I bought a New In Box BLI M1A and had problems. I wont get into the shorting out problem. Thanks to a fellow member and a link to Tonys Train World it was a easy fix. But, after say a hour of run time I heard a clicking sound when backing the M1a up. Sounded like a cracked center gear on a PK2000. Same person said it was more than likely lack of lub on the drive arms and valve gear. Oiled it up real good, same thing. Going forward not a sound for say two weeks.
One night, I was lubed up pretty good [:D] and trains where running great. Loaded the M1a up with a 20 car drag. Pulled like heck and I was happy. Hum, lets add 5 more cars. Still pulled well, driver wheels where slipping a little going up the grade then it happen. Started clicking going forward.[:(!]
Called teck at BLI believe it was Mike and told him what I thought the problem was, cracked drive gear. Said I was more than like right and comfurmed turn around time was 4 months.[:(!][xx(] There was no way I was going to waite that long after just gitting it, heck the wheels where not drity yet.
Asked if I fix it my self, would it void the warrtany? I was told "you seem to know what you are talking about (I all most fell out of my chair laughting and people hear that know me will understand) and would not void my warranty.
Mike sent me a new set of center grears and tonight after around 3 to 4 hours of messing with it she’s running great. Well till I hook a drag up to it then the tender wants to derail. I will figuer that out shortly.
Good for you Ken. Perhaps you could start a new line of work, “BLI repairs and upgrades by Ken”. Find a supply of really powerful can-motors and start customizing them like the Cuda!
Even the best of companies will occasionally produce a lemon. Hopefully, you won’t encounter any future problems with yours. My M1A has performed beautifully for about a year with no problems and no internal lubing by me. I now have 8 BLIs and the only problem I had was a K-4 Pacific that wasn’t getting power pickup from the left side loco wheels. Easy fix. I didn’t even consider the warranty when I opened it up.
Just curious. How much did you pay for the privaledge of becoming a repairman? Are you sure that’s not a Bachman?[:D] At least you got it working. I always try to take locos apart and lube em up first so they break in right.
That is a good lesson to check the gears before we put the engines to work. Some of the gear boxes probably get over looked in the haste of production.
Thanks for the review and BLI is good for sending parts when notified of a problem.
Interesting, note in the last one I saw said it was NOT lubed at the factory and you should do so before running it.
Definitely not a Botchmann. If it was, the entire packing material would have been soaked in grease. Their preferred method of greasing seems to be to use a full-size air powered grease gun.
Ken, it would be so interesting to go back and re-read some of your earliest posts. You were a waaay different hobbiest back then. Now you talk like a seasoned pro who grits his teeth and tackles pains in the butt when he sees them. Good show.
In another thread very recently, several of us commiserated about our several purchases of the PRR T1 Duplex by BLI. One gentleman opened his and found the same thing as you. He, very dutifully, reported what he found and cautioned the rest of us. I have not inspected mine because it is in the process of having the upgraded chip installed, and I have not had occasion to do more than ask it to stumble over about 12’ of my main…after I made it go through my hand-laid double slip [:D] (hey, I had to show it who is top dog here right away!) So, when I get it back, I’ll take several deep breaths, a couple of swigs of Dahlwhinnie to steady me nerves, and have at it. If it is going to become a somewhat difficult model to replace, as it seems it will, I’ll have to ensure that it will last.
P.S.- that is one real honey of a steamer, that one. I hope you like it.
Botchman? Whats so wrong with Bachmann? Every engine I’ve had or seen by them has been from good to excellent. The Spectrum 2-8-0 I just got recently isn’t just beautiful, it also pulls and runs very well. Not overly lubed up either.
I think all manufacturers produce their share of good and bad, from Proto to BLI to Bachmann, whatever…
Maybe the steam locos are OK, but the diesels, even Spectrum, have been nothing less than horrible.
TWO GP-30’s - BOTH soaked in grease and BOTH with a huge paint chip out of the side of the cab, right from the box, brand new. And these are supposed t be Spectrums, not the toy line.
E33 Electric (ok not a diesel) - soaked in grease, wierd blue LED headlights. Paint here was excellent, except the handrails and grabs do not match the body color (molded in color rather than painted)
And pre-Spectrum days, forget about it. When I was in N scale, the only thing afforable (to me - I was about 12) were Bachmann locos. I finally got so tired of constantly cleaning track and wheels, only to STILL have to table thump to make them run, I went back to HO. A short time later the fine-running Atlas/Kato locos came out, but by then it was too late, I had already scrapped the N scale layout.
Yes, anyoen can make a clunker - I have to order yet another set of replacement gears for one of my P2K locos. But the paint jobs on all of them have been excellent, and none have come dripping with excess grease. I’m up to 6 of those plus a chassis (the MDC RS3 kit I bought has a P2K drive). Mechanical and electrical flaws I can fix. As to painting, well if I wanted to paint and decal a loco I would have bought undecorated ones. So I can definitely overlook a mechanical flaw easier than a problem with the paint or detailling.
Rrinker, the Athearn gears seem to be better than the PK’s. I think I have replaced around 12 of them with with the Athearns. Part number 60024 is what I have used.
Selector, if it was not for kind people like you I would have not got to this point. Must all so thank K-10 Trains as well (LHS). Main thing when I got to this site I did not have a clue to what I was trying to do. Like I have posted before like it’s a person that never open a car engine in there life and try to tell them how to drgee in a cam. That was what you kind folks where dealing with. Never been one to back off from a tuff job if I knew what I was trying to do, I now have a clue. Besides I like making junk work.
I will added Selector I need to get back on the Idot Guied To MRR so other people can skip my pitt falls, which there has been many. I have all so stop counting the hours with out derailments as well, around say 80 hours of run time each.
I love the Ma1, has just the right look for a clunker. Sound is great I will add. Not sure what my cost was on the mistake meant. But I paid $140.00 with shipping from Dans Train World. It is the cheapest BLI I have bought so far. Have 4 of them so far and still going.
While unstated by cudaken I think consumer expectation rises as one goes up the price scale. Four month turn around for their problem seems excessive and from other posts on the forum re BLI seems out of character. Maybe turnaround time quote is function of consumer reaction to their phone estimate(as “What? Are you [censored] crazy? Your [censored] quality becomes my problem?”) Less passion in consumer response equals longer estimate?
I do remember reading somewhere a caution about BLI locos being shipped light on lubricant and a check before running would be good practice. That said, my M1b has been beyond reproach in spite of not checking lube state(guess I’ll check it today!).