Early Kato F40PH issue?

[SkipGear]

Was there a problem with the early F40PH's from Kato. A friend dropped off 3 of them that he bought new in 2005 and never ran. He wanted me to go over them for him and make sure they were ready for an upcomming show. I'm not sure if they are going to be ready in time or not now.

The first one, he marked as sluggish. I tried it and it was a dead short. Pulled the shell off to find the motor cradle bowed up a full 1/8" off of the frame and the wiper pickups mangled and sticking up at a 45 degree angle at the trucks. They were bent down and touching the frame in a couple places in the center of the loco. I couldn't figure out how it got that way. It was brand new, never run.

I set it aside and opened up one of the other loco's from a two pack. Now I know how it happened. The loco's were assembled wrong from the factory. The wipers are supposed to extend through the gray plastic clips that hold them in place over the trucks and provide a channel to insullate and guide them. These were assembled so that the ends of the wipers were stuck inside the clip and couldn't extend all the way through. This caused them to bow be compressed, hit the frame, short out, and cause the motor cradle to bow.

Now I need to order 3 new motor cradles and assemble them properly. Not sure if I will get the parts in time for him. Has anybody ran into this before?

[Sokramiketes]

Believe there was a problem with the motor cradle popping loose during shipping, resulting in many DOA F40PH's.  However, simply popping the motor cradle back into place fixed it.

Have you tried just reassembling them correctly, or is the motor mount actually damaged now?

[SkipGear]

Mike,
 These have been setting this way for 6 years now. He never tried them initially from what I can tell so they have sat with the cradle popped out so long that the cradle has warped and is naturally bent. I tried bending them back to shape and they will not flatten out. The worst part is, Kato doesn't even list the part on their site. I'm going to have him call direct today and see if Kato has any cradles. If not, I may have to glue or tape the cradles in to keep the motor lined up with the worms.

[Catt]

I bought two undecs from the first order ,thanks to articles (postings) about problems with the F40s I test ran both of mine before buying.The first one was typical KATO,it ran smooth as silk.

The second one did not run "but" applying the slightest bit of downward pressure and it ran just like the first one.We removed the shell to discover the motor was half out of the saddle.I pressed it back in place ,test ran with out the shell,then with the shell.Yup just like the first one smooth as silk.

Sold both units early this tear,test ran both of them and they were still running sweet.

About the motor saddles, if none are available maybe putting the saddle in HOT water for a few minutes then weighting them down till they cool might help.(just a suggestion)

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Speaking of Kato F40s, does anyone know where to get the "motor clips"? Kato's been sold out, and mine disappeared, so my unit has been sitting dormant while I wait for the part to be available again.

[Ian MacMillan]

I had the same issue with mine...first release. Mine was DOA and pushing down on the shell would get it to move and then it would start buzzing.

Mine is sidelined now as well as I dropped the friggin thing so now it needs a new rear pilot.

[TiVoPrince]

Own  
six of them.  Both of the paired sets had issues.  The individual decorated and UNDEC units were fine.  Replaced a motor saddle on one unit that was rather misshaped and it remains fine. 

When installing a decoder recently I did find that the motor saddles on at least one reworked loco did not exactly return to correct shape even when straightened way back when.  It does not seem to adversely affect the operation, but knowing it is not 100% correct bothers me.   I know that I should have bought a full compliment when they were available and will buy another six for a lifetime supply on hand whenever they become available again...

[Ian MacMillan]

... but knowing it is not 100% correct bothers me...

I have meds they just gave me that can help fix that feeling... Apparently wanting everything to be done right the first time requires Celexa to make it through the day!!

[SkipGear]

Hopefully the issue will be resolved by next week. The gentleman called Kato and got the parts on the way. We are still not sure if they charged him or not because it took 3 phone calls and two different people to figure out what he needed.