Got my Challenger

[Joetrain59]

Thanks Guys. Marks on cover plate were from me trying to get cover plate off with needle nose pliers. Big green box was wrapped as if factory sealed.
 I may give it one more shot tonight. But then I need to focus on moving into GF's ap't. I get the spare bedroom for computer hutch and trains!
 Thanks again,
 Joe D

[Nato]

      Joe, Your Locomotive sounds like the later version if it has a Tsnaumi decoder. First run had a really Krappy MRC decoder and came with a small hand held RC Remote that allowed access to all the functions when using  DC. Sending it to the factory was a good decision. I had a Big Boy (First Run) with similar drive rod and valve gear problems, whole assembly fell apart. I recived good factory repair under the warrantee. I has run great ever since. Nate Goodman (Nato). Salt Lake, Utah.

[robert3985]

Y'know...I've got six of 'em, both the first run and later runs.  Every one of mine runs like a Swiss watch.

Sorry about the bad luck!  Like Nate says, Athearn will do a great job of making it run like it should.

[Joetrain59]

It did run very nice for a while, except for shorting at 2 Peco C55 t/o's. I was just about to shoot some video of it, when it stopped running.
My other concern is that Tsunami decoder. As others have mentioned, it gets hot enough to melt tender. I could feel mine get very warm right away!
 But I run DC, so what options do I have?
 Almost 9AM on the left coast now, time to call Dave at Athearn soon.
 Thank you all,
 Joe D

[peteski]

My other concern is that Tsunami decoder. As others have mentioned, it gets hot enough to melt tender. I could feel mine get very warm right away!

Um, are you sure then that it is a Tsunami?  Form what I recall (since I never owned 1st run model) that the crappy MRC decoders were the ones melting tender shells.

[Joetrain59]

Oh, I somehow missed that. Then that could be 1 less concern. No remote with this loco, Pete.
 It's now on it's way to Athearn.

[Mike C]

I doubt if this is your problem, but this one linkage looks off.


Should be like the red line.

  Have you tried to straighten this linkage out  ? I feel it may be the problem....Mike

[Joetrain59]

I've e-mailed Athearn 4nights ago, and left a phone message yesterday, just to see if they got loco.
 No response:(
 Joe D

[Joetrain59]

Strange. After 3 attempts to contact Athearn, with no reply, loco was delivered by Fed-Ex this morning. Late this afternoon, finally got a call from Wayne at Athearn.
 One thing I found out right away is track needs to be VERY clean for this loco. Cleaned one stretch of track, and all seems fine.
 Looks like old front driver axle included in box.
 Joe D

[peteski]

Late this afternoon, finally got a call from Wayne at Athearn.

And?!  don't keep us in suspense!   

One thing I found out right away is track needs to be VERY clean for this loco. Cleaned one stretch of track, and all seems fine.
 Looks like old front driver axle included in box.
 Joe D

I ran the Big Boy from Athearn's latest run on my friend's layout. It is under construction and the track wasn't very clean. The loco ran pretty well considering. Except for 2 extra drivers, this loco is very similar to the Challenger.  It didn't seem too finicky about dirty track.

So, what exactly was done to fix your model?

[Joetrain59]

They didn't say. Wayne said he was the repair guy, but busy returning lot's of calls. I did not ask him.
 Joe D

Well my track was very dirty as it turns out. Challenger is rolling along fine.
 Is MRC Tech 4, 260 suitable power source for this loco?

[robert3985]

Strange. After 3 attempts to contact Athearn, with no reply, loco was delivered by Fed-Ex this morning. Late this afternoon, finally got a call from Wayne at Athearn.
 One thing I found out right away is track needs to be VERY clean for this loco. Cleaned one stretch of track, and all seems fine.
 Looks like old front driver axle included in box.
 Joe D

I've got five Athearn Big Boys and six Challengers.  Every one of them has run flawlessly.  I don't have to clean the track any more than I normally do for every other engine I run. I am not anal about super-clean track either...just the occasional Bright-Boying.

[peteski]

I've got five Athearn Big Boys and six Challengers.  Every one of them has run flawlessly.  I don't have to clean the track any more than I normally do for every other engine I run. I am not anal about super-clean track either...just the occasional Bright-Boying.

Joe didn't mention if he ever tried running other locomotives over his track (before he gave it a good cleaning) to see how they performed. At least not that I could find by looking at the earlier posts in this thread.  But then he was dealing with other problems (like the motor running warm and misaligned valve gear).

[Joetrain59]

Yes, I was alternately running Atlas RS-3 and Kato SD-70 ACe (NYC) and both ran well.
 Maybe the Challenger needs to wear off some wheel blackening. Running along fine now
 Joe D

[spookshow]

Every time this thread pops up, I keep expecting to see something like this -



Cheers,
-Mark