Spectrum HO scale 2 truck Climax

[billvan]

Is anyone having driveshaft failures with their HO scale
2 truck Climax ?

[BaltoOhioRRfan]

I have one with mine.....dogs knocked it over and now i'm missing the entire drive shaft....no worries though....i have 3 more at work to pick up. (we found a few...if you know where i work go buy em while they last! we have two road names). All of the ones we got I Inspected and half had the front drive shaft apart...with a pair of tweezers i was able to slide the shaft back together(the one peice slid out of the other) I also cleaned them up a bit as form being on a shelf they had oil all over them. All engines were tested and all ran fine.

[EBradbury]

See my message about HO Climax repair on March 21, 2008.

After 8 weeks I called about the repair.  I was told they didn't have parts and offered a Shay. I had them return the climax to me.  They did even read my letter because new parts were not needed.

For the forward drive shaft I have the same problem with an HO Climax.  When the truck swivels too far right or left the square shaft comes apart and can be put together with tweezers as stated. 

I think this can be fixed if we replace one of the square drives  parts, either the solid shaft or hollow tube.  Only one of the shaft parts needs to be longer; either the hollow tube or the square shaft.  Does any know if individual repair parts are available for the HO Shay in particular the square drive/U-joint shaft as it is a similar type drive.

As for the other problem with front truck gear mesh that the climax has that also only needs the gears on the two front truck axles moved closer to the axle centerline so they mesh with the drive gears.

I am a little disappointed with Bachmann's response to a simple fix for the gear mesh.  The loco was with them for 8 weeks and until I called it would still be there in the que. 

I'm an mechanical engineer and someone really botched the design and quality control for the climax before release.  I think this had to have shown up during production because my problem developed in less then 3 hours of running.

If anyone has another fix please let me know.

[Fred M]

G'day all,

I am the culprit that has caused this debate to start, I was having a bit of trouble logging on to this site and finally did so this morning, My good friend Bill Van in Canada offered to help start the post until I got sorted, thanks Bill.

Now the problem ---- My HO scale Climax has had no more than 40 minutes running when the first of many problems began, namely, the first bevel gear that drives the rear axle on the front truck split, the next was the boss on the front universal that fits the main drive shaft, this split also, if this boss had have been as long as the rear boss on the rear universal, I may have been able to make and fit a ring around the boss to hold this together, not to be,
I was able to get a replacement gearbox drive shaft from Bachmann and I bought some ubeaut super glue from Micro Mark and glued the front bevel gear to the shaft as a tempory fix, later, I ordered the complete driveline plus the front and rear trucks hoping by now, the problems would have been fixed, alas, sometime later after sending an email to Bridget, she informed me there are no more parts for the Climax.

This then is my beef, why manufacture a finely finished loco like the Climax and not have a parts supply to back this loco up.

What now Mr. Bachmann??.

To return this loco from Nth. Qld. Australia is not an option because of freight costs.

Regards

Fred M.

[the Bach-man]

Dear Fred,
From whom did you buy the loco?
I would return it to your dealer for a replacement.
Thanks!
the Bach-man

[Yampa Bob]

The problem is very few dealers will replace a defective locomotive.  They discount them on the internet but if there is a problem they don't want it back, because then they are just stuck with it. They have no one that knows how to fix it, and can't get parts anyway. 

My heart truly goes out to our friends in Australia, I have heard the shipping charges are outrageous.  There is surely someone that could make up the needed parts.

If the loco is new, I can't understand how they can say parts are no longer available?

Caboose Hobbies in Denver Colorado has a full service department and may have some parts.  It may be a long shot but worth a try.

information@caboosehobbies.com

Send the email attention to Dave Clingman, he is their service expert.

Good luck

Bob

[Fred M]

Thanks for the reply Mr. Bachmann

I bought the Climax from the states awhile back.

Thanks also Bob, I will give Caboose Hobbies a go.

Sorry for not replying sooner, was having trouble logging onto the forum, hopefully this is OK now