Proto 2000 GP30... known issues?

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W

wongsing

Member
Hey guys, a long time ago (well, a few months) I bought a Proto 2000 GP38-2 and before installing the decoder, I found a tech bulletin online talking about having to rewire the engine due to their tendency to fry the decoder...Something about the lights being improper voltage or something. Anyways, are there any known problems with the GP30's that I might need to know about? I did a search for them and didn't find anything but I'll be alittle upset if I mess something up because I didn't know. Also, the lady I just bought this loco from said that she never could get it to run. I just received another email from her later this evening saying it used to hesitate on the tracks. Someone she knows (I would think maybe he knows something about model trains) said something about them having a problem with the trucks sticking? I have never had such a problem. I can't test the unit here at my current duty station to further troubleshoot, but do you guys know anything about these locos having such problems? I took the loco apart today right after I got it and it looks fine..All wires are intact. No missing pieces...She claims to have about 10 of these total and she said nearly all of them had the same problem...Alittle odd...Any ideas?

-Rich
 
My guess it that the GP30 has cracked axles. I have one that I sent back to Walthers for repair because I bought it at my LHS and had the receipt. If I understand correctly, there are a bunch more Proto 2000 Geeps that have the same problem. The fix is inexpensive and fairly easy to do, judging from what I read about it. Search this forum and you should find alot of info.
 
the "cracked axles" is not cracked axles, it is a cracked axle GEAR. It is very common on older LL units of any type, in fact older units that don't have it are extremely rare and almost guaranteed to develop the issue at some point.

It's not IF, it is WHEN....

Remove the axle, and look very carefully at the gear that is on the axle. You will see that it has split at the base of one of the gear teeth, making the gap between 2 teeth (or pitch) too wide to mesh well with the gear that drives it.

Life Life and now Walthers will (they have in most cases, including mine) honor the lifetime warranty and provide replacement wheels sets (an entire axle, with wheels and NEW gear preassembled). They merely sent me the wheelsets and I installed them in 5 minutes or less, i did not have to return the unit.
 


what is the easiest way to check for this? Do I have to pull the trucks off and then disassemble them? Or can I do it another way? I really appreciate the detailed response!

-Rich
 
To check the axle gears, use a small screw driver or knife blade to pop the cover off the bottom of the truck. There are tabs on both sides of the truck that hold the cover on. With the cover removed, you'll be able to lift the wheel/axle gear assemblies out and inspect them. If you can spin the wheel in the axle gear, the gear is split.

I would be very surprised if a P2K GP38-2 had split axle gears. The problem was resolved long before that product run. The axle gear issue is most common on BL2, GP7, GP9, GP18, GP20 and GP30 locos from early runs.
 
Dang, thats 3 out of 4 axles that spin independently of eachother! I guess that is the problem! I just wrote Walthers...Hopefully they are willing to help me although I am not the original owner. If I have to though I will buy some Athearn gears and install them. I suppose I can't even be the slightest bit disgrunteled though....I recently bought a Chessie System GP30 for about 30 something bucks and a B&O GP30 for about the same! A few more bucks surely wouldn't hurt if Walthers wants to be not so receptive...Thanks guys!

-Rich
 
If they were built before Walthers took them over, I have word that they will fail. I replaced mine (GP20) about a year before the Walthers takeover, the replacements split, too (and some split before they were even installed!).

The problem never was adequately resolved while Life Life was independent.

Walthers took the time and $$ to rebuild the injection mold after the buy out and actually fixed the root cause problem (hole for axle was too small).

even if you have to buy them from Walthers, I think they are a good value. My GP20s are excellent runners and look great.
 
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I've got a Nickel Plate GP-30 that I bought just before Walthers took over Life-Like. As Ken wrote, the entire line of LL locomotives that were the predecessors to the P2K line had defective axle gears. Mine broke within two weeks of the engine being placed in service. Walters was very good about it and sent 4 new axles, although it took about a month because they were just completing the new tooling. As far as I know, Walthers is still offerring free replacement for cracked axle gears. If you have some old Athearn engines that aren't in service, their axles are a direct replacement for the older LL axles.
 
