Heljan Fault

D1054

Western Thunderer
I recall my 4mm friends crooning at the Heljan running... smooth..... until this fun starts! Hope this isn't going to be another major issue with Heljan - pity, because they seem really good products - just need to back it up with some quality gears and service! I've 2 P4 Hymeks which are ok up to now, but rarely get a run out these days... hmm.. p'raps I'd better give them a try....
 

Phill Dyson

Western Thunderer
Thanks for the replies guys, I will be happy to get my loco repaired or a replacement bogie , I have had no replies from Tower or Howes yet, but it is bank holiday so I will give them until the middle of the week before further action.

Phill :wave:
 

rosspeacock

Modelling on a £1200 table.
HI Phill, sorry to hear of your 47 problems, Ive taken both my heljans apart and found that I have same split gear as you in my 47 and one in my hymek after removing my bogie base plate covers :headbang: :headbang: :shit: :rant: think heljan have a major problem to address I had all this when I had N gauge with all the old grafar diesels when they changed from brass to nylon gears!!!!!!!! I'am very upset these things dont come cheaply, :vista: Ross..
 

Phill Dyson

Western Thunderer
rosspeacock said:
HI Phill, sorry to hear of your 47 problems, Ive taken both my heljans apart and found that I have same split gear as you in my 47 and one in my hymek after removing my bogie base plate covers :headbang: :headbang: :shit: :rant: think heljan have a major problem to address I had all this when I had N gauge with all the old grafar diesels when they changed from brass to nylon gears!!!!!!!! I'am very upset these things dont come cheaply, :vista: Ross..
That is bad news mate :headbang: . I would get in touch with Howes through their website, I am still waiting for replies from them & Tower. What I would like to know is why Heljan are using gears with a proven record of being crap :x . I was going to pick another Hymek up at Halifax, but obviously that has now changed :x .............we shall see how they deal with these problems as I for one will not be letting this matter drop :x , as you say these loco's are not cheap !!!

Phill :wave:
 

28ten

Guv'nor
The trouble is that any replacement is not going to fix the underlying problem of the gears being cheap crap.
Phill it might be worth getting touch with Brian Clapperton at ABC as he has gears specially cut and you may be able to persuade to get a batch done, if you can show there is a demand.
 

Phill Dyson

Western Thunderer
28ten said:
The trouble is that any replacement is not going to fix the underlying problem of the gears being cheap crap.
Phill it might be worth getting touch with Brian Clapperton at ABC as he has gears specially cut and you may be able to persuade to get a batch done, if you can show there is a demand.
My Hymek is still fine after covering a lot of miles though, but replacement proper gears would be a good option though :thumbs:
 

Jordan

Mid-Western Thunderer
CME & Bottlewasher said:
It seems that there could also be issues with the motors not being 'matched' which could compound the issue with the gears,
Definitely a problem on my Hymek. :headbang:
I don't know about split gears yet; mine hasn't done much mileage, but it's motors definitely run at different speeds, especially at very slow speed; on the rolling road one bogie starts to work before the other, and when running on the layout there's a distinct "surge" action at low speed which is very frustrating on a Shunty-Plank.
This is one reason I haven't weathered it yet :rolleyes: ... it is the one O scale loco I have that I still consider selling (even now I've got my 14 chassis back!) but even though I got it at a then-Bargain price, it'd still make a loss, as they just aren't selling these days... :vista:
 

Phill Dyson

Western Thunderer
Jordan said:
[quote=""CME & Bottlewasher"":3aohphga]
It seems that there could also be issues with the motors not being 'matched' which could compound the issue with the gears,
Definitely a problem on my Hymek. :headbang:
I don't know about split gears yet; mine hasn't done much mileage, but it's motors definitely run at different speeds, especially at very slow speed; on the rolling road one bogie starts to work before the other, and when running on the layout there's a distinct "surge" action at low speed which is very frustrating on a Shunty-Plank.
This is one reason I haven't weathered it yet :rolleyes: ... it is the one O scale loco I have that I still consider selling (even now I've got my 14 chassis back!) but even though I got it at a then-Bargain price, it'd still make a loss, as they just aren't selling these days... :vista:[/quote:3aohphga]
Hi Jordan :wave:
If you decided to keep yours I would consider removing one motor bogie & fitting a dummy bogie with pickups as it would have plenty of power & would run a lot better if the bogies are mismatched. It would be a shame to sell it IMO as it is ideal for the era & area you model & the re-sale value would not be much in view of the present price new .

