BLI PRR T1 DUPLEX needs repair - can anyone give me advice?

[LOCO_GUY]

Hi everyone,

My BLI T1 duplex has snapped another drive shaft - I am assuming now I have a cracked gear or some of the pushrod "gubbins" on the wheels are jamming.

Im not sure if I can get this done under warranty repair as I dont have a recipt as I bought it from a hobby store dealer on ebay. However, if I had to pay for the repairs does anyone know what the cost would be to get it fixed and replace the pushrods etc as they are loose and one small part is almost falling off. So it would need a full refurb. Do they have a cap on a repair cost?

I can purchase a new one for around $250 bucks and I am afraid that if I send it for repair then I may end up paying that much anyhow - when I could get a brand new one instead.

BLI only appear to have an email address to contact them with. But before I get into discussions with them I thought someone here may have a suggestion - you guys always suprise me with ideas that I never thought of.

P.S. I takes about 3 months for a repair - so that is another reason I am looking for an alternative to just sending it off.

[gmpullman]

I replaced some cracked axle gears on a couple of PRR I1s in January of this year. Part of my conversation with BLI is below:

Hello Ed,
I believe a different material was used for the Paragon2 series gears, but gears will inevitably crack regardless of the material they are made out of. Part of the problem with older models is that if they do not have momentum built in, they can change direction without stopping or slowing first, and a lot of torque is applied to them.
We do not have replacement geared drivers for the I1SAs.  There are 3 options to fix a broken gear.

1) We can send just the gear at no charge.  You will have to replace the gear and re-quarter the driver yourself if you choose this option.
2) If you prefer, you can send us the damaged driver and we can replaced the gear here, again at no charge.
3) For $65, you can send the whole engine, and we can repair that gear as part of the flat rate steam engine repair fee.

In option 3 they mention a $65 flat repair fee for steam locomotives. That may still be the rate. You have to get an RA number from them before you return the locomotive. They will answer emails within a day or two. The Holidays will probably slow down the process.

Call them.

tel: [phone] - Phone Technical Support Hours: 1pm - 4pm EST M-F
FAX: [phone]

Good Luck, Ed

[tstage]

Chris,

I've sent three steamers back to BLI for repair and I have never had to provide a receipt to them.  I have also never had to pay for a repair either.

I would e-mail BLI directly, tell them the issue(s) you're experiencing with your T1, and they'll tell you how much the repair is going to cost you (or not cost you).  And, even if it costs you, I doubt it will come close to $250.

Tom

[LOCO_GUY]

Thanks for all the advice and the detailed info.

Amazingly, I contacted the ebay dealer "Hogtrainz" and they sent me a duplicate receipt within an hour or so. Nice customer service. So it looks like my worries are over as I can prove that it is still under warranty and I signed up for BLI's 2 year extended warranty at no charge. So a good outcome all around.

I may send this T1 in for repair (I will discuss it with BLI first) to get a price. Then I may just get another T1 and then keep the repaired one as a backup.

[dinwitty]

the next big choice is to flat replace all gears with NWSL metal gears. When/if you get your engine back lube them gears up with gear grease. NWSL has all the tools to do your own gear changing, but if BLI can do your service, fine, let them do it.