I am having troubles with my HO two truck climax. Input yoke on input gear of the front truck split.
Does anyone know what type of plastic was used for the drive train gears, universals, and square shafts? Any info on drive train parts? NWSL doesn't cover this loco yet.
MDC used Delrin for their shay yokes and universals and gears and Athearn uses it in their gears (older models). Great stuff, very slippery and strong.
The climax has about 2 hours max running before failure. Abviously MR didn't do a complete test of the loco for their review. Maybe a update by them is needed. Funny how info on this loco went mum.
I am about to return the loco for the secound time.
Running time is not the issue. The gears all cracked after about two years, even new ones sitting unused in the box.
I've had mine about five years. It has several hours running time and runs great. I used a Digitrax DZ143 decoder.
my climax is having the same troubles. 30 mintues of run time + 10 months stored in its original box = inoperational front set of trucks. seems to be a split gear somewhere. no answer from the bachman on-line help desk either.
This showing up quite a lot with the HO Climax, Shay and I believe the ON30 Shay. Discussion of the Bachmann forums pretty much died with no solution. The people with the Shay I understand can get a replacement. Don't forget, the items are made in China and come over on a container ship in pretty much one shipment. WAG but I know the locos are made in China. On the Bachmann forums, there is a rep named The Bach Man and he seems to fade out concerning the Climax.
I read somewhere that a couple people used CA where the gear couples to the metal shaft. Apparently the crack was at that point.
Of course, your mileage may vary.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
Same troubles. I have bought three of these locomotives over time, and two did not operate out of the box (they had the original shrink-wrap packaging). Both of those that I had with problems seemed to be centered on the gearing of the rear truck, which freezes up completely. I returned that second one to Bachmann and after eight weeks they replied that they had no repair/replacement parts and could not fix it. They did offer me a 3-truck shay (their choice of road name) instead.
My first Bachmann Climax is still operating well, but I am cautious to keep it lubricated with Bachmann brand grease and oil. I still worry, based on information I've seen in other posts about this locomotive, that it could fail at most any time.
I did have one piece of information (from a source I would consider very reliable) that Bachmann was looking at producing a HO 3-truck Climax. In that 3-truck Climax locomotives were a small part of the production, I would rather see Bachmann re-release the 2-trucker with improved gears.
Bill
I am very supprised NWSL, which usualy really supports the logging model groups well with gearing and regear parts hasnt made up some new drive yokes and gears for these models. The cracking has to do with not "aging" the Delrin correctly as it shrinks for a period of time after leaving the mold, when its on a metal shaft, that doesent shrink with it so it eventualy cracks. Proto 2000 had this issue on most all thier first diesels, thankfully they offer replacements for the split gears. Bachmann staying mum on the issue really hurts thier position in the higher end model market. Perhaps a report in MRR would wake them up and get some replacment parts made for the models.
LHS mechanic and geniune train and antique garden tractor nut case!
climaxpwrI am very supprised NWSL, which usualy really supports the logging model groups well with gearing and regear parts hasnt made up some new drive yokes and gears for these models....
I am very supprised NWSL, which usualy really supports the logging model groups well with gearing and regear parts hasnt made up some new drive yokes and gears for these models....
Not quite as simple as it seems. It's only been a year since NWSL changed ownership and moved. The old engineering staff (1-2 people IIRC) did not make the move. NWSL had pretty much been selling left over stock for a year or better prior to the sale.
The new owner had to restart production, engineer new products, and fight off the Chinese clones of NWSL tools that Micro-Mark began selling. Reading between the lines, I suspect there were a few quality control issues when production first resumed (or with the left over unsold stock) in the new location.
To reverse engineer the drive takes a couple of brave souls willing to donate their Bachmann models to the cause. The models have to be disassembled and carefully measured. Then the actual cause(s) of the common faults have to be determined from perhaps a sample of one or two. Finally, a workable fix that can be manufactured within reasonable tolerances and prices has to be developed. The Shay has been done, and the Climax is being worked on (a donor was found).
I think NWSL has done pretty well with their first expansion of the product line being the Shay parts, and the Climax being second.
just my opinion, of course
Fred W
Modeling HO Freelance Logging Railroad.
My oil-bunkered Bachmann is awaiting anticipated NWSL gear sets.
Mark
I actually managed to get some useful information from Bachmann customer service this afternoon. Their parts manager told me this: The gears available on the online parts catalog are a drop in fix for the 8 hour runtime issue with original gears and drive shafts on the final run of the 2 truck climax. The replacement gears listed there are the same as what will be used in the new 3 truck climax, to be released sometime mid-November to early December. Complete trucks and all parts will be available with the new locomotive, and the locomotive will be exactly the same with the exception of the third truck. Sounds like good news...
I had the exact same problem with my climax. Mine has about one hour of run time on it, and the rest in the box time. I pulled it out to show a friend, and the front yoke split. I took it apart and super glued the yoke with instant (JET) and it seems to be holding, for now at least. I think I will contact Bachmann and order the replacement parts just in case.
Ah yes, hard to beat that good old Botchmann "quality", and the B-Man is a real wealth of NO information. I've asked him 2 questions in the last couple of years, like talking to a politician the day before elections.
*** shame as they have made some really nice looking loco's, now if they would just stand behind them they might have some really nice "running" loco's as well.
Is it just me or were these advertised as "Ready-To-Run"? Maybe that RTR stands for "Ready-To-Repair" instead...........
Forty NinerAh yes, hard to beat that good old Botchmann "quality",
[sarcasm]And we know none of the other highly regarded manufacturers like Athearn, Walthers/LL Proto, BLI, Bowser, Lionel, and Rivarossi have never had these kinds of problems with their products. My Athearn Blue Box diesels have given me far less trouble than my Bachmann stuff.[/sarcasm]
Bachmann does typically stand behind their products, and they have even created an area of their website specifically for ordering parts. Parts for the Climax are currently available, and they've supposedly fixed the problems that plagued the original models. If or when NWSL releases Climax parts, I'm sure they'll be better than Bachmann's, but at least Bachmann is still trying to do something about it.
The phrase "ready-to-repair" or "ready-to-rework" has been very well known throughout the years. Even Kato hasn't escaped that one completely.
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Forty Niner Ah yes, hard to beat that good old Botchmann "quality", and the B-Man is a real wealth of NO information. I've asked him 2 questions in the last couple of years, like talking to a politician the day before elections. *** shame as they have made some really nice looking loco's, now if they would just stand behind them they might have some really nice "running" loco's as well. Is it just me or were these advertised as "Ready-To-Run"? Maybe that RTR stands for "Ready-To-Repair" instead........... Mark
I have a couple of Proto engines including Heritage steamers that have been nothing but problems and are less than reliable. These were new engines that I had packed away for a year. The sales slip indicated I had bought them 15 months earlier.
I contacted Walthers and got the run around. No help at all.
I only wish I had the option of sending them back to Proto for Replacement or Repair,
No such option with that brand.
I also had a problem engine that was made by Bachmann, it ran great for a couple of years then there was a problem with a gear. Sent it in to Bachmann and they replaced it. There was a reasonable service charge, but after a couple of years service I certainly had no complaint.