hi i just registered here um i have a small layout and own probly 8 different engines 2 steam the rest are gps or f units anyway i had a very weird problem with a life-like up gp38-2
it just went berserk and made a wierd grinding noise and only went at half speed it’s wheels were perfectly on the track i think it’s just a cheap engine so it broke on me so i scrapped it and i am using it’s weights in an experiment to make realistic scrap metal
Sounds like a good solution. You might consider converting the leftover stuff into an unpowered dummy. Can’t hurt. I think.
Ed
If it was a Life-Like standard line unit (cheap) it did what their best at. Self-destruct.
[#welcome]
Welcome to the forums.
It’s an unfortunate fact of model railroading life that Life-Like diesels are not among the highest-quality offerings in the marketplace. I think they’re designed to last about as long as the attention span of the non-model-railroading grade schooler.
As you prowl through the other threads, you’ll find plenty of discussions and commentary about the reliability of various manufacturers’ products. What they all boil down to is, “You have to pay more for higher quality - but make sure that’s what you’re getting when you pay for it.”
My own motive power is from sources so far from the mainstream that I won’t even comment.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
If you want good Life-Like’s (now owned by Walther’s) try the Proto 1000 series, and if you want great ones, check out the Proto 2000’s, but be ready to open your wallet if you intend to buy one. Most of the ones I have cost over $100 and two of them cost over $130. You get what you pay for. A Proto 2000, properly maintained, will outlive the owner.
i had a f3 santa fe life like and it started doing a grinding sound to, but it started smoking and i, sold it for parts.[:D]
Where was the smoke comming from?[:O]
Jim
Probably the motor. Those el cheapo train set locos use a motor that I wouldn’t trust to turn a small fan.
The hard wired motor leads would break and need to be resoldered after about 48 hours of constance use. The other problem was the drive spring popping out.
well what happend was the lite bolb inside BLOO UP for god as what reason and then it started smoking and makeing that horrible sound that sounds like a dieing moose[(-D]
When it does that, it’s ready for file 13.
haha