Did I make a mistake choosing this MTH loco?

FYI it's a 4-4-0 loco.....good luck getting help but I do not own one so can't. 

I have several locomotives with the wireless drawbar. None have been a problem. You do need to ensure that it is firmly seated. While I have heard of problems, I do not recall any being locomotive specific. 

Keep your receipts, send in your warranty card, and don't leave it sitting in a box for 2 years before you run it. Check run it when you receive it and if there is a problem, hold MTH's feet to the fire to get it fixed. 

They come with a time sensitive warranty, so if you do keep it, make sure you put it to the test and log some miles on it. Also make sure you feel the snap when you hook the tender to the draw bar. I also add a small rubber "O" ring to the tender stem and roll it up against the draw bar to help keep it from working loose.

AMCDave posted:

FYI it's a 4-4-0 loco.....good luck getting help but I do not own one so can't. 

Thanks for noticing my typo, AMCDave. I've corrected my post.

I like MTH and sometimes there is trouble. Just got the B&O 4-4-0 for Christmas and had trouble with the remote finding it. It's on it's way to MTH for repair. Make sure you run yours to make sure it works. It's better to find out now than to wait till the warranty is off. By the way the passenger cars that come with that set are fantastic. 

The problem with reading public posts is that a problem can become bigger than it really is. If you handle the wireless connection with care,you won't have troubles. I also have many MTH steamers with these tethers. All of them run fine. I even installed another on an upgrade I did.

I could point out something that is a bigger issue with these. I don't wish to start even more hype. Take it out of the box and test it. Other than a few bad ones, the majority will run perfectly. With modern electronics in these toys coming from the far east, there are some level of defects. I have found a few with minor mistakes from the factory. Some have just gotten scrambled boards and fixed with a reset.

Have bought many mth engines with tethers with no issues. Sometimes this forum creates unnecessary fear. We're not fed statistics on failures, were fed emotion. One other point. Most have a tension spring that needs to be pushed to the side before inserting. 

I got the new PS3 B&O version of your 4-4-0 (in the Royal Blue Line set) right before Christmas and have had no issues with it.  Make sure the tension spring for ground is pushed to the side before inserting the pin from the tender into the drawbar.  There is a notification in the box that is stuck to the inner packaging warning the user about this ground spring on the drawbar.  I have have several other MTH steamers with the wireless drawbar and have not had any issues with them.  I just posted a video of my 4-4-0 running around earlier this week.  It can be seen on my Youtube page below.

I believe the problem you are referring to is pins on the locomotive side of the drawbar touching the frame and shorting out the electronics. I agree with the above sentiments that this isn't a common problem but it could happen.

If you want more information about a way to protect the electronics you should contact gun runner John. What he does is he takes a piece of 3/4 inch shrink tubing and shrinks it over the exposed electrical pins on the locomotive side of the tether. He is a professional train repair technician and he has seen locomotives where these pins have touched the frame and shorted out the locomotive. A piece of shrink tubing is cheap easy protection that you could apply yourself. 

I think you got a beautiful locomotive there. I should have ordered one. So to answer your question: In my opinion, NO you did not make a mistake by buying the MTH locomotive. 

Looking at that engine I think the answer is NO.  There are engine (some of the articulate) that have the wires come out of the engine and plug into the drawbar on the metal drawbar.  The wires could rub on the engine shell.  On some other models the bottom of the draw bar on the engine side may contact a trailing truck frame.  MTH does use isolators.  It is pretty easy to inspect to see if you would have a problem.  Your engine should not.

Also some of these problem engines I have repaired, folk had been messing with, and the drawbar reinstalled incorrectly with missing isolator.  This ups the chances of a short.   G

I agree with Engineer-Joe, Paolo and some of the others above. Also the folks that report problems here are a very small percentage of the actual product sold. Most folks don't report when they have no problems, only when they do. I have no steamers, but I have quite a few PS3 engines and have had very few problems with any of them. I think some of the shorting and fried boards reported are due to many things and the risk of this happening could be greatly reduced with some very good added protection, FAST breakers, TVS diodes, fast blow fuses, proper wiring & wiring methods, better power supplies, etc. Anyone using DCS should have the DCS Companion (aka Barry's book) available from the OGR store.

Run the engine for a while and see what happens. Don't let others give the engine a bad rap before you actually use it. I have had good success with MTH engines. Only one issue but it was a loose connector(pushed the connector in all the way and no more problem) that one of the guys at Ready To Roll in north Miami FL fixed for me at no cost.

Lee Fritz

ogaugeguy posted:

AMCDave posted:

FYI it's a 4-4-0 loco.....good luck getting help but I do not own one so can't. 

Thanks for noticing my typo, AMCDave. I've corrected my post.

Not a big deal, but the original post still reads 2-4-0, twice.

Alex