Bad luck with Menard's Morton Salt building.

Jim, mine does not flicker.

My power plant is fine. Nice buildings.

Are you using the correct voltage?   Does it run on AC or DC.  

Mine is steady light. Great building. I run mine on 4.5 vdc regulated.

Stu Gralnik posted:

Are you using the correct voltage?   Does it run on AC or DC.  

Using their power cord,

There is a semi-happy ending to the story.  I drove to the Portage, Indiana store and they had two buildings, both had damaged water tanks.  Then drove to the Valpariaso, Indiana store and they had 2 in stock.  I plugged one in and it worked properly, no flickering.  I go to check out and they needed to get a price check because there was no sku # on the package, the girl comes back to the register and says it is $79.99, I told her she was wrong that it was $99.99.  She went back to double check and then said I was correct.  So I pay for my building, get my receipt only to find that the rebate is no longer available.  So I after traveling over 100 miles to get a building that works, after being honest about a $20.00 error only to end up with no rebate.  Honesty is the best policy? today I wondered.  Sometimes you just have to laugh.  At least I have one that works properly, I guess I should be happy with that.   

Well...I think you deserve a free “Customer Service” bonus. But good for you in any case...and it’s a great building. Curious what the blinking was about. Some chronically loose connection, eh?

cjack posted:

Well...I think you deserve a free “Customer Service” bonus. But good for you in any case...and it’s a great building. Curious what the blinking was about. Some chronically loose connection, eh?

Did not look into it but all three had the exact same problem.  The other problems were shipping damage.  I could be the poster child for "we never had one do that before".    I went to customer service both in Valparaiso and my Michigan City store and was told that I was just out of luck that the rebate expired.  I explain I just bought two yesterday and had to take them both back, I informed them that the other stores would haves been closed by the time I got there last night.  I then got a semi-rude,  sorry and then NEXT!  

MONON_JIM posted:

 I then got a semi-rude,  sorry and then NEXT!  

 

At this point, I think I would seriously consider another vendor source. Poor customer service does little to foster repeat customers.

I'm glad you finally got a building that is working correctly. Like others have stated I bought one and received it via Fed Ex and when it arrived it worked fine. 

I'm sorry to hear that you experienced all the other stuff and would imagine it has been a very frustrating ordeal. We love this hobby and will do just about anything to support our vendors but this situation clearly doesn't make it easy. We also know how expensive it can be so any discounts can be a welcome guest.

I just wanted to let you know I feel you pain and hope that you never have to experience anything like this again.

luvindemtrains, thanks.  I am sure it will happen again at some point.  I just wish that companies and their representatives would realized that we all want to be loyal customers but sometimes the treatment you receive makes it impossible.

MONON_JIM posted:

Stu Gralnik posted:

Are you using the correct voltage?   Does it run on AC or DC.  

Using their power cord,

Which exact part # "power cord" are you using?  I assume by "power cord" you mean the AC-to-DC power adapter you plug in the wall.  Did you have occasion to try a power adapter with higher output power rating?

MONON_JIM posted:

cjack posted:

Well...I think you deserve a free “Customer Service” bonus. But good for you in any case...and it’s a great building. Curious what the blinking was about. Some chronically loose connection, eh?

Did not look into it but all three had the exact same problem.  The other problems were shipping damage.  I could be the poster child for "we never had one do that before".    I went to customer service both in Valparaiso and my Michigan City store and was told that I was just out of luck that the rebate expired.  I explain I just bought two yesterday and had to take them both back, I informed them that the other stores would haves been closed by the time I got there last night.  I then got a semi-rude,  sorry and then NEXT!  

 

I have found their in-store customer service to be far more rude and difficult than the other home improvement stores. I still shop there, but they are not my favorite. I think they need some policy adjustments and better training. Also, their rebate system is just a huge gimmick. It's not a rebate; it's a discount on a future purchase, and they make it difficult to limit people who go through the mail in process.

OK, they do make neat train products...

George

MONON_JIM posted:

 I go to check out and they needed to get a price check because there was no sku # on the package, the girl comes back to the register and says it is $79.99, I told her she was wrong that it was $99.99.  She went back to double check and then said I was correct.  So I pay for my building, get my receipt only to find that the rebate is no longer available.  

You were offered a rebate on the spot,( no mailing) and a 20% one at that, should have just taken it. The 11% is no good and now your disappointed?

Call me dishonest, but if a store offers me$20 off of a $100 item, I just assume theres a clearance sale I wasn't aware of and take the discount. $500 off of $1000 item and I will question it.( Especially if its a "seasonal" item at a large hardware store chain)

This O guage stuff is not Menards  'bread and butter",  and what hasn't sold is soon to be on its way to a back storage room and crushed or broken over the summer.

This may be why your having so much trouble getting one that works. There were probably plenty that worked a month ago, now your picking through defctive ones people returned over the holidays.

These things are made  in China for pennies on the dollar.....just like everything else.

At any rate Jim. I hope things work out for you. Whether you get one that works or get your money back.

I've never experienced anything but helpful employees at our Menards. I think sometimes folks don't realize how they also affect the outcome.

