tight but good. I removed t
Good for you, Don. You should enjoy that locomotive that much more for having fixed it. Welcome to the forum!
Crandell
Thank You Crandell, I just hope folks take a different attitude towards Athearn (Horizon Hobby)
Kudos to you Don, for fixing your problem & the write-up!
It’s sad when a machine is DOA out of the box, but as complex as these are, it’s amazing that some survive shipping. (I used to transport scale models to contests, & I would feel every bump in the road!) I too believe in trying to troubleshoot issues & see if I can fix a problem, I find it enjoyable, & I may want to add details or other things during it’s service. (Meaning, I’ll probably have it apart anyway!) Any way, Good work!