Another Bachmann K4 bites the dust

[reinhardtjh]

And I've been taking all of this entirely too seriously.

 

I like trains.

Don't forget the turtles.

[SkipGear]

I'm willing to give em the benefit of the doubt that they sold more than planned.

I'm thinking it's this more than anything. In the day and age of build to pre-order, this is going to become more and more of an issue. Especially with steam loco's that rarely share common parts. The people that play the wait and see game and buy toward the end of the availability are the ones that will be hurt the worst. It is somewhat of a justification to buying as soon as a product releases......so there are units available for warranty if need be.

I recently took a chance and ordered the pre-war version as I saw distributors were running out quickly, knowing that I may be SOL if I got a bum unit. Fortunately it runs every bit as good as my first one. I knew my risk going into it though.

It's not a huge sample size but our shop sold 8 of them. None of them had problems and every customer has been very happy with them. Your results my vary but I think Spookshow's and Dave's reviews are spot on. This is a good loco. Between that and the fact that they sold out relatively quickly put Bachmann in a place that they are not used to, running out of product within a couple months of it's release. Their business model is make a ton, at least enough for a year or so of sales, so that you have extras for warranty and then move on to the next. This time, they only lasted a few months and the normal backlog of locos available for warranty swaps was not there.

[draskouasshat]

Who wants to sell me there screwed up k4? I'd like to cut it up to make a better looking locomotive.

FYI, I'm actually not joking although I took a shot at you SPF's! I'd like one to build a Santa Fe 4-4-2.

[mmagliaro]

You guys know I'm not easy on Bachmann (or on any steam loco, for that matter).  I expect a lot from anything
that costs a few hundred bucks.
I saw the K4 run at the Portland show.  I was not expecting much.  I was expecting it to run like
the Berkshire, especially since they seem to share the same motor and gearing design.

But no way.  It was impressive.  The Bachmann rep let me work the throttle so I could torture it as slow or fast as I liked
around the test track, and it ran good. 

I really do hope that they address what they have done in this case.  It sounds to me like heavy-handed poor
customer support.  They should at least have agreed to send back the engine with some sort of voucher to
get the service done at a later time, and waive the mailing costs.  Nobody who buys a brand new product should be
expected to pay one penny this soon after buying when it catastrophically fails like this.

[Rich_S]

I feel like some user level diagnosis, investigation, and potentially, repairs could have prevented this entire thread.

I thought we were MODEL railroaders, not "Open the box, slap on rails" railroaders.....

Mike, I did not want to void the warranty, that is why I sent it back to Bachmann. You can guarantee when I do get the locomotive back, it will be opened and repaired by myself with what ever parts I can find. I'm not afraid to work on a locomotive, I just didn't want to void the warranty. I got started in the hobby back when Athearn was still putting their JET motor that did not have flywheels, in over width shells. Those models came with stamped handrails you had to apply yourself, along with the horrible X2F couplers that I replaced with good old Kadee #5's to increase reliable operation.   

[jdcolombo]

Mike, I did not want to void the warranty, that is why I sent it back to Bachmann. You can guarantee when I do get the locomotive back, it will be opened and repaired by myself with what ever parts I can find.

Hi Rich.

While Bachmann's failure to fix/replace your K-4 sucks, I guarantee that if the engine itself is undamaged, you can make the K-4 better than it was.  Use an Econami ECO-100 decoder in place of the stock "sound-value" decoder, or an ESU LokSound (my preference, though you might like the sound of the chuffs on the Econami better than with the ESU).  Put an 11x15mm Knowles Donau speaker in the tender in place of the cheap no-baffle-attached 15mm round that went in the hole in the bottom, and your K-4 will (1) run better than it did and (2) sound several orders of magnitude better.

Here's a link with photos showing how I put an ESU LokSound and an 11x15mm speaker in the tender of a Bachmann 2-8-0 consolidation that you might find helpful:

https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipPCnUJNgVNjPYDDoBEMieMfFqCwvQBB60KzCO0P

Here's a video of that Bachmann in operation:

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And here's a video of a Kato Mike with an Econami ECO-100 to compare the sound of the chuffs (same speaker in both):

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Chuff matching is better with the ESU, but honestly I like the ECO-100's chuff sounds better.

John C.

[nstars]

If the decoder is the problem, I would certainly replace it. I was already not very impressed by the decoder. Gives you also the possibility to get a better whistle 

Marc

[John]

#jdcolombo   John .. I don't do steam, (or sound), but if I did, your mods are certainly what I would have to do .. that speaker just sounds so good ..

[central.vermont]

Hi Rich.

Here's a link with photos showing how I put an ESU LokSound and an 11x15mm speaker in the tender of a Bachmann 2-8-0 consolidation that you might find helpful:

https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipPCnUJNgVNjPYDDoBEMieMfFqCwvQBB60KzCO0P


John C.

John,
This link you provided requires a sign in. 

Jon

[jdcolombo]

John,
This link you provided requires a sign in. 

Jon

OK.  Try this one:

https://goo.gl/photos/W5t5LkqjN3UygVHJA

John C.

[Lemosteam]

@Rich_S , @jdcolombo is the foremost expert on steam sound and I concur with him, but you might have an issue trying to fit his recommended speaker on that chassis because it is designed specifically for the round speaker.  There is a foam baffle on it. 

if you decide to get a decoder for this I have a spare tender truck, OEM Bachmann that I can send you. PM me with your address.

[johnb]

Sorry to hear about this outcome.

What you can do depends on the language on that dang card they cram in the box.

Credit card reverse charge might be your best bet, but if you want to pursue the warrantee idea further, DONT take the engine apart yourself. In almost all cases, doing so invalidates any claim you have.

a credit card chargeback does nothing but hurt the hobby shop. Bachmann is not affected in any way. You are taking away money from the shop without returning the loco and the credit card processor adds on an additional fee to the merchant

[Rich_S]

a credit card chargeback does nothing but hurt the hobby shop. Bachmann is not affected in any way. You are taking away money from the shop without returning the loco and the credit card processor adds on an additional fee to the merchant

John, I agree. MB Klein is not to blame in this transaction, they simply sold me the locomotive. If I remember correctly, it states someplace on MB Klein's web page, that all warranty work is to be sent to the manufacture. I've also noticed, my Repair status on Bachmann's web site now states "(Refused by Customer) Returned to Customer", since I did not accept a Berk as a replacement for my K4. So now I'm thinking I can not return this locomotive in the future for any warranty work, so I might as well fix it myself. At this point I'm wondering if they repaired the melted truck or am I going to get the locomotive back in the exact same condition as it was sent?


 

[Scottl]

Earlier in the thread, you indicated the passing siding went dead.  Was that solved? Does it bear on the problem with the loco, or coincidental?

[johnb]

John, I agree. MB Klein is not to blame in this transaction, they simply sold me the locomotive. If I remember correctly, it states someplace on MB Klein's web page, that all warranty work is to be sent to the manufacture. I've also noticed, my Repair status on Bachmann's web site now states "(Refused by Customer) Returned to Customer", since I did not accept a Berk as a replacement for my K4. So now I'm thinking I can not return this locomotive in the future for any warranty work, so I might as well fix it myself. At this point I'm wondering if they repaired the melted truck or am I going to get the locomotive back in the exact same condition as it was sent?

I would call Bachmann and ask if you can get a repair raincheck...ask for a supervisor if the rep says no