Cheers Phill :)
 

westernfan

Western Thunderer
Hi Phill i have sent a second e mail to howes showing the offending split cog i also mentioned if there was a solution to the fan issue that must be somthing to do with the gear drive imo :rant: ? i wait for their reply which wont be until 3rd june . maybe they might be swayed by this forum thread to prove its not an isolated fault issue .


chris
 

Phill Dyson

Western Thunderer
CME & Bottlewasher said:
We could also flag such up to - if this 'fault' becomes widespread - to the GOG, MIGO+1, DEMU et al. as well as the various model railway publications - it would need co-ordinating though.


CME. :wave:
Perhaps the GOG forum & the Trade Liaison Officer for those of us who are members would be a good next step if we get no joy from Tower/Howes after the bank holiday ? :scratch:

Phill :wave:
 

Ressaldar

Western Thunderer
Hi Phil,

you should have a 'captive audience' of the Guild BigWigs at Halifax on Saturday, so something might be digested by one of them - who knows?

regards

Mike
 

rosspeacock

Modelling on a £1200 table.
Hi Phill, spoke to Tower this morning who were quite helpful saying they were not aware of problems with any gears splitting and passed on Howes of Oxfords telephone number (01865) 848000 to me I rang Howes and they were very helpful they took my name and address etc and said they would replace the offending gears F.O.C. I have stripped my 47 bogie down (see pics) only takes 5mins most of the gears in the bogie are a loose fit on metal shafts with orange nylon spacers. The only gears that are a "force fit" over a splined shaft are about 4 of them nearest to the worm and obviously the ones on the driving axles. hope these pics are of some help? dont be afraid to take it to bits nothing is really liable to go flying as there is plenty of grease in there to keep everthing stuck fast, all that needs to be done prior to what is shown in pictures, is to remove pick up terminals and the 2 plastic bogie retainers 2 screws in each, the motor slides out once the screw on its clamp is slackened off and there is plenty of slack on wire to do this :thumbs: :thumbs:
 

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28ten

Guv'nor
CME & Bottlewasher said:
We used to have a similar issues when I was into racing off-road R/C cars, several manufactureres produced better qaulity after-market gears, drive-shafts etc....

All the best,

CME :wave:
Back in the day when I had a Sand Scorcher it used to strip gears every time it rolled over under power :D
 

Phill Dyson

Western Thunderer
I have now received an e-mail from Tower giving me a contact number for Howes for repair or offering me a complete refund as Tower no longer have 47's in stock, I am quite happy with Towers response, but I will be going for the repair option rather than the refund as I have already done quite a bit of work on my 47 & I am otherwise quite happy with it :) .
BTW I have opened up my Hymek bogies today & all gears are in good order despite having already covered very high mileage on my line :D

Cheers Phill :wave:
 

Jordan

Mid-Western Thunderer
file.php


:shock: All those little plastic cogs!!! :shock: :shock:
That gear train is a bit of a contrast to the drive under my Weaver GP38....

SDC10568.jpg
 

Jordan

Mid-Western Thunderer
Phill Dyson said:
Tower ... offering me a complete refund as Tower no longer have 47's in stock,
Do they know you took a 3inch paint brush to it for weathering...?!?! :shock: :p ;)
 

Phill Dyson

Western Thunderer
Jordan said:
[quote=""Phill Dyson"":1ha2h6n3] Tower ... offering me a complete refund as Tower no longer have 47's in stock,
Do they know you took a 3inch paint brush to it for weathering...?!?! :shock: :p ;)[/quote:1ha2h6n3]
Well it's about time you did something with your Heljan :rolleyes: :laugh: :p
Phill :wave:
 

Jordan

Mid-Western Thunderer
Phill Dyson said:
Well it's about time you did something with your Heljan :rolleyes: :laugh: :p
Phill :wave:
Checking it for split gears is a good place to start.... :rolleyes: :twisted: :vista:
 

Phill Dyson

Western Thunderer
Jordan said:
[quote=""Phill Dyson"":30ot5g79] Tower ... offering me a complete refund as Tower no longer have 47's in stock,
Do they know you took a 3inch paint brush to it for weathering...?!?! :shock: :p ;)[/quote:30ot5g79]
Dunno, I have no intention of getting a refund as I like it (it looks OK to me :? )

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