As a repair guy whar are the biggest issues you experience?

Drivers out of quarter.

quote:

One of my biggest is that all of my gear I use is top of the line hih end stuff, I have problems replicating issues people have with low end transformers and conventional issues.

It might make sense for you to pick up a conventional transformer for testing customers trains. I use a known good LW transformer as a power supply in my shop. A 1033 would probably do as well. I see them for around $30 on EBay, with shipping.

For me the biggest issue is the cost of shipping when I need to purchase a part for a customer. I have common stuff on hand, but when I don't have something.............

As for the repairs themselves, the most common problems I see are lubrication related: too much, wrong type, or applied in the wrong place.

I don't work on any of the advanced electronic control trains.

Replacement parts and lack of service information on most Lionel Legacy stuff.

John, id be willing to bet that information is more readily available to the factory service centers

I'll bet it is too.   Lionel hasn't had any training for years, I think they're trying to put the repair guys out of business.

Here, Here, on the parts, and the lack there of...

1) Fried smoke units

2) noisy smoke units

3) did I mention bad smoke units?

4) Lately bad motors with odyssey boards (older F3 units)

5) Recently a rash of knee jerk couplers that fire open.

4) MTH pantagraphs...

5) Traction tires - love the ones buried behind the steam chest

6) noisy gear boxes

7) broken universal drive shafts

8) Burnt up K line cruise control electronics

9) Rash of Bent wheels / axles. Trying to drop the trucks to open up the side frames... really?

10) Replacing heavy weight passenger car windows with the schmutz on them -

people don't pay.

AG.

I cant even get Mike Reagan to return an email about it. I think its foolish to give you r dealers the cold shoulder so they can better support your product

I hate smoke unit issues, mostly because there's 4 gallons of smoke fluid inside the loco when I get it. Just an absolute mess

 Drive wheel quartering & faulty wiring.

Dave, LBR

I just got this cheap at: estate sale, yard sale, ebay etc...so I don't want to pay a lot to have it fixed.   lol

Dave

OK Dave, you win the prize!   I hate those jobs!...

I had a guy bring me in a train set from like 1920 right at Christmas. Now at Christmas time i have a backlog of about 2 months and things that come in for repair in January may have to wait until beginning of April to get attention. This guy called me twice times a week for 2 months then I finally tell him what the problem was and I needed parts and he acted like I could just go to home depot and buy the parts for his 100 year old train and have it done in a few days. I try to explain to them that fixing trains is not my full time job but I dont think they catch on

How about the Target Christmas special battery operated G gauge train. I hate those, as many times as I tell people I dont fix them I get at least 4 a year and then they are mad when I call them and tell them to come get their junk. I know I can fix at least half of them but the ones I cant fix are such huge losers its not worth the time

quote:

people don't pay.

If they don't pay, don't you keep the train?

Unless I know you REALLY WELL, I don't give you the item until I get a payment.

Matt, I tangled with one of those battery operated Lionel trains, it was a loss.  The motor had died and took the electronics with it.  I could never get a proper motor...

For me it is when someone hands me a couple trains in a box that have been stripped already and the pieces are laying in the box. I add shipping costs to repairs if I have to out source parts. You can't make money doing this, you have to like reviving old trains.One guy shocked me when he complained that it wasn't post war original if I had to replace a missing part. I have rebuilt trains that should have been thrown in the trash. Most repair guys would have said no. The worst repairs are the ones where the guy decided to "fix"it and should have just sent it out.

Rob

Oh and I forgot to mention the Cherry Switch replacement. Some are so easy to get at, others....

1. When a customer makes a big fuss over getting a repair done instantly - then doesn't pick it up until the next December.

2. MTH batteries

3. Plastic shopping bags containing the disassembled train of some idiot who got over their head

4. G gauge garbage that isn't worth fixing

5. People who think it should be one low price for all the junk they can cram into a box, like I am the USPS offering a flat rate service.

6. Customers who do not disclose defects or damage that they are aware of, trying to make me agree to a low repair price

7. High end MTH premier, or Lionel Legacy locos. Can't even pick these things up without having something delicate break off.

8. Customers too cheap to buy new and bring in their ebay junk 

9. Lack of parts and technical support such as wiring diagrams for newer modern era Lionel products

10. Tires

As a poster above states, fixing trains is not a good way to make money.  It is a lot cheaper to go buy a new one.  I charge $50/ hour including coffee breaks, and you can easily see that it might cost a hundred bucks just to take a look in there.  We literally went broke machining driver castings - couldn't make enough money to pay the electric bill at twice what Joe charges.

But that's ok - for me it is a hobby, and working on somebody else's stuff is not hobby-type activity.

Sounds like 50% of our repondents need to get out of the repair business--for the good of their health and mental well being, if nothing else...

Jeff C

Wouldn't they be best served to do that by producing higher quality product?

I have limited my repair work to friends or others I know well. I could not make a living doing it nor charge what my employer values my time at.

You can spend an hour simply trying to figure out how to take some things apart. Atlas engines come to mind or some of the Lionel engines. I found some of the screws on Lionel F3s are loctited in. If you have to swap out a bad coupler you will have to drill out the screws and retap. A ten minute job can take over an hour due to poor design.

A lot to be said for Williams and Post War.

