Kato SD40?

[Anonymous]

Yes Gentlemen I am sure most brands have a dog or two they shouldn't have made, I can't understand why I hit the lucky Kato numbers right in a row. I was really excited with the Kato brand when I first bought it, but Geez. I am hoping for better luck with the current Atlas brand. P2K I am not sure about them, I have one. I saw the sd 75 in the athearn brand in CN but I don't think it would make it through my current switches.

[BRAKIE]

Many may recall I had a very nasty experience with a Kato NW2.It was junk pure and simple and should have never left Japan.[:(!] Now that was 14 years ago..Fast forward to 2004.I have 4 Kato GP35s that I traded 4 Atlas GP40s for..I have no complaints about these units what so ever.[:D] These units run just as well as my Atlas and Atlas/Kato units...Now,Of course my 4 Athearn CF7s and all 3 of my Walther's GP15s runs as equally well as does my P2Ks.My tweaked Athearn Blue Box locomotives can take their rightful place among these high dollar units..
I think it strange that I see the Athearn Genesis units run flawlessly at the club while so many reports having problems with these units..I fail to understand this..[?][?]
Now to be fair I have had problems with every brand except Athearn and my 3 Walther's GP15s..I had problems with my Atlas units,One Atlas/Kato unit-the motor was loose,replaced gears in 11 of my 38 P2Ks and of course that Junker NW2..Oh yes! I had 2 Atlas/Kato RS11s back in 93 that love to go through motor brushes..I solved that problem by using high performance slot car motor brushes.[:D]

[Anonymous]

I believe Kato QC has gone down hill somewhat in recent years, Their first HO Scale locomotive was the SD-40, if memory serves me correctly, The two Kato SD-40 locomotives that I bought just after they were introduced, out perform my newer Kato"s, They are quieter, smoother running models than my newer Kato power, The same holds true for my two older Kato C-44-9-W locomotives, all four of them outperform my new Kato units, makes me wonder what direction Kato is headed with their new offerings, and their quality control, my experience only, others will differ, I"m shure.


Mac

[Anonymous]

Kato's have bad runs of engines

[Anonymous]

Mr. Gibson
My position stands, 3 out of 4 Kato engines do not run, I now buy Atlas engines we will see in a year how many of them run. Spend your money as you please, and I will do the same. Others beware Kato's have been runs of engines.

[Don Gibson]

YNCS

I've hard wired all my Athearns' bypassing their electrical system for years.
Perhaps it takes a skill the gentleman does not have, or have time for.

QUOTE: kind of stupid to pay Kato's high price when you have to finish manufacturing it isn't it?

Think of selling him an Automobile (shudder).

[Anonymous]

I have several Kato engines, some over 10 years old. I had to change the electrical pickup on two of the engines but, other than that, I've never had a mechanical or electrical problem with any of my Katos. I can't say the same thing about Athearn, Lifelike or Atlas.

[Anonymous]

I have a Conrail SD40 from the last SD40 run and love it.I bought an SD40-2 and had to rewire it.Took me about 15 minutes with a soldering iron.Now it runs great.My Atlas Kato units I have all run great.They are now over 10 yrs old.Kato is a reliable product and just like anything else there are lemons.I would contact Kato and see what they say about your problems.Athearn is also a nice product but comes up short when compared to Kato.Atlas I believe are the best for the money and detail.But that Kato motor beats them all.Dan

[Anonymous]

Mr. Gibson
Kato was contacted and didn't care. Kato did me the disservice. So I am currently running Atlas engines and will trial their reliability. Even a local hobby shop in Green Bay told me he has disgruntled customers with Kato, so he is stocking more Atlas engines. So far my Atlas engine has ran fine. I hope the next 10 will also!

Anyone can feel free to buy Kato, just be prepared to fix them. Our large train show in Green Bay had many Kato engines in SD 40-2 for sale. Nobody here wants them, and some were marked down to $70. People were buying Athearn over the Kato. I would have purchased more Atlas engines at the show but not many were available. As for the SD 40 the motor just froze up in that one this week, once again a Kato! I saw those marked down today at the hobby store, I wonder why?

