Becareful with LHS Repairs or know your tech

GGG     well I know your one of the knowledgeable online techs!  but I agree with what your saying there are those that think they know how to repair trains and then there are those that truly know what they are doing!

GGG, I received my B6 Switcher back yesterday that you repaired for and it works great, If I ever need another repair I will contact you again.

Thank you  again, Gene

I've been very fortunate to have met with one of the best MTH techs here in the Oberlin, Ohio area. If it were not for his expertise and support, I probably would have left O gauge long ago. There are others that I've found on this forum that have also been terrific support. I'm sure that MTH knows how valuable the techs are to their company, and ultimately to their sales, but it doesn't hurt to mention it now and again.

GGG...  Having been blessed with your level of service, I applaud any effort you extend to improve awareness and approach to service.

I note that you and other excellent techs on this forum are "Authorized" by MTH.  I would deal with no less than a manufacturer's authorized/trained tech, and I'm assuming most would follow this preference.

So my question (rhetorical, perhaps) is...How does MTH protect itself in periodically screening its listing of authorized technicians?  IOW, weed out less-than-competent, or those using unacceptable practice/procedures, such as you indicated in your OP.

Not trying to create a witch-hunt, mind you.  But I should think MTH, themselves, would have a highly vested interest in assuring service customers of their products that repair work conforms to their standards.

Maybe ditto for Lionel, too?

I mean, can a tech's 'authorization' be revoked and their info removed from a manufacturer's listing based on some periodic review, complaints, etc.?  

Just wondering.

KD

This forum and those that can teach and repair have been a lifesaver for me!

Kudos to all you guys for sharing you time, knowledge and skills with us!

And this is why we should share our talents.
Thank you guys !

I have had some upgrades cross my bench where the workmanship was appalling. Bare exposed wires, wrong battery and or speaker like GGG,  wiring not secured, 12 sticks of hot glue. I had a weaver come thru this summer where they pulled out the boiler weight to put a smoke unit in and not only would the loco not pull anything it looked like it was popping a wheelie cuz of the weight of the motor. All manner of tapes used for wiring from masking tape to duck tape to scotch tape. I find it rather distressing to know these guys prolly charged a lot of money for these jobs and not only is the prid in their work missing but so is the skill

In a way it's a shame these model trains have become so complex that a regular guy can't fix them.  Like today's cars.  Darn computers...  Took all the fun out of it.

It's a good point.  And well taken.  If you have a good tech, be nice to him!

I've been grateful to have two great MTH techs help me out, GGG and Jim Osborne in San Diego.  I would agree with George completely.  Do you research before you send an engine to someone for repair.

When I first came back to the hobby I had an engine that quit smoking. I took it to the LHS for repairs. $60 later I was on my way and it smoked like a champ. Shortly thereafter it quit smoking again. Finding OGR I learned a little about smoke units and gained the confidence to open up the engine myself. Opened the smoke unit only to see the LHS just flipped the wick pad over in my smoke unit. Bought new material and I've been doing my own smoke repairs/mods since. The big stuff I leave for the big boys!

I have not been back to my LHS for repairs since...

George is absolutely right. 

I had a proto one MTH engine that Some repair person  tried to install TMCC, when I opened it up I found 110 volt household electric 18 gauge lamp fixture wire along with wire nuts. Any brackets that needed to be cut were cut with a hand saw and had razor sharp edges on them. 

Alex 

Jeff T posted:

This forum and those that can teach and repair have been a lifesaver for me!

Kudos to all you guys for sharing you time, knowledge and skills with us!

As a newbie to this forum, this is the best thread I have read to date. There is confidence in knowing that there are qualified and knowledgeable people who are willing to share.  I have always believed that the word of mouth recommendation is the most valuable. Thanks to all!  

That's ugly, I've seen some pretty nasty stuff as well, even a couple that simply weren't worth trying to rescue after the botched job.

I can't imagine that your average LHS does enough volume of this kind of work to keep competent people on-board.

More likely "Joe from the train club" comes in once in a while...

The big shops - with nationwide clientele are probably the best.

I have a PS 3 scale Blue COMET and three LHS in the south jersey area say they can`t repair PS 3 why not???

I have sound,lights and smoke but it will not move even after reset

GGG posted:

Most of the folks on here become very knowledgeable about the repairs necessary on trains, and who are good LHS/Techs to send a unit into for repair.  But not all LHS have techs that know what they are doing.