And, the Menards guy on the forum here is wonderfully nice and accommodating.

As for the 11% which IS a future store discount, I like it.

It the item on the shelf says it's price is $99.95 and it comes up at $79.95, I would want to investigate it rather than walk out thinking I took advantage of an error. It works both ways of course and in my experience the store checkouts have always made quite an effort to find the right price if I think it's lower.

Chuck,

If I was the problem, then why don't i have problems at the other stores? Really? "Blame the customer, they are always wrong." Great way to go out of business! Also, we should be able to give feedback on our experiences without being told it's our fault.

As for the building being on clearance, there is a big difference between inventory clearance and selling defective products at a discount. If it is the latter, the item needs to be properly labeled or the store should expect a return. Best Buy sells "open box" items, and they put a label on the product clearly stating its condition. 

As for Menards Mark, this has nothing to do about him. He is great. Also, the products are great. Just because they are made in China is no excuse for them not to work. I suspect the problem is how long they sit on the shelf and how much they are handled. I notice they have them all turned on. That's a lot of continuous run time compared to what we would have on our layouts. I suspect these run 24 hours. The components never get a chance to cool down. 

George

Seems like stores vary from one area to the other. I have never seen any of the buildings turned on at the shelf displays in the two stores that are relatively close to me here in Ohio (an hours drive). I would think that variance is true also of the personnel that helps the customer. Heck, that could vary from day to day and hour to hour depending on work schedules. To lump all into one seems a stretch. I do believe that Menard's may have a problem that will need to be resolved on returned items. It appears that folks in many of the retail stores have little to no knowledge of trains and therefore may place items that are malfunctioning back into circulation with no real intention of being dishonest to the customer.

Rick

MONON_JIM posted:

cjack posted:

Well...I think you deserve a free “Customer Service” bonus. But good for you in any case...and it’s a great building. Curious what the blinking was about. Some chronically loose connection, eh?

Did not look into it but all three had the exact same problem.  The other problems were shipping damage.  I could be the poster child for "we never had one do that before".    I went to customer service both in Valparaiso and my Michigan City store and was told that I was just out of luck that the rebate expired.  I explain I just bought two yesterday and had to take them both back, I informed them that the other stores would haves been closed by the time I got there last night.  I then got a semi-rude,  sorry and then NEXT!  

 

To tell you the truth - after the second one didn't work. That would be it for me!

Especially, after any electronic doesn't work. Even, of basic. 

Wow, I cant believe some of what I am reading. I traveled 1500 miles to visit my wife's parents. There happen to be a Menards there, so we went to check out the off season train stuff. Couldn't find any train stuff asked around and was told it was packed up for the summer. I got on the computer and posted here cause I know they normally put it on the second floor per this forum and Mark from Menards. Mark read it and low and behold they had all the train inventory on the shelf the very next day! Now you want to talk about customer service, think about that! I found 2 building, some box cars I wanted and bought some pants at the same time. My advice is to do research. From the customer service I have gotten from Menards both in store and on line I will buy a lot of what they have to offer! You cant beat there price and Quality!

Thanks Menards!

Just opened my second Morton’s Salt Factory and the lights flicker on this one just like the first one!   Have tried two different power supplies.   May try a third, larger one or just send it back.   I have five buildings from Menards, had problems with one other one,  AMERICAN Power.

Sorry to hear you are having issues with the light's flickering. I have the Salt Factory as well, and I'm using the Menard's adapter, and I don't have any flickering, however it does have a slight buzzing sound that changes pitch as the sign LEDs change. I have 5 other lighted Menard's buildings and they all seem to work perfect so far.

MONON_JIM posted:

Went to Menard's today and purchased the Morton Salt building.  I had to return it  because the lights only flickered.  Got the second one home and it did the same thing, so I took that one back.  Not getting fooled the third time I checked my next potential purchase out in the store and it's lights flickered.  Is this something that is the rule with this building or am I just unlucky?  Total miles put on today just running back and forth around 50.  Going to the next town over tomorrow to check out another one.  Should I take the time or just forget it?  Like to get a good one.   Nice building but. Today the third time was not the charm .

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A46VTAAIEZc

How are you guys powering your Menards’s  buildings?   Are you using one adapter for each building?  I wasn’t planning on running 120vac around my layout.

I'm using two of the 3 outlet ones for a total of 6 outlets which I run under my board. Keep in mind that my layout is only 12 feet long so it worked out well.

https://www.menards.com/main/h.../p-1486538522120.htm

I’m using an AC to DC switching supply, with amp and voltmeter. I can see what the voltage and current is and adjust appropriately.

Do you have the Morton’s Salt Factory?   If so, do you know how much current it draws?   I wish Menards would publish the current draws of its buildings.

I have, amongst others, the Menards American Power & Light Building, its one of the early releases and it is powered with one of the original Menards 3-way adapters. The building sign and the 2 red lights on the transformers still light up...but all of the rest of the lights on the sides of the building no longer light up!