As for the Hobbytown USA stores I simply canceled payment on the check for not honoring the merchandise. The owner has his property back. I in turn will not frequent his store. No matter how many times he threatened me with the district attorney's office, no matter how many times he called the police, it did him no good. A canceled check is not a bounced check.

Personally I think manufacturers out there are saving a lot of money finding you suckers to fini***he manufacturing process for them. Kind of stupid to pay Kato's high price when you have to finish manufacturing it isn't it?

[Don Gibson]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Davidvd59

.... We have an owner of the Hobbytown USA stores here where I live that refuses to take back, honor a warranty, or help with service on items bought from his stores. ... As for me, if a company like Kato wishes to make and manufacture junk it is there right to do so. 3 brand new Kato's purchased within the last year have failed ... I wouldn't buy anymore Kato's because of the failure rate experienced.

DAVID VD59

I won't waste my time trying to convince you otherwise. It's your money, and if your job pays you $70,000 yr. you obviously have a brain.

You should know that a dealer / seller in most states has a legal obligation to make a "reasonable effort to make good on what he sells, or you can take him to court.
This is on merchandise out of the box.

If the problem comes about later, there is an explicit Warranty packed in the box, that spells out the conditions and time limit. If it wasn't in the box, a copy can be obtained easily.

If you are passed the Warranty date, you can have the factory owned service station repair the product. The only difference is it's not for free. Last I heard Athearn and Atlas have the same set up. Is this the problem?

If you have not availed yourself of one of the above 3 resources, you have done yourself a disservice, and I'm sure you can 'unload' your 'Junk' for a reasonable figure.

[Anonymous]

Mr. Gibson
You are a very naive person to say the least, neither Hobbytown USA nor Kato could careless about this dealer. All they know is some dumb *** owning stores in Wisconsin is stacking their shelves with their product and they could care less what happens. Furthermore if you investigated other threads I have written you will find I have traveled to Green Bay and Milwaukee to buy train equipment in various gauges. I do not buy from this store anymore given his policies.

Like I also said Mr. Gibson that you edited out, when I started buying the Kato engines I thought they were slickest engine around. I had 4 Kato's. Three out of four are dead in the water with tow of them dead out of the box. The oldest Kato engine now of 2 years still runs well. I am quite glad that there are many happy Kato customers not getting screwed like I did, and I will not pay someone else to fix something that shouldn't have been broke in the first place. If you will investigate a number threads over time there are also a number of problems experienced with Kato engines by other owners.

By far if you buy a Kato engine that will run or run for awhile, it is a smoother, quieter engine than Athearn, but my personal failure rate in the models I have purchased will keep me from buying them again, as it is MY money. I have about a half dozen athearns when I started in HO, they are all still running. When I pay $40 for an engine I expect problems. When I pay $140 for an engine I expect more, I got less, and less three times. Mr. Gibson since you are a self appointed spokesperson for Kato, you can tell your company when someone contacts them with a complaint (KATO) don't ignore it, try to fix it, or you will find someone (me) bitching about them where ever I go. Mr. Gibson before you align your personal name with a product, make sure you know all the facts, I can believe you lived in Wisconsin, as your lack of knowledge of the facts shows before you open your BIG MOUTH. As for Kato USA, if you don't like me bitching then you should have taken and fixed the problem. Sell your Jap junk in Japan where you belong. End of story!

[Anonymous]

This "electrical problem" with Katos SD40´s isn´t so important as it sounds!

You need two pieces of wire and a small soldering iron and 3 minutes!

I try it also more simple: A drop of solder to the connection point between the power lines at the frame and this strips to the print circuit! Works!!!!

And I had never real problems with spareparts from KATO !!!!

BTW I have 52 Katos and when I must made a decission between Kato and Athearn (SD70MAC) I vote for Kato. The Genesis locos looks great, perfect detailed and are good runners but the Katos are better in running and this made my decission!

