Ok, so I bought a MTH Rail King Pennsy RS-3 Diesel Freight Set. The engine sits on the track, makes a small electric hum, and after a few seconds the circuit breaker on the transformer trips and shuts down the controller. The caboose, which accompanies the set, will NOT light when the engine is on the track. It DOES light when I take the engine off the track. Any thoughts or helpful suggestions?
First train set does NOT work! Help!
- Thread starter hokkmike
- Start date
Selector
Well-Known Member
If you are stumped, try a call to customer services, and have them patch you through to the tech guys. Someone will talk you through the setup, and it may be something simple and easily corrected. If not, and you are stumped still, you have little recourse....unfortunately.
Happily, your warranty will be honoured and you'll eventually have satisfaction. All the companies in the hobby are really good about that.
Happily, your warranty will be honoured and you'll eventually have satisfaction. All the companies in the hobby are really good about that.
Trucula
Drum Driver
I bought a used passenger set from a dealer. It was MTH and had brand new track. Had the same problem. It wouldn't move...It actually had to be reprogrammed by a repairman and the battery replaced. Its a simple fix but he didnt tell me how he did it. The repairman for a local hobby shop is in our club but I haven't seen him in months.
You have a short somewhere in the engine. If it was a short anywhere else, the cbaoose wouldn't light or would also cause the transfromer to voverload. Since the set is new, don't fool around with it. Call MTH and let them know the problem. Thet will probably just exchange it for a new engine. Trying to fix it yourself will void your warranty.
Thanks all. I am contacting MTH and the local dealer, English's hobby shop in Montoursville, PA.
I find it somewhat astounding that you can pay around $300 for a brand new train set, unwrap an engine that is carefully styro-foam protected, double wrapped with plastic and ties, cradled in a protective box that is sealed, looks beautiful down to the last detail, and in the end - doesn't work! To me that is the epitomy of irony and frustration.
Hopefully - between MTH and English's good customer cervice will prevail!
I find it somewhat astounding that you can pay around $300 for a brand new train set, unwrap an engine that is carefully styro-foam protected, double wrapped with plastic and ties, cradled in a protective box that is sealed, looks beautiful down to the last detail, and in the end - doesn't work! To me that is the epitomy of irony and frustration.
Hopefully - between MTH and English's good customer cervice will prevail!
Selector
Well-Known Member
The engines are not mass produced. They are hand assembled from parts by people who are harried and pressed by their supervisors. Also, the trains are not considered a hi-tech or sophisticated item, but a toy, and the production of something else will ensue as soon as that run is completed, in about a couple of days or so. The distributor/manufacturer/marketer expects that he'll get returns near 15%, and he has a local repair facility to deal with such problems.
Also, the parts are often tiny, and tolerances are tight. Tiny screws and thin wires have to be pressed into narrow confines so that the engines can be weighted enough to pull well. Human hands will make more mistakes with assembly of that nature.
I am not hoping to sound unsympathetic, just realistic. I have had to send a couple of new engines back for repair, which wasn't particularly thrilling for me. But the engines came back properly done, and I have enjoyed them none the less. In one case, I had to fix a short between the towbar of my new steamer and the metal truck. It took some sleuthing to final figure it out. I had to rap hard on a rivet with the truck removed so that the towbar didn't have so much vertical slop. That tightening of the rivet solved my short problem. I still had to send the tender back to get the decoder replaced.
My hope is that your hobby shop has a replacement for you.
-Crandell
Also, the parts are often tiny, and tolerances are tight. Tiny screws and thin wires have to be pressed into narrow confines so that the engines can be weighted enough to pull well. Human hands will make more mistakes with assembly of that nature.
I am not hoping to sound unsympathetic, just realistic. I have had to send a couple of new engines back for repair, which wasn't particularly thrilling for me. But the engines came back properly done, and I have enjoyed them none the less. In one case, I had to fix a short between the towbar of my new steamer and the metal truck. It took some sleuthing to final figure it out. I had to rap hard on a rivet with the truck removed so that the towbar didn't have so much vertical slop. That tightening of the rivet solved my short problem. I still had to send the tender back to get the decoder replaced.
My hope is that your hobby shop has a replacement for you.
-Crandell
English's Model Rail Road Supply is a VERY reputable dealer. when i lived in williamsport a frequented the place often and was always satisfied. now, living almost 2 hours away, i would take the drive anytime to do bussiness with him. I know its dissapointing, but i wouldnt loose any sleep over it as I am sure they will take care of it. Ryan
I am going down tomorrow. Rich has made it fairly clear that if the engine can't be fixed easily he will simply replace it with another one. Thanks, nonetheless, for your reassurance.
Right out of the box, BUT>>>>>>>
It may be an age old problem. Christmas of 1947 I got an American Flyer set on Christmas Eve. When we unwraped it there was no transformer (ac power pack). Talk about dissapointment.
We had to wait until Montgomery Ward opened the 26th to get the missing part.
Armchair aka "a really old man"
It may be an age old problem. Christmas of 1947 I got an American Flyer set on Christmas Eve. When we unwraped it there was no transformer (ac power pack). Talk about dissapointment.
We had to wait until Montgomery Ward opened the 26th to get the missing part.Armchair aka "a really old man"
OldGettysk
Running the MC & Buffalo
Welcome to the forum !!!!! You still waiting for your transformer ?
