The Kato MP36PH is a good looking locomotive; it is also the
first Kato I own with the new drive mechanism, and for the most part it was not
a problem. At first…
It started (or I noticed it) when I pushed the locomotive
forward over a rerailer. None of my other locomotives rolled! And the sound was
unmistakable; there was some slipping going on.
From then it got progressively worse; as I added more cars to
the train, going up a grade, or accelerating from a standstill. It would
occasionally stop, with what could only be described as a grinding sound from
the drive train. Usually turning off the power would correct it, and it would
be OK.
And it kept on getting worse, i.e. more frequent.
After digging for reports of problems on line, and finding
none, I took the plunge an called Kato in Chicago.
Apparently some of the first models had "too tight of
tolerances" in the drive train, and it would slip as I described. I could ship
the locomotive back to Kato for a repair, but I preferred to get the parts and
do it myself. After what seemed like absolute ages, they finally arrived. But
then I managed to misplace them, or leave the train elsewhere when I planned to
repair it, or leaving the replacement parts in a box of tools on the other
layout.
Yesterday I finally broke down and repaired the locomotive
yesterday the task daunted me a bit...
Well, it was not all that hard.
One key bit of advice from Kato: "Keep the new frames separate from the OLD frames. Theu look identical..."
And this is very true!
The doing:
One key bit of advice from Kato: "Keep the new frames separate from the OLD frames. Theu look identical..."
And this is very true!
The doing:
The one-piece truck frame is flexible enough to pry far
enough apart to let the gears drop out (after removing the axles), but be
careful to keep them separated. The three lower gears appear to be identical,
and from there the worm gear and idler are easy enough to tell apart.
Why is this so important? The trick is to put them back in
the correct sequence:
From the top of the truck frame,
insert the small idler gear that sits beneath the worm gear
Then the worm gear
The lower "middle" gear
The two outer gears that drive the axles
Of course, fitting the truck and the contact strips into the
side frames is a special challenge, but with time and care it slips back after
a few tries.
I finished this up about 11:30 p.m., so only a short test
run to confirm success was made. I will try to get some filming done tomorrow.
I know it is better as you can't push the locomotive and
hear the gear slip noise you used to hear. It even sounds a little quieter
under power...
