Mathew
Chairman
Kentucky & Tennessee Railway
Posts: 616
|
Post by Mathew on Feb 24, 2012 16:33:10 GMT -5
Just acquired these 3. After giving them a quick inspection, everything as the eye can see looks ok. However, when I gave them a quick run on the test track, all 3 are going to need a overhaul. One had excess lube oil everywhere, another has an issue with the rear truck causing it to bounce and all 3 are super noisy. So, my first objective is either to replace the motors or do the "athearn overhaul" Once that is completed, they'll get the normal detail upgrade and a patch job (for now) and at some point they may get a re-paint
|
|
Mathew
Chairman
Kentucky & Tennessee Railway
Posts: 616
|
Post by Mathew on Feb 25, 2012 10:37:39 GMT -5
Ive started on 8700, got it broke down and ready to start the cleaning process. I noticed as I took 8700 apart, its supposed to be factory new but to me, it doesn't appear to be. There were glue marks all over the inside of the shell, the plastic plow was glued on, and gobs of oil everywhere on the trucks and frame. I still need to break the trucks down further and work on getting the motor as mechanically sound as possible.
|
|
|
Post by antlorch on Feb 25, 2012 12:52:24 GMT -5
Matt your workin on my favorite engines,SD60's that is. Looks like you are off to a good start. All the glue and oil is actually probably from the factory, Athearn had a company doing the assembly and they for the sake of a better word, sucked! So it will take a little cleaning up and maybe a repower if needed but the rest of the model is great and once you fix the minor issues you don't like you will be really happy with them.
|
|
Mathew
Chairman
Kentucky & Tennessee Railway
Posts: 616
|
Post by Mathew on Feb 25, 2012 21:16:45 GMT -5
Im finding that I may need to just re-power these. I did the test on the motor as described in the "athearn overhaul" and the motors vibrates like crazy. I managed to get the trucks cleaned and temporairaly placed back together (to avoid loosing parts) until i can get the proper oil. However Im working on an issue with the rear truck now.
|
|
|
Post by diesel on Mar 5, 2012 11:13:51 GMT -5
Ah more Athearn re-power projects... ; )
A guy in our club had some issues with these. One thing he didn't notice as his was running strange; the fuel tank wasn't totally on. Once I pointed that out and snapped it back in place it ran fineāfor a R-T-R Athearn. But, check to see if the trucks are warped before you rack you brains looking for other problems. Place the truck on a mirror and look at the wheels, if you can slid a piece of paper under one of the corner wheels without really touching that wheel, you have a suspect for a warped truck, which usually means the piece of brass holding the 3 axels in place is bent.
So, are these gonna stay CSX?
|
|
Mathew
Chairman
Kentucky & Tennessee Railway
Posts: 616
|
Post by Mathew on Mar 5, 2012 11:25:35 GMT -5
Ive got 8700 & 8708's trucks cleaned & ready. Still need to get 8706 done. Ill have to check the trucks for warpage (is that even a word? lol) Im not sure what the plan will be for these just yet. They might get a patch job for now for WLYX, my private RR. Im kinda tempted to maybe re-do these into NS units at some point, not really sure. They will be getting the basic details added as well as TCS decoders once I get them re-powerd. Dont want to plan too far ahead as I have a habit of changing my mind lol.
|
|