Pete

Although I don't repair any electronic issues with any of my models, my local hobby shop has been encountering MANY customers bringing primarily their Atlas models originally equipped with Train America Studios EOB TMCC boards. Since there are reportedly no longer any replacement boards available for the EOB systems, customers are having to spend extra money to up-grade/convert their models to ERR TMCC control.  

Its not always the customer, sometimes the repair person.

Promising a date and then 90 days later (I waited 16 months to get a paint job finished, promised in 30 days with money down)

Not including broken or repaired parts in return (Later repair man selling boards etc from repaired engines. Unless agreed upon, all replacements should be returned)

Not doing all the work as originally agreed. Example including a speaker in a unit.

Unit has damage during repairs, broken, missing, or scratched finish to paint

 If a repair person is afraid of High End engines that are to delicate and afraid of breakage, etc. please turn down those repair works and let someone who is capable to do it. That one sentence is scary when I read it.

Ive been buying TAS boards as needed, I always seem to be able to find em around the time I need em and the last whole set I bought cost me $140. My preference is to not repair Atlas O diesels because its a huge PITA to monkey around inside of them but I do it anyways. I wont quit fixing trains because for me it is a one of the more fun aspects of the hobby and I get paid for it but sometimes the customers can just be too much

I certainly won't get rich fixing or upgrading trains.  I make enough to support my train habit, so basically I break even.

Hi Matt,

I cant even get Mike Reagan to return an email about it. I think its foolish to give you r dealers the cold shoulder so they can better support your product

I don't think Mike Reagan is the head of the service department anymore.  I am pretty sure he moved up the ladder.  Phil Hull was the top dog in service last I heard, but that could have changed by now.  Phil did help with a repair last year.

All the mentioned above.  John is correct on his last statement.  Nobody gets rich fixing trains.  I do it so I am able to fix my own and those of friends.  My top gripe is when someone pulls out a very old PS-1 or PS-2 after it sat for years and tries to fire it up with the original battery. 

I know that bugs you Marty.   I just reset two of them that didn't like the old white battery.  They come in pretty regularly.

This is a great thread - Thanks to Matt for starting it and to all the techs who have posted.

I was surprised to see "drivers out of quarter" as a common issue. Hopefully this refers to older trains that have had the drivers removed and replaced, not as-built factory engines.

There are a lot of reasons why drivers get out of quarter but the biggest one is somebody took it apart and put it back together wrong. I personally dont like working on PS1 locos because they are so rare to me maybe 1 a year that I don't remember all the things about them. I can say that I do know how to reset the little buggers but if people would just replace the battery first they wouldnt need a reset

If you do repair your own trains, you would understand the frustration, and would not lurch to the conclusion that those who share their experiences possess a latent mental health issue.

If you do not repair your own trains, be careful what you wish for. A world with half as many train repair men would be a world where YOUR repair costs would double.

I do repair my own trains, and for 13 years I repaired other people's trains, so I think I'm qualified to speak about the mindset of someone doing the job, and burn out is definitely a factor when repairing trains for customers (and that can equally be said for custom painters, as the two jobs have a lot of similarities). 

Some people just don't do well in jobs that require direct contact with the public, it's that simple.

I decided to edit my final paragraph in the spirit of good fellowship--JC

Jeff C

Now Now, no fighting. Turn off your CAPS LOCK and unclick the underline. We're all friends here

Most of my model railroad friends do not know anything about the early PS-1 and 2 battery issues.  They don't even know that there is a battery in the engine.  The mindset of many of them is to buy a used engine and put it on the track to see if it runs.

This is an unfortunate design flaw that is unique to early MTH engines.  I say it is a design flaw because MTH assumes that all customers will read the manual before trying to run an engine and that they are willing to charge or replace a battery before trying to run it.

I have just converted two of my PS-1 engines to TMCC using ERR parts.  All of my PS-2 engines have BCRs.  Any future MTH engine purchases that I make will have PS-3.

Battery issues are one reason that almost no one in the SF Bay Area runs MTH engines and uses DCS.  I am about the only person using DCS in this area.  I visited several 3-rail layouts during the recent NMRA convention in Portland.  None used DCS.

NH Joe

I don't work on the new stuff(YET....) But by far and wide the biggest issues and most common problem with prewar,postwar and MPC stuff is........E-UNITS !!!!!!

I have repaired several hundred trains that did not run,and on over 75% of them the culprit was the e-unit.

Otherwise,we all know those old trains were built like tanks,and I am 100% sure that after an Atomic Bomb is dropped,there will be an old,charred Lionel train among the ashes that will run again!!!

I repair/service for two shops locally.  One is a full line train hobby shop, open six days a week.  The other runs multiple booths in a Saturday only antique mall/flea market.

I handle Lionel, Flyer, Marx and the occasional KLine, Weaver, Atlas, but mostly it's Pre and Post War Lionel, Flyer and Marx.

I enjoy trouble shooting and mechanical and electrical repairs.  My biggest issue is corrosion, rust, mildew, dirt, layers of grease and filth in general.

Both owners buy over the counter for resale and it's a PITA to purdy up a piece after servicing it.

I am fully retired and I repair/service because I can.  I enjoy the challenge and the satisfaction in taking an old, neglected/abused train and making it run like new again. I don't charge nearly what I should considering the time spent.  I especially like repairing customers trains and being there when they pick them up and run them.