I just tell everyone that the Power Company is actually doing what they preach...and that is to “practice and use good energy conservation”!?!?!? 

firefox33 posted:

Do you have the Morton’s Salt Factory?   If so, do you know how much current it draws?   I wish Menards would publish the current draws of its buildings.

https://ogrforum.com/...99#77734315973561499

I haven't seen the led driver boards, but the flicker is either lack of amps(ma likely here), a dead diode in the supply (half wave) or lack of capacitance. I.e. the larger supplies amps, the less likely a flicker will occur, a capacitor would smooth any half wave pulses. (Some folk are more sensitive to flicker too.)

LED batches could easily throw off an extremely closely matched supply.

Not an excuse, but an explanation and a possible work around can be had from this, especially  when folks pick up "mystery boxes".(a cheap grab bag offering, normally well worth it regardless of.some items. less than perfect conditions.)

Menard's in store customer service will mostly depend on an areas general attitude, like any other store. With expansion into less rural areas they are going to have issues some places, but in my experience in traveling repair and installations, Menard's wins customer service hands down. I complain at store and corporate level both in case the general manager is part of the issue via poor training or just plain apathy. This factors.can get.missed easily if the store accounting numbers are still good. 

  Contacting corp. level today in many companies is becoming a joke however, impossible at times...E.g. Dollar Stores offer nothing other than store.level contact, and I doubt the brass cares about even helpful info, let alone a complaint even tiny amounts of their dishwasher powder leaves dishes looking worse than water alone, because they still have it on the shelves despite evidence shown, and in store demonstration that it wont rinse off, hot or cold.

Mark. I hope you have read this thread and are able to help this person. He definitely could use a helping hand and some good old customer service. 

PDDMI posted:

I have, amongst others, the Menards American Power & Light Building, its one of the early releases and it is powered with one of the original Menards 3-way adapters. The building sign and the 2 red lights on the transformers still light up...but all of the rest of the lights on the sides of the building no longer light up!

I just tell everyone that the Power Company is actually doing what they preach...and that is to “practice and use good energy conservation”!?!?!? 

Mine did the same thing after 2 months.   I took it back and Menards gave me a new one without an argument.   I always try to keep the original packaging as well.

Just opened my Morton's salt factory last evening after sitting in the shipping carton for 3 months, mine is flickering also. Using a Menard's power supply?? No problems with any other Menard's buildings that I have.

BNSF-Matt posted:

Sorry to hear you are having issues with the light's flickering. I have the Salt Factory as well, and I'm using the Menard's adapter, and I don't have any flickering, however it does have a slight buzzing sound that changes pitch as the sign LEDs change. I have 5 other lighted Menard's buildings and they all seem to work perfect so far.

I also have the Salt Factory, and my experience is similar to BNSF-Matt, except I am powering it with a regulated 4.5v DC power supply (wall wart) from China. The lights work fine, but there is a buzz that corresponds to the changes in the Morton Salt girl sign. BTW - I also have the Menard's Power Station (the big building), and the buzz from it is even more noticeable. The buzz does not seem apparent on Menard's buildings that do not include one of the neon signs (ex: Wally's Shell, Watkins City Block, etc.) 

I power all my buildings with these small regulated supplies from China. They are relatively inexpensive, which allows me to use one per building. And that should be more than adequate, because they are rated 1 amp DC each. Because it takes 3-4 weeks ordering these from China, I usually order a batch of 5 or 6. I plug these into a power strip which is controlled by a small remote - the type often available seasonally at big box stores to control Christmas Lights. Makes it incredibly easy to turn the lights on for each section of my around the room layout.

Note - the regulated versions of these power supplies mean they are designed to maintain 4.5v (+/- a fraction of a volt). If you compare these to the unregulated versions, you will find the no load voltage can go far above 4.5v - I have seen 8-9 volts on the unregulated versions. While this should drop closer to 4.5v when a load is applied, I have always suspected the unregulated versions could possibly damage the LEDs. Most single LEDs are not intended to operate at more than 3 volts DC. Some LED strips (such as those found in the latest Menard's buildings) are designed for 4.5 volts, and you can buy similar looking strips that operate at 12 volts DC. 

It would be an interesting "experiment" to attach a regulated lab supply and set for 4.5VDC then carefully increase voltage up to say 5V and see if the flicker stops.  Perhaps switching supply (if used) inside the building (that buzzing sound?) may be just on the edge of working/not working, making lights flicker if they are connected to switchers output.  Have to examine how the LEDs are wired and to what power source (raw input adapter voltage or switcher output). 

Wonder if flickering occurs using an unregulated supply whose unloaded output is almost double that of regulated supply, until unregulated is fully loaded and drops to about 4.5VDC, allowing switcher to start and run as designed?

So many questions, so  little answers!

firefox33 posted:

Just opened my second Morton’s Salt Factory and the lights flicker on this one just like the first one!   Have tried two different power supplies.   May try a third, larger one or just send it back.   I have five buildings from Menards, had problems with one other one,  AMERICAN Power.

I have now connected a Menards 2Amp adapter power supply and there is no flickering!   Will probably be using Menards adapter power supplies for all buildings.

Thanks to all of you for your comments and help.