KATO FEF 3

[Teditor]

Just had sound fitted to our club KATO FEF 3, sounds great but within minutes threw the traction tires, tried securing them with a bit of super glue without success, how well will they run without traction tires, would it still haul the two tenders and seven car passenger set on 3 percent grades.

Bull Frog Snot is out of the question as obtaining it in Australia is at an astronomical price and unfortunately it goes off in the jar rather quickly.

Ted (Teditor) Freeman
From the Land Down Under.

[NorsemanJack]

Why not just have Kato send you some replacements?

[robert3985]

One thing that is vital with the Kato FEF-3 is NOT to skid it backwards when putting it on the rails...or after it's on the rails...even a little bit.  Doing this may loosen the traction tires or even dismount them...I am speaking from experience with my several Kato FEF-3's.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[peteski]

If it threw tires during normal operation of pulling a train up 3% grade, I wonder if it was reaching the limit of its pulling ability.

And yes, like Robert mentioned, traction tires on large diameter drivers like these can be easily dislodged if not handled gingerly.

[robert3985]

Just had sound fitted to our club KATO FEF 3, sounds great but within minutes threw the traction tires, tried securing them with a bit of super glue without success, how well will they run without traction tires, would it still haul the two tenders and seven car passenger set on 3 percent grades.

Bull Frog Snot is out of the question as obtaining it in Australia is at an astronomical price and unfortunately it goes off in the jar rather quickly.

Ted (Teditor) Freeman
From the Land Down Under.

I can't say how well it will pull without traction tires, but it should still run okay.

As Peter says, you may be reaching the pulling limit of the engine with that many cars on a 3% grade, but...I highly doubt it.  I've seen these engines pull well over 70 freight cars on a grade-less layout without a hiccup.

I think that sometimes the Kato FEF's get over-lubricated, probably by the purchaser, and some oil gets on the traction tires and down into the slot, which will most likely cause slippage and dismounting of the tire.

If the old traction tires, upon close inspection, appear to be not damaged, then I would clean them thoroughly with Bestine Solvent & Thinner (or equivalent), also using Bestine for cleaning the tire slots with a micro-brush and/or a Q-tip to get ALL the oil, wax & grease off of both the tire and the tire slot, then re-mount the tire...wearing new Nitrile gloves to keep your greasy fingertips off of everything (yes, everybody's fingers are greasy), and see how that works.

I'm not sure if Bestine is sold in Australia, but it's been around for probably over a century in the art/drafting/commercial art community, so it probably is.  Another company who sells exactly the same thing (the chemical N-Heptane)  is Beacon Solvent & Thinner.

If neither is available, then maybe your local chemistry store will sell you N-Heptane...which is identical to Bestine & Beacon Solvent & Thinner.

I use Bestine for all sorts of de-waxing, de-greasing, de-oiling steps in model building, model repair and painting since it doesn't affect metals or plastics, is extremely effective and evaporates extremely quickly.  Every model builder/maker should have a supply of it on hand.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[peteski]

Bestine (Heptane) and similar chemicals are fairly closely related to Naphtha (which is also good solvent for lubricants).  Naphtha is usually readily available in hardware stores, in the paint thinners sections, or as Ronsonol lighter fluid for the old Zippo lighters.

[MK]

I'm assuming Naphtha doesn't harm rubber and plastic too?

[peteski]

I'm assuming Naphtha doesn't harm rubber and plastic too?

I have not noticed any bad effects during brief exposure.

[NorsemanJack]

Why not just have Kato send you some replacements?

Am I missing something here?

[peteski]

Am I missing something here?

Yes, the OP is in Australia and Kato USA does not ship internationally, and even if they did, the shipping/handling charges from USA to AU would be unreasonable.  There is no local Kato support in Australia.

CORRECTION:  I just checked now and they do ship internationally now (I believe they did not in the past), but the shipping/handling to AU is a flat $25 (for a $2 item which theoretically could be mailed out in a letter envelope).

[Leggy]

They've shipped to Australia for atleast over a decade going by personal experience.

[NorsemanJack]

Yes, the OP is in Australia and Kato USA does not ship internationally, and even if they did, the shipping/handling charges from USA to AU would be unreasonable.  There is no local Kato support in Australia.

CORRECTION:  I just checked now and they do ship internationally now (I believe they did not in the past), but the shipping/handling to AU is a flat $25 (for a $2 item which theoretically could be mailed out in a letter envelope).

So, add a few more items (if needed to feel good about shipping) and fix it right.  I think you guys are hitting this thing with a sledge hammer when a tack hammer will do the job.

[kiwi_al]

Yes, the OP is in Australia and Kato USA does not ship internationally, and even if they did, the shipping/handling charges from USA to AU would be unreasonable.  There is no local Kato support in Australia.

CORRECTION:  I just checked now and they do ship internationally now (I believe they did not in the past), but the shipping/handling to AU is a flat $25 (for a $2 item which theoretically could be mailed out in a letter envelope).

FYI I live in New Zealand which is below Australia and I've been buying Kato  parts for the last 15 years, Australia is a bigger country and has more n scalers than NZ so they will have been shipping just as long if not longer. Covid interrupted the shipping schedules to both countries for around a year 2021 -> 2022. The way to offset the shipping cost is to order bigger amounts of items as previously said. Just a note that if you order a $2.00 USD part it will still be sent in a small box not a padded envelope. This is just based on my experience being a foreigner YMMV.