Athearn Challenger, Good Grief!

[learmoia]

If you had a Craftsman tool and it failed, Sears would replace it for free no matter how old it was.

Well, towards the end they got very sketchy on the definition of a "tool"  friend of mine took some 50 year old  C clamps in for replacement , was told clamps were not a tool and they promptly told him to leave the store.. (likely because he was not quite so civil about his approach).

 And the removal of local Craftsman vendors (Sears stores) ends your ability to excersize your lifetime warranty.

~Ian

[jpwisc]

Craftsman tools and Kenmore appliances being two examples of quality products. If you had a Craftsman tool and it failed, Sears would replace it for free no matter how old it was.

For the last 10 years Craftsman made very sub par tools. When they diminished the tool quality they also changed the warranty. They stopped replacing the tools, they would only repair broken compentents. If they did have to repair, they replaced the tool with a ‘refurbished’ tool. You could see the damage marks from the previous owner. Horrible system. They also stopped holding their employees to any standard that would be called customer service. Sears died because of poor decisions. They tried to ride a name that used to have value. Consumers responded accordingly.

[rgengineoiler]

Whoopee!!!   It may turn out to be a Good Morning.  Just received an email from Athearn stating that my Challenger is shipping back via FedEx.  They did not include a tracking number so I don't know about expected delivery time.  The invoice states that they replaced a defective motor, tested and runs OK.  My layout is covered for the summer but when I can I'll fire up my test track and check it out after it is delivered.  Sure hope that some of the other repairs will be on the delivery schedule soon for all of us that have been waiting.  This has taken patience to a much higher level for sure.    Doug

[peteski]

Re-reading your initial post in this thread it seems to me that there was more wrong with your model than just the motor.

[John]

Stay Cool -- Run Diesels!! 

[Jbub]

Stay Cool -- Run Diesels!! 

Especially modern diesels, they have a/c units in them.

[rgengineoiler]

I agree with you.  Some where in the middle of this thread they had told me that the issue was the gear box and they were redesigning it in China.  Now they say it was a bad motor and replaced it and runs ok.  I just hope the issue is repaired and it will run for a long time.  It's early this morning and got to get out to the acreage now.  Happy Memorial Day to all.  I am a vet and wish all others the best.  Doug

[peteski]

I agree with you.  Some where in the middle of this thread they had told me that the issue was the gear box and they were redesigning it in China.  Now they say it was a bad motor and replaced it and runs ok.  I just hope the issue is repaired and it will run for a long time.  It's early this morning and got to get out to the acreage now.  Happy Memorial Day to all.  I am a vet and wish all others the best.  Doug

Happy Memorial Day and thank you for serving our country.
I also hope your cops are plentiful. Farming is a hard work. It is nice to to know that a farmer is participating in this forum. I'm constantly surprised about the wide range of professionals connected by a common hobby.

[kverdon]

Well after just after 7 months, my long lost SP&S Challenger returned home. Though rather irritated by the long..... delay I will admit it does run well enough.  The sound is a bit messed up as the whistle is rather inaudible.  A few tweemks of the CV's should put that to rights. I hope Athearn learned a lesson on this on. I'll not pre-order another loco from them, will definitely wait for the reviews.

[rgengineoiler]

It's time to put my thread to bed.  I received my D&RGW by FedEx on May 31, 2018.  Put it on the test track Thursday evening, changed it's number to 3805, picked the whistle I wanted and it runs smoooth and true.  This is the first time it moved since I bought it.  In the fall I'll make some CV adjustments and for me,  my six month ordeal is over.  This took patience for all of us that went through this to a new level for sure.  Thanks to all of you who gave advise and idea's through it.  Thanks to the Admin's for keeping the thread alive to it's end.    Doug

[kverdon]

I thought I'd put in an update on my other Athearn Challenger that died in January with the stalled front engine..  After the mess with my SP&S challenger I was hesitant to send it in to Athearn, pay $40 per hour for out of warranty service and then wait God only knows how long to get it back.  I decided to take the plunge and open it up and see if I could fix it.  Using the info I'd read online I suspected that the front universal joint had slipped out of the cup on the flywheel.  I was able to gently move the circuit board off to one side without having to unsolder all the connections and found that this indeed was the case.  I reconnected the Universal joint and all was well.  On other thing I did discover when I took the engine apart was that the weight under the forward steam chest had detached itself from the shell and had been riding on the flywheel (there had only apparently been a spec of glue holding in in place.  There was a fair amount of brass dust from the flywheel about and the weight had a nice groove cut into it from the flywheel. 

[peteski]

I thought I'd put in an update on my other Athearn Challenger that died in January with the stalled front engine..  After the mess with my SP&S challenger I was hesitant to send it in to Athearn, pay $40 per hour for out of warranty service and then wait God only knows how long to get it back.  I decided to take the plunge and open it up and see if I could fix it.  Using the info I'd read online I suspected that the front universal joint had slipped out of the cup on the flywheel.  I was able to gently move the circuit board off to one side without having to unsolder all the connections and found that this indeed was the case.  I reconnected the Universal joint and all was well.  On other thing I did discover when I took the engine apart was that the weight under the forward steam chest had detached itself from the shell and had been riding on the flywheel (there had only apparently been a spec of glue holding in in place.  There was a fair amount of brass dust from the flywheel about and the weight had a nice groove cut into it from the flywheel.

Glad to hear that you took the plunge, dove into the model, and fixed the problems yourself.  While you shouldn't have to do this, it cost you nothing, and actually made you a better modeler (you acquired steam loco repair as an new skill). Too bad that the models appear to have quality problems.

[mmagliaro]

@kverdon I'm happy to hear that you fixed your Challenger.  My only word of caution would be to beware that the U-joint coupling will probably pop out again.  It is too short, which is why it came out on you in the first place.  If it happens again, try to find a little washer to put down in the hole in the flywheel.  You might need more than one.  Then, when you put the coupling back in, it will stick out a little further and when you get it snapped back into the cup on the other end, it won't be able to pop out any more.

This takes a deft hand.  You can get that coupling out, put the washers in and put the coupling back in... all without dropping out the whole engine truck and doing more involved disassembly, but it's game of inches (actually... fractions of an inch).  You need to get it just close enough that you can angle things up and then gently snap/force it back in without breaking anything.  Too loose (too far apart) and you have what you have now --- it will come apart on its own.  Too tight (too close... i.e. too many washers) and you won't be able to get the part back in.

[kverdon]

Thanks Mmagliaro, it was mostly your info that put me on the track. I understand that it can pop out again but it’s an easy fix now I know how.  The engine runs on a passenger train (Porland Rose) that only runs twice per operating cycle so it should last a while.  Hope they incorporated your fix in the new redesign.

[delamaize]

Digging up a zombie post here....

I FINALLY got my Challenger back from Athearns. It seems to run better, and seems to be a little closer to prototypical speeds now. Pulling wise, On my Kato Unitrak loop, it pulled 23 MT 40' box cars, with an Atlas Caboose, but did struggle a little in the corners. I'll get a better test over the next few weeks. MRNS is set up at the Washington State History Museum again this year for their train show, so I should be able to get some testing done, with broader curves. Stay tuned.