How do you go about getting Athearn's "Mike" repaired?

[ProtoWeathering]

I understand that the drive gear inside the Athearn Genesis HO Mike were prone to breaking. I obtained one that was returned to a distributor for exchange. Rather than sending it back to Athearn for a replacement, the distributor put it in a grab bag of items that I picked up for a song.

I have only looked at the engine, I haven't attempted running it. It is complete and has not had the details put on. I asked if anyone knew what was wrong with it and the reply was that "It had something to do with the gears".

Is it worth trying to repair? Should I attempt to see if it runs? (I am pretty sure it doesn't) Are replacement gears available and can the adverage dummy do the repair work? Or should I make it into a nice table lamp?

Thanks for any and all replies.

Jerry
Central Florida Shops.

[cacole]

You have to get the replacement gear from Athearn, and they don't have them in stock at the present time. I sent them an e-mail a couple of weeks ago about the gears and received a response that I would be placed on their list and one will be sent to me when they are available.

Then I'll have to figure out how to get it disassembled so I can replace the gear....
This will be a do-it-yourself project with little help from Athearn.

[ProtoWeathering]

This doesn't look good.

I'm glad I didn't pay full price for one.

And to think many moons ago I thought that rubber band drives were a bad idea...

[Virginian]

Athearn has more wheelsets with the gear already installed coming for the 2-8-2. The first replacements for the 4-6-2 have not arrived yet. Or, you can do like I did and get an NWSL gear and fix it yourself, but I will tell you this is not the easiest of fixes. You have to get the quarter right, and an NWSL Quarterer won't fit. Unless you really know what you are doing I would call Athearn and get on their list. Replacing a wheelset is easy. If you didn't pay much for it you can afford to wait awhile.
However, the Genesis 2-8-2 and the 4-6-2 are both excellent running little engines when there is not gear problem. Yes, they do benefit from some extra weight. The first one I bought got the cracked gear problem, and I bought four more later. When I got a gear from NWSL I ordered some extras, so of course I have only had one with the problem. In spite of the gear issue, I really like these locos.

[Anonymous]

My Atheran "Mike" has taken to constant de-railing.
Between that, it's low pulling capabiltiy, and difficulty of repair, this will be the last Athearn steamer I will ever buy.

On the other hand, my Bachmann 2-8-0 runs and pulls just fine!

So if I need another steamer .....

[grandeman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by gbailey

My Atheran "Mike" has taken to constant de-railing.
Between that, it's low pulling capabiltiy, and difficulty of repair, this will be the last Athearn steamer I will ever buy.

On the other hand, my Bachmann 2-8-0 runs and pulls just fine!

So if I need another steamer .....

MY experience as well, plus it's been back to Athearn twice! We had an "incident" with it and it accidentally hit the floor. It was almost a relief. [:p]

[dave9999]

Jerry,
Check your Email. I wrote to you regarding an Athearn Mike that I have. Dave

[Anonymous]

One thing on my Atrhearn Mike is we were test driving it on my friends layout, and one of the side rods fell off. Fortunatly I have to detail this engine yet and I can fix it then.

James.

[Anonymous]

I'm among the many that has a 2-8-2 with a broken gear, and I've been waiting for some time now to get a new one.

2 questions for the group:

1. Is the replacement gear from Athearn plastic?

2. What's required to install a NWSL gear, and is it brass?

I'm guessing that a brass gear would be noisier, but would last longer.

I've had the same pulling problems everyone else has had. This IS one of the quietest and smoothest running steamers I've seen though.

Mark in Utah

[Anonymous]

The light mike was the first of Athearn's Genesis steam models and would not pull any serious train of any size. The gear problem can be solved with NWSL, but the engine still will not pull anything.

The BLI light mike is a great engine and is on sale for about 139 at several places. BLI is having some kind of blow out on the light mike. I got one of those including sound to replace the Genesis unit, which is going to be used as a back shop engine.

Makes sense to me.

[Anonymous]

Do you know the NWSL part number? Is this a gear only or a complete driver with gear in place?
Thanks

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by schaferv

Do you know the NWSL part number? Is this a gear only or a complete driver with gear in place?
Thanks

It was the gear only, so you would have to do some major work. This is not an easy task, but maybe someone that has done it could help with instruction or you might want to wait for the Athearn part that is coming out. It was on a post a month or so ago. I did a search and listed it below. Northwest Short line has the part, but that would not be good if you cannot handle the work.

I copied two previous posts for you, Thanks to Virginian and Cacole for their inputs on this subject.
Posted by Virginian
Posted: 22 Jul 2005, 04:18:43
Athearn has more wheelsets with the gear already installed coming for the 2-8-2. The first replacements for the 4-6-2 have not arrived yet. Or, you can do like I did and get an NWSL gear and fix it yourself, but I will tell you this is not the easiest of fixes. You have to get the quarter right, and an NWSL Quarterer won't fit. Unless you really know what you are doing I would call Athearn and get on their list. Replacing a wheelset is easy. If you didn't pay much for it you can afford to wait awhile.
However, the Genesis 2-8-2 and the 4-6-2 are both excellent running little engines when there is not gear problem. Yes, they do benefit from some extra weight. The first one I bought got the cracked gear problem, and I bought four more later. When I got a gear from NWSL I ordered some extras, so of course I have only had one with the problem. In spite of the gear issue, I really like these locos.


Posted by cacole Posted: 21 Jul 2005, 18:07:49
You have to get the replacement gear from Athearn, and they don't have them in stock at the present time. I sent them an e-mail a couple of weeks ago about the gears and received a response that I would be placed on their list and one will be sent to me when they are available.

Then I'll have to figure out how to get it disassembled so I can replace the gear....
This will be a do-it-yourself project with little help from Athearn.

[Anonymous]

Don't under estimate the Athearn Challenger. This model is made by a different manufacturer. I believe the Pacific & Mike were made by Samhongsa of Korea..

[bn7026]

I must have been one of the lucky ones in this case. When my Mikado started thumping away with the broken gear I sent an email to Athearn who immediately said send it to them and I got back about a month later all fixed. And to Westen Australia no less.....

Mind you this was about 2 - 3 years ago...

Tim