I wonder is brass was used for the castings. Brass makes for much stronger and thinner parts than Zamak alloys. I am not going to scratch to find out.
Well add one of my three to the list on going back to Lionel. My amtrak 388 phase 3 unit died in spectacular fashion today. i was attempting to lash it up with one of my csx units to try out the pair feature and i always test the speeds of both locos before coupling them. I know its not necessary just a habit i guess. i noticed when doing the test before coupling them together that the amtrak units slow speed operation was very choppy. It just didn't seem very happy at all. All the of the f40 i received all seem to be in desperate need of lubrication they just don't run very smoothly. I had ran the csx unit a bit the other night so i thought maybe the amtrak unit needed a bit of breaking in. So i set it to medium speed and just let her roll. on the second go around of small loop of track she proceeded to burst in a shower of sparks and which tripped the breaker on my power master. i thought the unit had just derailed it had just passed through a switch. so while im attempting to reset the breaker i begin to smell a very strange smell and look over and its lost in a cloud of white smoke coming out the smoke exhaust and under front an rear of the frame by the trucks. I was pretty surprised to say the least. Ive seen some units die but never quite in this spectacular fashion. luckily my office is right across from the restroom so i could turn on the exhaust fan to remove the smoke. after letting the room air out i started some investigating. No derailment appears to be some kind of electrical failure. The shell of the loco was very warm to the touch for at least 5 minutes after this happened. It probably wouldn't have burned my hand but definitely warmer than i wanted to be handling. I gave it a minute to cool down and I removed the shell just to see what could have gone wrong. To my surprise which I'm no gunrunner john or any of our other technicians around here, but nothing appeared burned or charred. No obvious failures at least that my untrained eye could find. The smell of burnt electronics was very overwhelming. I"m sure the Lionel tech will love to open this return. I did try to repower the unit with the with body removed and its just kind of sizzles. no movement or response. Breaker trips after a few seconds. So off to Lionel she will go tomorrow. I really love these units. I hate that their have been so many issues. I would never bash Lionel. I hope y'all don't have the same issue and like always im sure Lionel will make it right. The reason I've never had harsh words for Lionel is the've always made it right. When they don't let the bashing begin.
gunrunnerjohn posted:If I find the weight to be too obnoxious, I'll correct it.
Here's my way of adding an extra pound to my HHP-8, did wonders for the pulling power.
45 acp?
gunrunnerjohn posted:If I find the weight to be too obnoxious, I'll correct it.
With these so hard to find these days, where did you get your hhp8? I just saw one on ebay but it quickly was sold.
audi posted:gunrunnerjohn posted:If I find the weight to be too obnoxious, I'll correct it.
45 acp?
But of course. 
@T1Titan_ZachF posted:With these so hard to find these days, where did you get your hhp8? I just saw one on ebay but it quickly was sold.
Believe it or not, I did find it on eBay. I just put in a search for this specific model, the one with cruise, larger motors, and Railsounds 5. I got it for $240 from Trainz a while back.
I had the same electrical smell/short problem on my 2nd run on track. My unit is packed up and ready to go back tomorrow. I am afraid it is fried. Tripped breaker multiple times and that's all she wrote.
John Quogue RR posted:I had the same electrical smell/short problem on my 2nd run on track. My unit is packed up and ready to go back tomorrow. I am afraid it is fried. Tripped breaker multiple times and that's all she wrote.
Did yours send sparks flying everywhere I've just never seen one go out like that before.
I am so sorry to have to join this discussion. My 364 has been running great. See "Weekend at the Movies." Then, while doing some early Sunday morning running before the grandkids got here for an Easter Egg hunt, it stopped short. And, the short light showed on the TMCC lockon. Remove locomotive from rails, no short. A careful inspection of the trucks and pick-up rollers shows nothing amiss that I can see. Put locomotive back on rails: short.
I tried putting in "program," still short. Check the passenger cars, they were not the problem. Looks like I have an internal short of some kind. Will be calling Dealer (RO) today for further instructions.
I was hoping to take it to our show this week, and show it off, especially since some Amtrak folks will be there with an Operation Lifesaver presentation. Then again, they are probably used to this....... 
I'm eager to find out what's shorting in these, that seems to be a frequent issue! Mine both operated perfectly, it was just all the other stuff that was off. Of course, I didn't get much running time before they were back in the box and out the door...
Mine didn't spark, just a dead short. In mail back to them today. Of course other engines on same track perfectly fine. Bad smell after the short.
What is going on with Lionel. That last few engines to be released have had numerous problems, and now the F40PH. It is starting to make me re-think whether I want to purchase anything in the future. Jeremy--My one F40 that does run also was a little choppy running. I lubricated and oiled everything and ran them a lot for the grandkids all weekend. I wouldn't say it is perfect, but it is better.
base11 posted:What is going on with Lionel. That last few engines to be released have had numerous problems, and now the F40PH. It is starting to make me re-think whether I want to purchase anything in the future. Jeremy--My one F40 that does run also was a little choppy running. I lubricated and oiled everything and ran them a lot for the grandkids all weekend. I wouldn't say it is perfect, but it is better.
