MTH big boy is broke already!

[irocinblue89]

Well the title says it. It's my fault for buying the thing but I really like my 9000 and thought I would be ok. Wrong! At the club open house I was pulling it out of the roundhouse and down the yard lead and the rear drivers locked up. After some ***** and putting my pcm in the front I tore into it. The dogbones were wore down to nubs. It is my opinion that the angle on the short dogbones is to great and it wears them out to fast. Keep it in mind if you are thinking of gettin one. A very expensive paper weight.

Seann

Update: I called last Monday (12-6) and asked where my parts were and they said they should be shipping them out soon. I asked what soon meant and was told hopefully this week. I asked if hopefully meant they were waiting on the parts from China and he said the order was still processing. It has been 3 weeks now and still no repair parts. I will return it at the end of the week if they do not show up.

Update: (1-3-11) I got the replacement parts and wouldn't you know it was the same junk that broke. I went to the LHS and bought some NWSL parts and fixed it. But it is fixed! Yay! Anyone interested in a bigboy

 

[Secondhandmodeler]

How long have you owned it? I would call MTH and at least present your problem. Who knows, maybe they'll fix it for free. If not for free, then maybe a small fee. Good luck

 

[irocinblue89]

How long have you owned it? I would call MTH and at least present your problem. Who knows, maybe they'll fix it for free. If not for free, then maybe a small fee. Good luck

2 months. I did call yesterday and they said I could take/ship it to a national repair shop, or ship it to them both at my cost(shipping). They are 4-6 months behind on repairs. They will not send me the part however. I asked them if they were seeing this commonly and the gentleman actually said that there have been a few. I am not bashing them just giving other members a "heads up" if they were considering a purchase.

 

[Selector]

Six months behind on repairs!!!! Well, if true it suggests that either they have waaaaay more QA problems than it appears on the net or they don't have enough skilled repair techs.

The longest I have waited for BLI was for my Hybrid Q2 to come back to me with its headlight working. It was the only fault, but it was kind of a biggie. It had to go to China, I think, for them to repair it. That took four months.

 

[tomustang]

2 months. I did call yesterday and they said I could take/ship it to a national repair shop, or ship it to them both at my cost(shipping). They are 4-6 months behind on repairs. They will not send me the part however. I asked them if they were seeing this commonly and the gentleman actually said that there have been a few. I am not bashing them just giving other members a "heads up" if they were considering a purchase.

That is inexcusable, I stay away from companys like that, and I hope others will with that kind of response.

 

[Motley]

I agree, waiting 6 months in absolutely unacceptable. Did you yell at them? I always find that being assertive, not screaming, but politely telling them they need to resolve this issue. I'm sure they would "find" a way to get it done sooner. Ask to speak to Mike himself.

Now, is this a problem with only the Bigboy? Because I just got a Challenger, and also getting the 9000. They better not break on me. I would lose it, these things are expensive.

And here I thought MTH has reliable quality products.

 

[Secondhandmodeler]

I guess I'd be upset too. Them telling you how far behind they are sounds like they just don't want to fix it.

 

[Cjcrescent]

...

And here I thought MTH has reliable quality products.

ROTFLMAO. Well lets see. Articulation put into locos that were never articulated, clunky details on many offerings, proprietary control system, excessively long repair times....Did I leave anything out??

 

[flyboy2610]

And here I thought MTH has reliable quality products.

ROTFLMAO. Well lets see. Articulation put into locos that were never articulated, clunky details on many offerings, proprietary control system, excessively long repair times....Did I leave anything out??

Nope. I think you pretty well covered it.

 

[GN.2-6-8-0]

Yeh' I hear the BLI customers are screaming cuz the lead wheels on the new Dreyfuss hudson are unpainted and shiny......

 

[SD45T-2]

One of the guys at my local shop. Had his new ACE go to crap last week.

 

[Selector]

Someone posted a new video to youtube showing a couple of his new BLI Dreyfus Hudsons. They have wobbling issues according to many posts on forums far and wide, and one of them going slowly past his videocam showed a distinct undulation, sort of a porpoising. So, BLI isn't out of the muck either.

Crandell

 

[Motley]

So can anybody tell me if this problem exists on the MTH Challenger and the 4-12-2 9000. ???

btw, I have 2 of their Aces and they run flawlessly.

 

[diburning]

According to a guy on the Atlas forums who ran three MTH SD70ACes on his layout for 7 hours straight, the gears completely stripped themselves, the the motors started crapping out.

He sent them back to MTH (at his expense) and MTH's response was that the chinese factory substituted a softer plastic material for the gears, and substituted the motors, both without permission. Then, they proceeded to replace the motors, and the gears, with spare parts from the same batch from that run, so that when he ran the repaired engines, one stripped its gears after a few hours.

 

[Motley]

Dang, I sure hope mine don't strip the gears. So far everything has been fine.

Also, this is once again ANOTHER Chinese quality control problem. When will this madness end? Good lord.....

 

[julienjj]

According to a guy on the Atlas forums who ran three MTH SD70ACes on his layout for 7 hours straight, the gears completely stripped themselves, the the motors started crapping out.

He sent them back to MTH (at his expense) and MTH's response was that the chinese factory substituted a softer plastic material for the gears, and substituted the motors, both without permission. Then, they proceeded to replace the motors, and the gears, with spare parts from the same batch from that run, so that when he ran the repaired engines, one stripped its gears after a few hours.

Ill check my gear often then ! If it breaks under warranty, they gonna hear about me

 

[kbkchooch]

According to a guy on the Atlas forums who ran three MTH SD70ACes on his layout for 7 hours straight, the gears completely stripped themselves, the the motors started crapping out.

He sent them back to MTH (at his expense) and MTH's response was that the chinese factory substituted a softer plastic material for the gears, and substituted the motors, both without permission. Then, they proceeded to replace the motors, and the gears, with spare parts from the same batch from that run, so that when he ran the repaired engines, one stripped its gears after a few hours.

If thats truly the case, then Mike oughta sue them........seems to be what he does best anyways!

 

[Mouse]

Also, this is once again ANOTHER Chinese quality control problem. When will this madness end? Good lord.....

When we stop going to China to make products for "cheaper labor". But then i guess that becomes a reflection of price. Build it here, pay more i suppose.

 

[Motley]

When we stop going to China to make products for "cheaper labor". But then i guess that becomes a reflection of price. Build it here, pay more i suppose.

Well think about it. We are paying a higher price by buying defective products. I have no problem paying a premium to get a good quality product made here in the US, and giving some Americans their jobs back.

I mean this is happening on a weekly basis now. What a great hobby only to be ruined by bad choices taking manufacturing to China.

I'm afraid to buy anything anymore. There is no company, no matter if it's cheap or expensive that has not had quality control problems.

We have no more choices? We just keep spending money on items that break?

 

[Cjcrescent]

...

We have no more choices? We just keep spending money on items that break?

One of the things that I look at when acquiring a new piece of motive power, is how easy is it to get into and repair. As a result, a lot of my power is brass, or kit built engines.

I do have 3 spectrum steamers that aren't that hard to get into or work on. After working on several of the current manufacturers offerings, I have to say I won't be getting any of them, anytime soon, and probably later.