Worst locos

sidney Dec 16, 2022

  1. sidney

    sidney TrainBoard Member

    1,235
    2,086
    37
    track is spotless and the other locos i have run with out a hitch. even at very slow paces. i tore apart the sd70 again and i thing the crappy pickups on the axles are the problems with that loco. im just gunna srap it . keep the thing for parts ive wasted enough time and money on that junker.
     
    in2tech likes this.
  2. mtntrainman

    mtntrainman TrainBoard Supporter

    9,982
    10,821
    143
    Does the SD70 have the pickup strips that go up between the sill and the frame like my FVM ES44AC does ? That is/was the problem I was having with my ES44AC. The pickup strips have to be exactly centered ! If they are off by even a silly mm the pickup strips hang up on either the sill or the frame and contact is lost to the trucks !! Ggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr :censored::censored::mad:
     
  3. sidney

    sidney TrainBoard Member

    1,235
    2,086
    37
    these are the problem part .... They will not press solid to the axles ever. ive tried to bend them so they would stay tight to the axles and they just dont work.... ive just gave up spending any more time and money with this junk. its scrapped.
    its a piss poor design.....very weak... ive order new trucks and they work for a few laps then it starts all over again... its just not worth the time or expense.....
     

    Attached Files:

    in2tech likes this.
  4. JBrown

    JBrown TrainBoard Member

    167
    150
    16
    Not a fan of that design either!
     
    mtntrainman likes this.
  5. Allen H

    Allen H TrainBoard Supporter

    1,509
    2,453
    55
    I've never heard of anyone having issues with KATO units like you're describing?
    Good lord, no wonder it isn't working?
    Looks like part of your side frame is missing, the wiper looks like it's melted into the some of the remaining sideframe and almost looks like you've tried resoldering the one cup?
    Not too mention all the grease or flux residue everywhere.

    picks.jpg
     
    MK and Doug Gosha like this.
  6. sidney

    sidney TrainBoard Member

    1,235
    2,086
    37
    ALLEN thats not the pick of mine its one i found on the web ,but its the exact same trucks. those copper pickups are the big problem with mine.
    they all wont stay up against the axles witch make them lose electrical contact and i have replaced them with new units and its the same thing.......
    maybe i could cut some new ones and make them work but again thats more work for something that may or may not work....
     
  7. sidney

    sidney TrainBoard Member

    1,235
    2,086
    37
    this is the ofending parts . this photo is of my sd70ace
     

    Attached Files:

  8. Mark Ricci

    Mark Ricci TrainBoard Member

    480
    649
    13
    Is your NW2 a Paragon 3 or 4? Was thinking about trying a Paragon 4 SW7.
     
  9. mtntrainman

    mtntrainman TrainBoard Supporter

    9,982
    10,821
    143
    Yup same ones on my (2) Kato EMD SD40-2. Had one truck that the gears 'jammed' and twisted those pickups beyond repair and destroyed the truck in the process !! Can't believe it didn't snap the universal and driveshaft in half ! I am going to just order a new complete truck from Kato. ;)

    I absolutely HATE those 'shock absorber' pickup contact strips. I hope whoever thought that was going to be a cool thing was set adrift in a leaky lifeboat in the middle of the ocean somewhere !!
    :mad::mad::mad:

    Hey Kato... "if it ain't broke...don't fix it !!" KeepItSimpleStupid
    :censored::censored::censored:
    .
     
    BNSF FAN and Allen H like this.
  10. sidney

    sidney TrainBoard Member

    1,235
    2,086
    37
    mtntrainman the very first thing with this loco was bad gears hence why i bought the first new trucks in the first place........after that is when i started having problems........
    I have an update on this. when i took it apart for that last pic i had noticed the tabs coming from the decoder moved , something that i had not seen before . Sooo i broke out the soldering iron and soldered them buggers . QUESS what i put it on the tracks and its been running pretty good last night.... how ever this morning i fired it up to see if the bugger would run and it did but it took about 5 minutes to get warmed up. once it got warm it ran and is still going... Bottom line is maybe it was not all the trucks fault and maybe my brian was focussed on the trucks so much that i didnt see the tabs were just a bit loose.....IVE learned a lesson and that is to not focuss on one area but look at everything connected and make sure everything has good contact an nothing loose...but time will tell now just how long it runs . right now its pulling 12 cars and no glitch yet (except for the first start up , took it a bit to warm up . its cold in my room )
     