I just started work on a MTH Premier FEF that had a bad PS-2 5V board.  It went to a Midwest dealer for ugrade/repair.  On the third trip back for failure it was sent to me.

Instead of upgrading the engine and putting the PS-2 3V board back into the engine, they gutted the engine and did a traditional upgrade putting the new harness and board in the tender.  When I opened the tender, I found that the tech had used a 9V battery and kept the original 16 ohm speaker.

I am now sorting through the damage.  This engine is too nice not to do the upgrade properly and place the board back in the engine to retain all the features.  Why the tech did not know the battery and speaker need to be changed to the 3V version is beyond me. 

Now is not the time, but I think I need to write a good article on proper MTH repairs for the train magazines.  Let the consumer know the right questions to ask before dropping a train off for repair.  Get the word out to those that do not frequent the forum.  G

GGG,

There is a total lack of information available via the manufacterers. No, not complaining about one or the other companies. So, we will leave names out.

The older one - no wiring diagrams available to the general public. The one that followed couldn't even get me the part number for a operating helicopter car pcb

Board.

Gunrunner, posted that Lionel recommended changing the 6 ohm resistor 

to a 8 ohm in Lionel smoke units for legacy engines. As supposedly lionel was finding  high failures with the AC Reg.

Now, where is it on there site posted when I order 6 ohm resistors?

it's great that there are people out there with this knowledge. But, with the right

Tools available for the average folk and repair man. I might swap out the guts of th engine,too.

what you really must ask yourself. Is why the previous version of the electronics is such junk!

maybe, that is the issue that is being missed here.

bill pierce posted:

I have a PS 3 scale Blue COMET and three LHS in the south jersey area say they can`t repair PS 3 why not???

I have sound,lights and smoke but it will not move even after reset

Maybe they haven't attended the MTH tech school. Id rather them tell me no than destroying my engine. 

Plus, not to stray from the original subject. But, if the manufacuterers want to stop making pcb boards for older items. Then, they should release the drawings and schematics to the general public. ( not talking about the case, you can upgrade to a new board version.) 

So, second party people can ascertain if there is a market for these items and fill a niche need. This goes the same for parts. 

Shawn

Plus, not to stray from the original subject. But, if the manufacuterers want to stop making pcb boards for older items. Then, they should release the drawings and schematics to the general public. ( not talking about the case, you can upgrade to a new board version.) 

So, second party people can ascertain if there is a market for these items and fill a niche need. This goes the same for parts. 

Shawn

MartyE posted:

Maybe they haven't attended the MTH tech school. Id rather them tell me no than destroying my engine. 

I certainly agree with that one Marty!!! No point in paying someone to destroy something you could destroy just as well on your own. 

I sometimes wonder what it is that makes people think they can do projects they know darn well they can not adequately complete correctly? And these days it's not just with trains only, but people that work on our cars, our houses, and anything else you can think of... 

Sincere questions...not trying to pick a fight.

Do your techs walk through what steps they will take to perform the service procedure(s)?

Or do you not ask questions about what’s necessary to Service your item?

Does your tech offer to call you prior to doing work to explain and get your final approval after you hear this paraphrased? “I need to open it up to further figure out what’s gone wrong.”

If not ashame! Fred at Fred’s Train Shop in KC does that and more on each service item. Been at his shop many times when...and watched in in person and by phone, as he  walks through the steps.

He’s both Lionel and MTH certified and has two part time techs working with him for both postwar and modern.

The shop I work for doesn't do much repairs anymore. MTH hasn't been easy to deal with and we can't get parts anymore. Very sad. 

rtr12 posted:

MartyE posted:

Maybe they haven't attended the MTH tech school. Id rather them tell me no than destroying my engine. 

I certainly agree with that one Marty!!! No point in paying someone to destroy something you could destroy just as well on your own. 

I sometimes wonder what it is that makes people think they can do projects they know darn well they can not adequately complete correctly? And these days it's not just with trains only, but people that work on our cars, our houses, and anything else you can think of... 

It's called "LEARNING" .... something, every repair person goes through! 

I was in a business - a lot of times the learning curve was the seeing a piece of

customers hardware for the first time.

The only difference is that it would get fixed! Even, out of my pocket. Or the

customer would be informed that their was a possibility it couldn't be fixed.

I think the point has been made and George is correct...it is time to submit an article to OGR about this!!  George...hurry my friend...write that article!!