Contact Walthers directly. I did, along with some verifyable proof from a few online links to the problem, and they sent me two new motors free of charge !
It's worth a shot.
Mark.
¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ
One annoying thing that makes this harder then it ought to be is that Walters did away with the old history section that Life Liek had, which had the release dates of all the older runs. Walthers now only seems to list what they've done since buying them out. The easiest thing is what was previously mentioned - find some unwanted road names of a different run on eBay and swap shells. You cna even get ones with damaged shells, so long as the motor is good and it's from a run OTHER than the one that had the high amp motors. Probably the easiest and cheapest fix. The alternative is a repalcement motor from someone else, which may or may not require additional work to get installed and will almost certainly be more expensive but probably run even better than the stock motors. They key to the eBay deal is making sure you're getting the correct ones, the old history site listed road names and numbers so you could validate someone saying their model is from say the second run and not the first - although there is always the chance of some unscrupulous seller doign the shell swap then sellign the newer shell with older chassis and not mentioning that fact, but that sort of danger exists with anythign on eBay
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Did the stall test and yep they all (ABA) have the high amp motor Got around 3.2 amps give or take on each.
But I expected as much since these were bought way back when the Proto 2000 PA first came out.
Matt from Anaheim, CA and Bayfield, COClick Here for my model train photo website
$5 for a harbor freight multimeter will possible save a $15 motor only decoder, not to mention a $100 sound decoder, so testing first is still the best bet. It's a well publicized issue but it really only affect a small range of models. Like most things on the internet, the problem has grown bigger with the telling. Plus, the defective uints were PA's not E's: http://loystoys.com/info/ll-ho-diesel-decoder-selection.html Scroll down to the PA entry.
Before you 'fix' them, I'd make sure they're broken. If the engines run OK on DC they probably will do fine in DCC. Non-sound decoders aren't all that expensive, why not convert one of the engines to DCC with a non-sound decoder and see what happens?? If it works fine with a regular 1 amp decoder, it should work fine with a 1-amp sound decoder. I don't have a Proto PA but I have pre-Walthers Proto E-units and FM "Erie-builts" and haven't had any issues with DCC decoders with any of them.
Easiest thing to do, test them and see if they are the power hogs. It was only very few had that problem, plus Life Like had a replacement program so if they were not purchased new they might have already been fixed. Even the cheapy Harbod Freight multimeter has a 10 amp range which will suffice, wire it in series with the track power from a DC power pack, runthe loco with the shell off, and grab the flywheel and take note of the amp reading. If it's below the Tsunami limit, you're all set.
There have been many runs of PAs, and only a few had the defective motor. Well, not defective, it ran fine, just inappropriate I suppose. Find some unwanted road name on eBay from a diffeent run, swap shells, resell old one. I've done the same with an Athearn RS-3, mine didn;t run worth a darn, poor power pickup even after soldering wires to bypass the bolster contacts. So i found another for under $20 in a road name I didn;t care about, swapped chassis and now the one I want runs great. I haven't sold off the unwanted one just yet, I need to try some more extreme measures to improve th epickup, plus the shell is the right details I need so I might just strip it and repaint. Can never have too many RS3's.
That's a good idea.
Might be hard to tell if they are late run or not though. And probably hard to find just a chassis.
Has Walthers ever re-released the P2K PA?
Another option is buying later run chassis and just swapping the shells. That's what I did with mine. Makes for a clean install and might be more cost effective than re-motoring. It'll certainly be easier.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
I have been looking into adding Soundtraxx Tsunami sound to my classic Life-Like Proto 2000 Alco PA (ABA) set.
I've read that the early models have a high amp draw motor meaning not so good for Soundtraxx decoders. But this only affects the early models.
My PA set (Santa Fe 51, 51A and 52) is from the very first release so I can almost guarantee these have the high amp draw motors.
I found this online article on how to re-motor these so they work with DCC sound decoders.
Mr. DCC Article
Looks doable, and I can handle all of the DCC and electrical hookups, but milling the frame will be tough since I have little to no power tools (just a drill and a saber saw). And I'd like these locos to end up looking nice. Not a hacked up frame.
Does anyone here know of a service that re-motors locomotives? Maybe someone in Southern California who does this service? I live in Anaheim.