[Don Gibson]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Davidvd59

Mr. Gibson
My pleasure to reply to you. We have an owner of the Hobbytown USA stores here where I live that refuses to take back, honor a warranty, or help with service on items bought from his stores. That he says is not his problem, that is the manufacturers problem....

WRONG. He's the one that took your money as well as kept most of it.. A well written letter to KATO USA might get him removed. However, I think I would recommend skipping the 'Junk' part.

QUOTE: If a company like Kato wishes to make and manufacture junk it is there right to do so. However, as I said before 3 brand new Kato's purchased within the last year have failed. ... However their failure rate is too high for me to waste my money on any more of them...

You REALIZE from reading this thread that your experince - product wise - is counter to most, and exacerbated by an outlandish dealer who bought a franchise, and little else. I don't think I would even buy ATLAS from him.

[Anonymous]

This is the first time I have hooked up to the forum and was quite surprised to learn that others were having electrical problems with Kato. I have an SD40 (CP) which is DCC. I can program the engine - It moves forward visably during programing, but when I switch to "run" mode, it refuses to move in either direction. Does anyone know what the problem migh be. I am relatively new at the hobby and would be interested to hear any comments

[Anonymous]

Mr. Gibson
My pleasure to reply to you. We have an owner of the Hobbytown USA stores here where I live that refuses to take back, honor a warranty, or help with service on items bought from his stores. That he says is not his problem, that is the manufacturers problem. As for me Mr. Gibson, I work in manufacturing and have done so for over 25 years. I have the say on the production line what leaves the plant, as I am fully responsible for it. If any product we are manufacturing doesn't meet the quality criteria I put the skids on it and send it to broke. That is why I am still employed Mr. Gibson and many competitors in the same industry are closed up. As for me, if a company like Kato wishes to make and manufacture junk it is there right to do so. However, as I said before 3 brand new Kato's purchased within the last year have failed. My first athearn years old and still running strong. I orignally thought when I bought the Kato engines they were the slickest thing out there. However their failure rate is too high for me to waste my money on any more of them. I have 1 Kato engine left, and have started to replace those Kato engines with Atlas engines. We will trial that brand now. As for getting junk fixed, even if I had all three repaired I wouldn't buy anymore Kato's because of the failure rate experienced. When you work in manufacturing everyday, you understand more about what keeps the customer coming back. That salary over $70,000.00 a year I have, must prove my philosophy and my company's philosophy is right.

[csxns]

One of the handrails on my AC4400CW is broke called Kato and they say the parts are not in stock that was when they came out Kato still says that talk about QC.

[Don Gibson]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Davidvd59

... I do not buy Kato products anymore, and LHS here have had trouble selling Kato's now because ..............we wisconsin people are cheap ########## we expect junk we buy to run. ...

I took the liberty of editing your complaint. I lived in Milwaukee (no complaints) for 10 years and bough much of my RR empire there.

1. Most retailers take back defective merchandise, and many Hobby shops have repair shops, and will exchange or repair what they sell. (Perhaps that's your problem). Where do you take a garment that doesn't fit, or a car for repair? Levi Strauss' ? General Motors??

2. QC is expensive. KATO has one of the best; Athearn one of the worst. I speak from experience.

3. MORE Athearns stop running because of poor electrical connections than any other brand. I have two new Genesis F-7's that the motors went sour on in less than 20 hours of running.

QUOTE: I still have the first Ho engine I ever bought, and it is an Athearn, which still runs with no repairs. Now what does that say about Kato?

I think it says more about YOU.

Place your Athearn on the track with a Kato sometime, and slooowly turn up the power. Watch the Kato move and your Athearn sit .

[Anonymous]

Sounds like a lot of work for a scale 1". I find the factory handrails are adequate. I would go the replacement route if I were entering the model in a contest. Other than that, I'd rather be running the engines over replacing the handrails.

[Anonymous]

ok i have boughten one UP SD40 #3039 runs great, and looks great, except for the handrails.but i have a solutions! i will fill in the Kato handrail holes with styrene, then add a striping decal over them, then drill new holes. I plan on using the new style of plastic Athearn SD40-2 handrails. what ya think?

