The Zephyr arrived yesterday, I was obviously keen to give her a whirl, she’s DCC ready so I fired up the older DC power pack and she purred around the track.
But it didn’t last long!![:(][:0]
She has a motor problem as I spin the shaft it goes open circuit in places (armature trouble?)
So my question is what’s the service like at Con-cor, I’ve emailed them to let them know I have trouble.[:D]
Ken.
The first time I e-mailed them, it took a couple of e-mails to get a reply. However, they have replied the first time every since then. I am guessing that it has something to do with them getting spam.
CC gets over 300 e-mails a day. They don’t have the personel to reply.
Call Tucson. You already spent big bucks.
I believe this is the third failure reported. Two here and one over at the Chgo MSI.
Con-Cor’s offices are in Tucson, Arizona, in an industrial park. They have only 2 or 3 people working in their office, so don’t expect a quick reply to e-mail.
A member of our local HO scale club pre-ordered a Zephyr directly from Con-Cor. He had the same problem you have had – it ran about 15 minutes and then stopped dead.
Since we live only 70 miles from Tucson, he took it back to them personally. He had been told on the telephone that they didn’t have any more in stock, but when he got there and talked to the owner’s wife, she knew where some were stashed away and got a new one for him.
He hasn’t ran the replacement so we don’t know if it has the same problem – but this is the fourth known instance of motors going dead after only a short run if locomotive3’s information is correct.
Not a good omen.
Well thanks fellas, I guess I’ll wait and see for a couple of days.
Ken.
Be sure to tell them to make some undecorated, HO scale reefers.
Oh man, Ken, now you’ve got me SCARED!! My Zephyr has been gliding around my model railroad for the past two weeks with nary a problem, and now I’ve heard of four instances where the motors have been quitting. If you get an answer from Con-Cor, please, PLEASE post it, okay? Just in case mine joins the dearly departed, I’ll know what to do about it.
Tom [:O][:O]
Will do Tom, it’s your fault i’ve got one you know, I just fell in love with the wee girl!!
They really do look majestic gliding round the tracks. [swg]
the stopping started with a kind of jerking and a buzz and just got worse, she still runs but if ya stop her ya have to spin the drive shaft with the juice on to get her rollin again.
NOT HAPPY!!! But if I have to get another motor then I will ( it’s a love affair!!! don’t tell the Mrs!!)[:D][:D]
Ken
Ken–take a look at the spec sheet and then look at the inside pickups on the trucks. Maybe there’s a loose wire or something that’s touching intermittently. It MIGHT be a pickup rather than a motor problem. I noticed that those wheel pickups don’t have much tolerance at all. Just a thought.
Tom
PS: MY FAULT? Dang, you mean I’m actually INFLUENCING people, LOL?
Tom
Tom, I’ve had it right to bits!! clipped another 12v dc source to the motor and it did nothing till I spun the shaft, then it ran rougher than a rough thing!![:D][:D]
I was just kidding about it being your fault (you knew that)
Yours looks fantastic on your layout, hope she continues the great service.
Ken.
Sorry , the two here on Trains included Cacole’s initial report and the third over at the MSI.
Now this is strange!
Curiosity got the better of me, I removed the motor and eased one end slightly away from the case of the motor (won’t come off cause of the flywheel) I sprayed some contact cleaner in there and let it evaporate. Reassembled motor and tested on 12V dc. after a small splutter it ran fine.
Reassembled back into Zephyr and hard wired in a Soundtraxx decoder (all I had on hand ) Back on the track, she’s been running flawlessly for an hour
I’ve had a stops and starts and various speed all as good as gold.
So keep your fingers crossed for me!![:D][:D][angel][angel]
Ken.
I hate to be the one to say this; but …
I wonder what your tinkering has done to your warranty… [?][?][?]
Just a thought.
It still looks like it did when it left the factory, If I have more trouble, remove decoder, plug the DCC ready plug back in and presto good as new. Thanks anyway.
Nope spoke too soon, new motor please Con-cor!!
Ken.
[quote]
QUOTE: Originally posted by chateauricher
It’s only for 30 days. I would be concerned for the long term.
hopefully the engines start runnin well, they are really expensive!
After two emails and a phone call this morning, I have an email back from Con-cor. They are sending a new motor at no charge end of the week[:D]
So Yippee hope the new motor will be ok?
Ken.
Delighted to know that CC responded in short order. The Z’s reputation is on the line. Keep us posted.
Well as promised Con-cor sent a new motor for the Zephyr it arrived this morning, with two new flywheels, not assembled?
Do I give them a little heat and press them on, do they need any glue or loctite?
Thanks, Ken.