When I first ran mine around the layout, it sounded a little rusty, I guess the factory doesn't lubricate the trucks well before they ship out the locomotives. But after some persistent running the "rustiness" subsided.
base11 posted:What is going on with Lionel. That last few engines to be released have had numerous problems, and now the F40PH. It is starting to make me re-think whether I want to purchase anything in the future. Jeremy--My one F40 that does run also was a little choppy running. I lubricated and oiled everything and ran them a lot for the grandkids all weekend. I wouldn't say it is perfect, but it is better.
I plan on getting my two csx units oiled up tonight they both seem to operate very well they are just really dry. I hope it helps that really bothers me.
Has anyone made a video of the CSX F40? Does it have the same sounds as the phase 3 models?
The arcing and grinding sounds, or are you talking about something else?
@T1Titan_ZachF posted:Has anyone made a video of the CSX F40? Does it have the same sounds as the phase 3 models?
Not a great video but here ya go. Seems to be identical as the phase 3 I was in the process of repcording the csx units with my Amtrak phase 3 until it bit the dust
Attachments
Videos (1)
Which one bit the dust Jeremy? The Amtrak or CSX units?
prrhorseshoecurve posted:Which one bit the dust Jeremy? The Amtrak or CSX units?
Amtrak unit. one of my csx units has a number board flickering and doesn't seem to operate as smoothly as the other so I'm kind of nervous about it as well
The flickering number board was the prelude to one I watched die recently. I think there's some wiring that's being sanded by a flywheel and shorting out. The rough running also would indicate some binding of the motors, think flywheel rubbing on something.
My problem didn't occur and the unit didnt short out until after i reprogrammed to engine 36, of course after I got the very sticky roof off. When I was running as engine 1 the first weekend i didnt have any problems. Problem occurred after I reprogrammed my unit then the engine shorted out and seemed to be stuck.
I can assure you that reprogramming the ID didn't cause it to short out.
Yes of course, I think the flywheel theory is a very good one. Lets see what they say, mine made it back to Lionel on Wednesday!
I know they're busy fixing these, I think QC at the factory took a vacation for this run! 
Its funny, i think your theory is right because the short didn't occur until after i had a good 10-15 minutes of run time.
Also the front trucks wouldn't roll almost like they were off gear, but the back ones did roll. Not like gears were stripped in front, they were just stuck.
Lots of QC issues in this batch, it'll be interesting to see what I get back when my two units come back to me.
I'm going to add my CSX 9999 to the list of engines that are dead. Didn't even get to start it up. Was programming the remote and went to change the engine # and as soon as I turned power on the red short light came on. I also have CSX 9998 and it is running fine so far. No blinking light, runs smooth, so far so good. Has been running about 15 to 20 minutes so far
Sounds like a recall situation to me. Gun runner have they ever had to do a whole engine recall that you remember?
I've never heard of a total engine recall, but I guess it could have happened. The wheels sure fell off this release, that seems certain.
I'm hoping this is a one-off issue and we can return to sanity soon. I got a notice that my Cabbage unit is on it's way back, hopefully I'll see it before York. I'm really eager to get the powered unit as well and put it through it's paces. I will admit, I'll probably risk the warranty issues and open it up and inspect it myself to make no silly stuff is waiting to bite me. I've been waiting for this one for some time, I'd like to actually get to run it without holding my breath! I have a bunch of Amtrak cars that are eagerly waiting for power.
gunrunnerjohn posted:I'm hoping this is a one-off issue and we can return to sanity soon. I got a notice that my Cabbage unit is on it's way back, hopefully I'll see it before York. I'm really eager to get the powered unit as well and put it through it's paces. I will admit, I'll probably risk the warranty issues and open it up and inspect it myself to make no silly stuff is waiting to bite me. I've been waiting for this one for some time, I'd like to actually get to run it without holding my breath! I have a bunch of Amtrak cars that are eagerly waiting for power.
What kind of Amtrak cars do you have?
I think you will love the cabbage. Fortunately no issues for me on that one.
I already had the Cabbage, it had the rotting coupler that was caused by the corrosive lubricant that apparently the Chinese didn't think would cause any issues.
Hopefully it will come back with a new coupler!
Well, it needs a new lift bar that was rusting away from the spray as well. I have no idea what other damage was done, but I'll be looking it over pretty closely before it even hits the tracks!
Wow, I had a friend pick up his Amtrac Versions today, three times around his large Layout and they Died.....??? Something's going on, needs to be corrected and Fast....Good Luck with getting your engines repaired....
They need to come clean. There is no such thing as a coincidence. If people are supposed to buy the product in future, gotta tell the truth. Close to$500 is not chump change.
Sorry to report my #364 among the defective units. It has a couple of hours on it, but the rh marker board started blinking along with the amfleet coaches it was pulling!
has anyone gotten a repaired powered unit back from Lionel?
I sent mine last week, I will post the forum when I receive. I think it's official now this thing is a L E M O N.
