After waiting three months for my Kato N scale GS-4 through my LHS,it finally showed up.Unfortunately,it had a defective motor wich I believe extremely rare with Kato products.So I went to the LHS to have it serviced…well…I’m on my own.Neither the LHS or his supplier takes service as an important part of a sale,but this is another discussion.Right now,what I want is a motor so that I can enjoy this beauty and send the TSU-750 for repair(yes it did damage a decoder) if can be,wich will be my expense also.
I’ve ordered a new motor from the same LHS (no other local option) but it’s been another three months since…I’ve had it.Can someone help me,please.
Very big thanks for the info.I had visited Kato’s website but hadn’t found this parts list.I will certainly give it a try.I always thought that makers don’t sell direct to customers but I have nothing to lose.The engine was “theoretically” under warranty but I fear this is the usual when warranties are involved…the seller/maker uses every little chance they have to stay clear of their risponsibilities.When my LHS lady talked to someone at Kato,she’s been told that since I had removed the tender shell for decoder install,the warranty was then voided.The problem is without a doubt the motor but still…and my LHS isn’t much a fighter I guess.It ran great on DC for some amount of laps on my test loop so I felt safe to start installing the TSU750 decoder.It still ran fine after the install as long as it ran above a minimum speed.The problem showed up when I tested slow starting…the motor has a spot where it shorts out whenever it happens to stop on it and it also shows on DC.I wish I had tested this before also.
As far as the warranty is concerned,my LHS has had me waiting for so long that the normal warranty period is probably expired anyway.And for the TSU that no more powers the motor (sounds are still alive though),I believe there possibly is some sort of a fuse that “may” be replaceable,I don’t know.However,this is not Soundtraxx’s issue so that it will be my expense too.I’ll contact them to know if it can be done or if a replacement of the decoder is on order,but this may have to wait a little,I have other budget priorities.
Actually in the model train biz, the manufacturers are very good about dealing with the customers directly for the most part, afterall they depend a lot on word of mouth advertizing. Walthers’ Proto line seems to be the exception, they hardly ever have any parts or much help. Kato service is usually quite good and very helpfull. If you still have your sales receipt, they may even honor the warranty. Did you have to rewire the loco to install the decoder? If it was just plug and play, removing the tender body would not affect the warranty as long as you didn’t break anything in the process.
Contact Kato and explain your problem to them…Kato stands behind their products.
As far as the warranty…Your hobby shop is feeding you a line of pure bull hocky…A warranty’s time period starts with the day of sale not how long the locomotive been on the shelf.
I will indeed contact Kato.However,since I did remove the tender and loco shells to find what the problem is,it may be a dead end.At least,it would be most usual with many manufacturers who would say “you opened it…get lost”.
As far as the LHS,she didn’t have it on shelf but I had to wait three months to get it and then when I returned for the problem,she waited nearly two weeks to contact Kato (supposedly) to then tell me that the warranty was void since it had been opened.So I ordered a new motor…still waiting over two months so far…lousy service indeed.
It doesn’t matter whether you removed the boiler shell or not; if the motor is defective THE MOTOR IS DEFECTIVE!!! It would be like Toyota refusing to honor their warranty because you raised the hood. In the circumstance as you present it here were I you I think I would FIND A NEW LHS!!!
Everyone seems to have missed the point here, the initial problem!
The first run Kato GS4 (of which I suspect this could be) had an issue with the drive wheel/chassis shorting out and modellers were advised to contact Kato for a modification kit before attempting to fit a decoder, any hobby shop worth its salt should have been aware of this.
If a new motor is obtained and fitted, it is likely that exactly the same thing will occur again.
I am in Australia, Kato (USA) are very easy to deal with, if you are unable to phone them, send them an email explaining the situation and see if you can confirm the model run, their pricing (if you do have to pay) is very reasonable and their service exemplary.
BUT! and I emphasise this, confirm the problem first before jumping in and fitting another motor, it may only be the decoder, have you tried the loco again with the decoder removed, a process of elimination is wise before doing any further uneeded damage.
Teditor brings up a point of value as there has indeed been a run that did have a flaw towards DCC.But to my knowledge,these were the first run that were Daylight colored GS4’s.Mine is,I believe,a second if not third run as it is one of the non-Daylight units that come all black (p.n.126-0303,GS4,SP 4431).As far as I know,these are the last run that were advertised about six months ago,but I may be wrong.
When the problem showed up,I removed the decoder links to both traction and motor and tried putting current directly to the engine.It does heavy sparking but only when it happens to be stopped on a specific invisible spot.If it does start turning,it then runs absolutely perfect until you allow it to stop.It may then restart just great 7-8 times then become shorted again,for no apparent reason.It did run very nice with the TSU-750 until I tried a few stop&go’s.