[Anonymous]

That is a very good point, Those old Athearn"s are virtually indestructable, and so utterally simple, that they are a breeze to repair in the unlikely event that something does go wrong, but I do think that most Kato"s are very good locomotives, I have a bunch, and there have been a few issues with a couple of them, but nothing that was too hard to resolve, I love em both, don"t you?


Mac

[Anonymous]

If you are handy at repairing the Kato engines by all means buy it, but I had two Sd-40-2 that wouldn't run because of the electrical problem talked about above, and I had an sd 40 wis central engine where the motor froze up on it and it was under 6 months old. Everything was lubricated properly. I do not buy Kato products anymore, and LHS here have had trouble selling Kato's now because of the screwing Kato has given its customers. Since we wisconsin people are cheap ########## we expect junk we buy to run. I am currently using Atlas. To make matters worse, I still have the first Ho engine I ever bought, and it is an Athearn, which still runs with no repairs. Now what does that say about Kato?

[Anonymous]

The SD40 is excellent. I'd like to get my mitts on a couple in CN paint.

The Kato SD40-2 has electrical issues, which are easily solvable by hardwiring. It shares a electrical design with the Kato NW2. All other Kato drives have the more reliable design. However, the model itself is excellent.

[Anonymous]

I have several of them and like all Katos (except the snoot nose) they are good runners.

[Anonymous]

SWchief:

I forgot to mention that I repainted the trucks on my two Kato SD-40 Locomotives, I couldn"t handle that awful silver color that the factory painted them, so I painted mine the modern Grey UP colors, Incidentally, those two old Kato"s still perform right with the best of my modern motive power, and better than some of them, The SD-40 is arguably the best Kato of them all.


Mac

[Anonymous]

Have the two UP SD40's and must say I really like those locos. Along the lines of what Trakster said, I just had them out with the 2 new UP C40-8's (Atlas) and they're a closer match to the C40's yellow than the UP armour yellow on the Kato SD90's and Genesis SD70's - and I think the C40's yellow is not near yellow enough. So I guess de facto I agree with Trakster on the SD40's yellow, though I actually like these SD40's yellow much more than the C40's. I also have the I&M RL SD40. The color is a bit wrong on it too (the blue is perhaps too bright) but I still like it. Oddly enough, in this case I like the wrong blue. I have the ATSF blond bonnet SD40 as well. Kato's yellow on these and on the SD45's is a very faded or washed out yellow, and is very different from the yellow on the Atlas GP's and the P2K GP's and SD's. I prefer the Atlas or P2K ATSF yellow, though the Kato ATSF yellow arguably still looks prototypical because the real units yellow often fade in a variety of shades. Overal, IMHO the SD40's are very nice locos and can be had very reasonably these days (my LHS had a slew of them, in many roadnames, on sale this past weekend for $63.00). Enjoy the hobby.

Greg

Greg.

[michealfarley]

QUOTE: Originally posted by NightCrawler

the Kato SD40 is an excellent model. i have several of them. the SD40-2 is the one with the electrical contact problems. the SD40-2 "snoot" didnt have any problems.

I had problems with a snoot. I had to remove the copper contacts that run underneath the running boards and replace it with small-gauge wire, soldered directly to the truck contact and the circuit board. Runs like a charm now!

[Anonymous]

I have two UP Kato SD-40"s, and to make it short, They are extremely good runners, but they screwed up the UP yellow paint on both of them, Should be yellower, That said, The Kato SD-40 locomotives are great.


Mac

[Anonymous]

I agree !!!!

KATO´s SD40 / SD40-2 is an excellent model !

Have 2 BN SD40, 3 UP SD40-2, 1 MP/UP SD40-2, 2 C&NW SD40-2 and 2 BNSF SD 40-2

[Anonymous]

the Kato SD40 is an excellent model. i have several of them. the SD40-2 is the one with the electrical contact problems. the SD40-2 "snoot" didnt have any problems.