BLI F3 & F7 Rerun

[CodyO]

Hopefully they added more weight that was the main issue with mine but 1oz of tungsten over the front truck helped

[Cajonpassfan]

FWIW, here are the new F3's (corrected early version and late version) -





I have a reservation for an F7 set (not out yet). Hopefully the running issues I encountered with the first run have been addressed.

-Mark

Thanks for posting these, Mark.
I do like the fact the late ATSF F3 unit appears to have the proper distinction between stainless steel and silver painted body panels (unlike the early F3’ which were painted silver.).
I’ll be curious to see if there are any mechanical improvements, too.
Thanks again,
Otto

[rrjim1]

Received a CNJ F3 today and I am really impressed, it ran perfect right out of the box. When I turned the sound off I had to look to see if it was moving. This loco is the quietest loco I have and I own quite a few. 

[Cajonpassfan]

Thanks for the update. What kind of couplers do the new F units have? MT clones?
Apparently the new PA’s have the smaller BLI couplers, like their Mikados...(see Spookshow’s thread).
Otto K.

[rrjim1]

MT compatible couplers. Looks just like and are the same length as MT. Coupled right up to a box car with MT couplers.     

[Cajonpassfan]

Thanks. Odd though, what with the new PA couplers..
OttoK.

[Sharky_McSharknose]

Received a CNJ F3 today and I am really impressed, it ran perfect right out of the box. When I turned the sound off I had to look to see if it was moving. This loco is the quietest loco I have and I own quite a few.

I'm glad to hear that! Do you have any of the first run F3s/F7s, and if so, are these second-run F-units any heavier?

[rrjim1]

I received my second unit and ran the two for a few minutes to loosen them up. I hooked them up to a weighted 40 car coal hopper train and they pulled the train up my 1% + grade without any wheel slip. They are a little on the light side 2.7 oz. but if it doesn't work for you add weight. I would assume the speaker is the reason they are a little on the light side, common sense.   I don't understand  the big fuss about the gear mesh, I checked some other brands of locos and all had a lot of slop in the gears.     

[spookshow]

Got my F7s in the mail yesterday. They run quite well and I haven't had any truck issues yet. Unfortunately, they still can't pull for squat - dummy B and about twenty 40' freight cars is about all my A can handle before the wheels start slipping.

I don't know how accurate my wife's old Weight Watchers scale is, but these actually seem to be a little lighter than the first production run (2.7 oz now, 2.75 oz then).

-Mark

[CodyO]

@spookshow Ugh even lighter! If you take off the shell I assume they still added no weight to the front truck.

[spookshow]

It's improved quite a bit after a couple of hours of break-in running. Got it pulling 29 cars now, which isn't great but it's at least serviceable. Haven't had the shell off yet, but I'll let you know.

-Mark

[spookshow]

I think we have a winner here - I ran mine for 48 straight hours without a single issue and it's pulling 40 cars now (probably could do more, but anything over 30 looks silly on my layout).

The only obvious internal changes I can see are that the blue antenna wire is black now and the hockey tape and bubble wrap are gone (maybe that's where the extra .05 ounces went).

2018 -



2020 -



-Mark

[nstars]

I may have been a lucky person, but my F7’s from the first run do run flawless and with enough pulling power.

Marc

[spookshow]

Yes, you were lucky. They weren't all bad, but a lot of them were - including all the ones I bought.

-Mark

[CodyO]

I guess I can wait for a sale. Good to hear they run better
 It was that bad to add tungsten putty to them though.