Is Athearn following P2Ks lead? I have a new SP&S RS 3 Ready to Roll engine. It has 2 cracked axle gears. I just emailed Athearn for replacements. Any one else have this problem with Ready to Roll products?
I have 2 of the Athearn RTR RS-3’s also and they sem to work fine.
I can’t say that Athearn’s newer RTR models can’t have and don’t have cracked gears, but I use Athearn gears to replace P2K cracked gears because Athearn’s gears seem to be made better.
The gears in the RTR models probably come from a different Chinese factory than their older replacement gears.
I now avoid Athearn products after my experience with one of their RTR models and all of the complaints I have read about the MRC sound systems they are using.
Well,The HO clubs I am a member of 80% of the locomotives are Athearn and I am yet to see a crack gear or any of the reported “problems” -excluding the Big Boy,4-6-2 and 2-8-2- that one reads on various forums.I have also noted its the SAME posters that are having problems with their locomotives which makes their topic suspect.
cacole,
The reason why the P2K gears cracked is that they made their gears with a slightly smaller diameter hole to get a tighter force fit between the gear and the axle. Unfortunately, they didn’t increase the material strength of the plastic gear. The extra stress causes the gears to eventually crack.
Replacement Athearn gears don’t crack because they have slightly larger holes…which may allow the wheels to either wobble, work their way out of gauge, or even slip under a load.
BTW, there’s nothing wrong with Athearn products as a rule. There are problems with MRC sound, and I advise against their use to all my club members since we can’t seem to program them. But that’s not Athearn’s fault, that’s Horizon’s fault for going with the cheapest sound option.
Athearn Genesis F-unit shells (without sound) are still the finest F-units ever made in any meduim, brass included. And Athearn Genesis SD70’s still hold the longevity record at Chicago’s MSI layout (something like over 4000 actual miles before a major failure).
Paul A. Cutler III
Weather Or No Go New Haven
I have 4 Athearn Genesis SD75Ms that all had warped trucks and continually derailed. Athearn refused to acknowledge the problem was in their manufacturing process, so I had to purchase the replacement trucks and was charged over $60 for them. Athearn subsequently received so many complaints from other customers about the warped trucks that they finally agreed to provide free repair, but I was still out the $60.
An Athearn RTR SD40 T-2 ran very sporadically because so much lacquer had been sprayed onto the electrical pickups that the motor couldn’t receive adequate voltage. The trucks had to be disassembled and have the lacquer scraped off in order to correct this problem. I should have returned it to the shop where it was purchased, but that would have been another 140 mile drive, one way, when gasoline was approaching $3 per gallon.
I know that some of the more recent Athearn products probably don’t suffer from these same problems, but I’m not going to take the risk.
I did, however, make a bulk purchase of Athearn replacement gears for use on P2K models and have had no more cracked gear problems.
cacole,
If I boycotted every manufacturer that I’ve ever had a problem with, then I’d be reduced to making my own models out of soap. [:)]
Atlas - My H16-44 growls at low speeds…very loudly. But it goes away at higher speeds. Also, the old RS-11 and RS-3 models had the coupler pockets on the plastic sill…which deformed under a load and uncoupled the train. End rails on H24-66 not fitting into holes.
Life-Like - Cracked gears (many), broken RDC drive shaft, bad wire connections (almost all)…
Athearn - Cracked gear on 4-6-2, stiff wire harness on 2-8-2, rusty motor leads, crooked trucks, etc.
NJI/Custom Brass - (several models) Rebuild drive tower, add weight, straighten tender truck, add plug for tender, etc.
Kato - Spotty power pick up due to wiper design, parts that don’t want to fit.
Stewart - Trucks not clearing Kadee magnets on U25B’s
Bachmann - plating falling off wheels, motor bearings squeeling, etc.
Precision Scale Co. - 4-6-2 (brass) Had to add weight to front, had to put lighter spring on front truck, and had to mess with the rear truck to improve tracking and traction.
Broadway Limited - Electrical problems galore!
And so on.
It’s your call to make, but I can’t help but think you’re throwing the baby out with the bath water, sort-to-speak. Just because the SD75’s and the SD40T-2 had issues, doesn’t mean that all Athearn locos have the same problems. Heck, they aren’t even the same design, some of them.
Paul A. Cutler III
Weather Or No Go New Haven