Heljan Fault

[Phill Dyson]

Hi,
I was running my 47 this afternoon & it did not seem to be performing as it should, so upon closer examination I discovered that one of the axles wasn't rotating :? . I have now opened up the bogie & the gear to the left of the worm in the pic below appears to be split .The loco was purchased from Tower's stand at Telford last September & I gather that Howes are Heljan's UK agent so my question is has anyone had similar problems & where do I go from here ?

[attachment=0:32eu1za0]XL803913.JPG[/attachment:32eu1za0]

Cheers Phill

 

[Jordan or Plymouth Mad]

so my question is has anyone had similar problems & where do I go from here ?

[attachment=0:1igp7e07]XL803913.JPG[/attachment:1igp7e07]

Cheers Phill

Plastic gears... I've had a similar thing happen on old Atlas models; a US Company even does after-market replacement wheelsets with brass gears as it was a common problem.

As Tower have no more Duffs (other than re-paints) I assume they can't replace it; I'd still notify them of the problem, and I'd also contact Howes as they're most likely to be able to help. Send them this picture, and the purchase details (do you still have a receipt?) especially date of purchase (easy one that!!) and see what they say...

 

[marsa69]

Someones got to say it! Phill has got a duff Duff :shock: :lol:

 

[Phill Dyson]

Cheers Jordan ,
I have now e-mailed both Tower & Howes, but I wasn't given a receipt, but hopefully that should not be a problem as I have never been given a receipt for show purchases
Phill :wave:

 

[Phill Dyson]

:scratch: I'm sure I read on here that someone had a similar problem with a 37 or 47 but I can't find it :?

Phill

 

[Jordan or Plymouth Mad]

Tried RMweb..? I thought it was on a Hymek...? :scratch:

 

[westernfan]

Hi Phill my hymek has the same fault im waiting for howes to get back as the chap who deals with it is away until 03/06 i removed the split cog on mine as it jams the bogie drive ,what i cant understand is that the gear drive is sealed so no foriegn object had got in to split the cog so maybe a duff run of gear wheels :?
chris westernfan

 

[Jordan or Plymouth Mad]

what i cant understand is that the gear drive is sealed so no foriegn object had got in to split the cog so maybe a duff run of gear wheels :?

AFAIK from the Atlas experience it's the fact that the plastic is forced on quite tightly onto the metal axle. The metal will of course expand when it gets warm, even just as a result of warm weather, and at times the plastic can't cope with the expansion and splits... brass gears would be better, but maybe drive up the cost of the model somewhat..?

 

[Phill Dyson]

Hi Phill my hymek has the same fault im waiting for howes to get back as the chap who deals with it is away until 03/06 i removed the split cog on mine as it jams the bogie drive ,what i cant understand is that the gear drive is sealed so no foriegn object had got in to split the cog so maybe a duff run of gear wheels :?
chris westernfan

Cheers Chris , My offending axle will rotate in my fingers but locks up when the loco is running , how do you remove the gears ? & was your Hymek faulty from first use or did the problem develop ?. TBH mine could have been like it since purchase as apart from detailing & weathering I havent really run it until now

Phill :wave:

 

[Jordan or Plymouth Mad]

Just a query re your pic, Phill.. Is that the centre axle in the photo; it appears to be non-driven?? Are the bogies only two-axle drive, then (effectively A-1-A + A-1-A )?? Seems a lot of gears in the gear train... plenty to go wrong.... :?

 

[Phill Dyson]

brass gears would be better, but maybe drive up the cost of the model somewhat..?

:scratch: TBH, I think on a production run like this the cost of brass gears would be negligible
Phill :wave:

 

[Jordan or Plymouth Mad]

Probably right, Phill... in which case it's a shame they don't just do it then, isn't it..?

Anyway I bet you get a reply from Howes tomorrow...

 

[Phill Dyson]

Just a query re your pic, Phill.. Is that the centre axle in the photo; it appears to be non-driven?? Are the bogies only two-axle drive, then (effectively A-1-A + A-1-A )?? Seems a lot of gears in the gear train... plenty to go wrong.... :?

Yes that's right, it just the outer axles which are driven, the centre one is floating
Phill :wave:

 

[Dikitriki]

Hi

One of the Heyside group had this fault with a 47. He had to send the whole bogie back to Howes, but they did replace it FOC. Given the weight of the loco, they seem very lightweight gears.

Richard

 

[28ten]

Yes the plastic, does seem a little under engineered for a loco of that weight. The problem is the stress of the force fit causing it to split.

 

[Phill Dyson]

Thanks Richard & Cynric, I certainly seem to be having the opposite of the Midas touch with my railway at the moment .........perhaps I should take up fishing :laugh:, seriously though it's useful to know that your friend has had similar problems with his 47 Richard, if my inquiries result in the same outcome I will be much happier . Plastic gears are not brilliant for a loco like this Cynric & It looks like Chris has got the same problem with his Hymek too .

Phill :wave:

 

[Neil]

If it's any consolation, and it probably isn't, I doubt that the weight of the loco has much to do with the gears splitting. I've recently repaired a couple of Farish (Poole era) diesels for a friend where the gears had split. Apparently they have a bit of a reputation for this particular problem, cured by using wider Bachmann replacements of the same profile/pitch.

 

[westernfan]

[quote=""westernfan"":2yrc2yno]Hi Phill my hymek has the same fault im waiting for howes to get back as the chap who deals with it is away until 03/06 i removed the split cog on mine as it jams the bogie drive ,what i cant understand is that the gear drive is sealed so no foriegn object had got in to split the cog so maybe a duff run of gear wheels :?
chris westernfan

Cheers Chris , My offending axle will rotate in my fingers but locks up when the loco is running , how do you remove the gears ? & was your Hymek faulty from first use or did the problem develop ?. TBH mine could have been like it since purchase as apart from detailing & weathering I havent really run it until now

Phill :wave:[/quote:2yrc2yno]

my heljan cog buster was bought second hand but as new never been run used for display only when i tried to run the loco it was struggling to move at all . thats when i noticed that one axle turned 350 degrees not 360 , so i took the bottom plate off only to find a split cog i managed to prize it out with out dismantling the bogie assembly it now runs on 3 axles but there is a knocking noise that comes from the offending bogie when run in reverse im waiting for howes to get back to me . re farish poole era rubbish i had lots of nylon gear sets go duff on me the but the earlier ones had brass gears they were ok .

chris westernfan

 

[Phill Dyson]

Cheers Chris, lets hope Heljan improve matters on future releases :scratch:

Phill :wave:

 

[28ten]

Really the gear should be running with a ball race on a fixed axle.....