  11. mtntrainman

    mtntrainman TrainBoard Supporter

    9,982
    10,821
    143
    Yea...I hear ya...lol

    ALL my locomotives take some time to warm up out in THERR RV in the winter. I go out early and turn the heat on. By the time breakfast is done its 'starting' to warm up out there ! 5 minutes of warm up laps is about normal for mine too. Still not happy with those 'shock absorber' pickups.:mad::mad: I have to clean the wheel sets on my locos and freight cars more offend then most because of the 'environment' the layout is in...plus the dogs think THERR RV is a cool place to hang out..thus dog hair gets in everything !! Seems those pickups are really delicate and extra care is need to disassemble the trucks to clean them. Twist one of those flimsy pickups and you might as well toss it in the trash and put a new one in as opposed to trying to straighten them out !! :censored:

    Think I am gonna see if Kato sells the pickups separate. I may have to have a few on hand...just in case. (y)(y)
     
    Sepp K and DeaconKC like this.
  12. sidney

    sidney TrainBoard Member

    1,235
    2,086
    37
    yup i have two extra trucks just for those itty bitty gears . ive used one of them copper pickups already . there kinda a pain to install...
     
    mtntrainman likes this.
  13. OleSmokey

    OleSmokey TrainBoard Member

    930
    2,048
    43
    Both were a paragon 3 model. Both gave me issues from the get-go. I had maybe 3-4 laps around the layout and then would stop reset dcc unit and it would take off for a bit, The other thing it did was get stuck on speed. No matter what i did it wouldn't stop till i hit the power button on the dcc controller. After that it wouldn't do anything till i reset it again. After about one month or so it wouldn't reset and were bricks. I replaced one with another dcc chip and it has worked perfect since. The other one should do the same thing once i replace the chip in it too.
     
    mtntrainman likes this.
  14. mtntrainman

    mtntrainman TrainBoard Supporter

    9,982
    10,821
    143
    WEeeeeeeeeeeeeellllllllllllllllllllll...........

    I see Kato does NOT sell those 'flimsy' shock absorber pickup tabs separately. Looks like I have to order the whole truck just to scrounge the pickup tabs out of them...GGGrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
    :mad::mad::censored::censored::coffee:
     
    Last edited: Dec 20, 2022
    Hardcoaler likes this.
  15. Martin Station

    Martin Station TrainBoard Member

    296
    638
    17
    Didn't the Kato SD70ace come with different gears also? I believe they had finer teeth than the other Kato locomotives. Also until they started putting the plastic support inserts in, a lot of people had received theirs where one or more of the trucks had fallen out. Also some had issues with the side frames melting from the spring shock absorbers becoming misaligned with the wheel axles. I remember being worried about buying the first couple I had but I now own eight of them and never had an issue with any of them. My favorite Kato's ane the ES44Gevo and early SD40-2 and C44-8 types that don't have the sprung trucks, they are easy to take apart and work on if needed and Kato usually has parts on hand. The ones with sprung trucks and frames that are held together with clips and the fuel tanks are the ones I don't want to mess with. I also have two FVM SD70aces and they are more like Atlas locomotives on the inside. Now that FVM is part on ScaleTrains we should be seeing more of them.
    Ralph
     
  16. sidney

    sidney TrainBoard Member

    1,235
    2,086
    37
    Martin on mine the axle fell out of the pickup thingy's and they are what gave me the most trouble. also them lil bitty gear inside those trucks where not made right they kept getting stuck. (reason i ordered new trucks the first time ). but so sense Ive soldered them tabs its still working pretty good . i also bent them pickups hard to the axles so they made full contact under pressure and soldered them tabs that go to the dcc board in place.
    i love its pulling power but hate those pickups.
    as far as trucks falling out mike fifer did a video on fixing those (pretty simple ). will post video of it running next.
     
    Martin Station likes this.
  17. sidney

    sidney TrainBoard Member

    1,235
    2,086
    37
    video of sd70ace

     
    Hardcoaler, in2tech, MK and 1 other person like this.
  18. Martin Station

    Martin Station TrainBoard Member

    296
    638
    17
    Sidney, thanks for the video. That's a really nice layout you have there. Looks like everything is running well now! I believe I've seen Mike Fifer's video on that, infact Mike has a lot of great "how to" videos on his site and I've needed a lot of them. Kato also had one one their website. I have a FVM BNSF anniversary ES44gevo unit ordered from ScaleTrains and FVMs run really well. They are also adding all the grab iron and sunshade details. They are doing the same with their SD70ace. The KCS "Bell" scheme they are offering looks tempting, so if you have anymore issues with your Kato, you might look at one of those.
    Ralph
     
    sidney and DeaconKC like this.
  19. sidney

    sidney TrainBoard Member

    1,235
    2,086
    37
    Martin thanks. it was much bigger layout then my grand kid moved in so i cut out a lot... the locos seem to be running very well EXCEPT for the cold startup . Lesson #1 solder all connections to dcc boards .
    Lesson #2 triple check all connections and solder joints...then step away and come back to triple check again......
     
    in2tech and Martin Station like this.

Share This Page