For the GP38-2s: Just remove the number board lights (front and rear) from the locomotive, and install your new decoder. Otherwise, if you rewire to keep the number board lights, you'll have to add resistors and such since the track leads and number board wires are in the same place.

I have a NS#2595 GP30, I just recently got. The only issue it has is the rear light does not work. I'm not sure why. I also got a IC#5005 U30B, and its rear light doesn't work either.
 
You can buy a set of 6 axle gears for the Athearn SD40-2 that will replace the LL gears. I have one former GP30 (now a BN GP39E) that just recently cracked its gears after several years of use.
 
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Guys, it's spam. Check the sig line on the identical message that started this thread. I've already reported him to the mods.
 
KJD, the spammer copied Rich's original post and then added it as a new post with a sig line that promoted an internet gambling site. A mod has already wacked the post so you don't see it now. These spammers are pretty slick.
 
Thanks for clarifying, I was wondering if you were talking about my post because I got a note from Willis aka CBCNSfan saying not to put "commercial enterprise" stuff in my sig (which there is not). You will notice he has deleted all my previous posts since 2007, I guess since I put in a sig.


Either way older P2K locos have gear problems and you can get SD40-2 replacement gears from Athearn for less than what Walthers wants for one wheelset.
 
I've apologized to Paul and have restored his posts :o
His link points only to his work, though last night I'll swear it was to a retail outlet, I just don't know maybe I'm cracking up. Thankfully no one went ballistic about it, it certainly pays to keep cool heads.
Thanks to all
Willis

These spammers are pretty slick.
Click to expand...
Yeah we even have Guests posting, can't ban them because they're not members so we just delete the posts
 
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No harm done, Willis, but I was quite confused for a bit. Thanks for clearing it up. Isn't there a forum setting that blocks guest postings?
 
Isn't there a forum setting that blocks guest postings?
Click to expand...

Yep, but it seems to be a hacker having some fun to see if he/she can get a row going. Quotes me sometimes so I just delete the post

Cheers
Willis
 
chiming in

I know I might be chiming in way to late but I just got a GP-30 proto 2000 engine and my decoder was fried after about 1 minutes on the test setup track. I am about to completely tear mine down and look to see if I can see what the issue can be.
 
UP2CSX said:
As far as I know, Walthers is still offerring free replacement for cracked axle gears. If you have some old Athearn engines that aren't in service, their axles are a direct replacement for the older LL axles.
Click to expand...


They are charging for them now, after giving away enough to replace more than were made originally, but they are low cost.

Contrary to urban legend, the Athearn gears are not a direct replacement for Proto 2000 gears. There are differences in the gear geometry across the brands. You can drop the Athearn gears in, and they will run, but you may get more running noise, and more rapid wear than with the correct LL/P2K parts. The correct parts were in stock at Walthers last time I checked.
 


wongsing said:
Hey guys, a long time ago (well, a few months) I bought a Proto 2000 GP38-2 and before installing the decoder, I found a tech bulletin online talking about having to rewire the engine due to their tendency to fry the decoder...Something about the lights being improper voltage or something. Anyways, are there any known problems with the GP30's that I might need to know about? I did a search for them and didn't find anything but I'll be alittle upset if I mess something up because I didn't know. Also, the lady I just bought this loco from said that she never could get it to run. I just received another email from her later this evening saying it used to hesitate on the tracks. Someone she knows (I would think maybe he knows something about model trains) said something about them having a problem with the trucks sticking? I have never had such a problem. I can't test the unit here at my current duty station to further troubleshoot, but do you guys know anything about these locos having such problems? I took the loco apart today right after I got it and it looks fine..All wires are intact. No missing pieces...She claims to have about 10 of these total and she said nearly all of them had the same problem...Alittle odd...Any ideas?

-Rich
Click to expand...

I don't know of any electrical issues with the P2K GP30s. We have four of them and the DCC conversion is Plug-n-play with the Digitrax 163LO and 165LO decoders. The 165LO gives you the ability to do a sound conversion with the new SFX004 Soundbug chip. We haven't used the sound conversion yet, but probably will.

As others have stated, all old four axle P2K models have/will have cracked axle gears. This problem is easy to fix and Walthers can supply the parts.
 
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