Try This

Athearn Genesis and RTR diesels often suffer from poor quality control.  A very common problem is with bad connections in the wires from the trucks to the decoder.  Wires are frequently stripped insufficiently (leaving too little wire protruding beyond the insulation to make adequate contact) or too aggressively (too many wire strands broken).  They may also be otherwise OK, but still not making contact due to loose connections at the plastic clips.

I'll give an example.  After an all-day op session a few weeks back, one of my Athearn SW1500s (an RTR model with a can motor, so similar to a Genesis in many ways) crapped out and started sputtering (jerky operation, lights flickering).  I suspected dirty wheels but cleaning them produced no improvement.  Later disassembly of the model showed that three of the four wire connections from the trucks to the decoder had finally failed, due to one or the other of the issues noted above.  Correctly stripping the affected wires, and soldering them to the PC board the decoder plugs into, completely cured the problem.

I have also found instances of failed motor lead connections, and bad connections at the trucks, requiring disassembly of the trucks to strip and solder the wire.

So... my first advice on any Athearn mechanism behaving as you describe is to look for bad connections.  Pull the plastic clips off and solder everything.  I've done this on my Athearn units, and helped friends do the same, and it usually solves the problem.

Hey thanks Rob. as far as

Hey thanks Rob. as far as connections to the decoder, I soldered them myself, but I will check tomorrow for bad connections to the trucks. Thanks for the heads up. I will also clean the wheels tomorrow. Hopefully, one or both will solve this problem.

Jim Lowery

Axle length causing pickup issues

Aside from poor decoder connections and dirty wheels, there's an axle length issue that causes intermittent power loss, too.

There's an explanation of it, with a solution, on Tony's Train Exchange's web site, at:
http://www.tonystrains.com/technews/loconews/athearn_genesis_pickup_problems.htm

I'm still waiting for my backordered wheelsets so I can try their approach on a few Genesis F units I have.

WOW

Well Fritz, I have to say, I sure hope that isn't, but it sure sounds like what I am experiencing. I read the link you posted. How does replacing the wheel change the length of the axle shaft? Why replace the wheel? Is it a split shaft?

I hope when you get this done you post with a result from your experiece with this issue.

Thanks again

Jim Lowery

Well I cleaned the wheels and

Well I cleaned the wheels and checked the connections, and I am still having power cut out and cut back in. So it may be what Mr Milhaupt is speaking of (darn). also I checked to see if I could find the part spoken of at NWSL, but I didn't see it. Also do you have to replace the whhel/axle on all for wheel sets?

Jim

Genesis wheel replacement

Jim-

Yes, NWSL provides a pair of metal wheels with stub axles you apply to Athearn's plastic gear. The NWSL wheels' axle stubs stick out a bit farther than the ones Athearn provides, so they're supposed to engage the pickup bars better..

You could probably get the same effect by pushing the axle stub a bit further through the back of the existing wheelset. I considered that, but didn't feel confident enough that I'd be able to consistently push them through the right distance. Plus, the I prefer the solid nickel-silver of the NWSL wheels.

The wheelsets for this (#37191-4 for standard "Code 110", or 37291-4 for "Code 88" semi-scale) are in the right-hand column of page 3-8 of the wheelset listing on their web site. Or "your dealer can order it from Walthers" as items #53-371914 or #53-372914.

All finished

OK I replaced the wheel sets with the NWSL wheel sets and so far... Fantastic. It was not nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be. In fact, it was really easy.

The engines have not lost power at all. The DCC has been going just fine etc.

These wheel sets and changing them seem to have done the trick. If you are reading this and you are having these problems, this really does the trick.

James R. Lowery

Great!

Jim-

I'm glad to hear that solved the problem for you!

Quality?

For a unit that cost $200.00 plus, this type of problem is all to common. I know that Athearn is not the only vendor to have these problems. I have been frustrated with the products that increase in cost and often have both engineering problems and quality problems. Many models have no parts support in just a few years.

In a lot of ways we are in a great time  with the availability and factory detail of our new models, but a high cost model that requires aftermarket parts to repair is just frustrating.

Regards, John

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Men are not against you; they are merely for themselves. <> Gene Fowler

Accountability

Ultimately it is Athearn's (Walthers, Atlas, whomever) responsibility to provide a quality product consistent with the market's expectations at a given price point. I do not believe companies intentionally plan to provide poor, or worse, inconsistent quality. But for too many, their post-first article inspection efforts would seem to go into cruise control.

I believe the past decade or so of US companies selling their collective manufacturing soul to China has demonstrated  if you are not constantly and closely monitoring the process, it is a plan to fail. China-based suppliers are not inherently evil (although some have demonstrated they are), but they are quick to leverage the numbers in their favor when we do not hold them to higher standards.

Spilt gears and improperly gauged axles once again illustrate a trait of high capacity manufacturing: you can make a lot of crap parts in a hurry.

Success

Thanks Fritz, et al.  Just finished replacing the wheel sets on my Athearn Genesis SD70ACe with those from NWSL.  It wasn't too difficult and the loco is now running perfectly.  Saved the loco.  It's going to make me very cautious about acquiring any new Athearn Genesis models.

Thanks again,

PTJ27

By the way, after replacing

By the way, after replacing the wheels with NWSL, which did help a lot. The best fix I had for this problem was a "keep alive from TCS. Plenty of room in there to place one. And it runs like a champ. Easy fix for about $25.

A friend of mine has a set of

A friend of mine has a set of Genesis FP7s, they had a case of the "herky-jerky's." He returned them to Athearn.

Problem was defective contacts on the trucks on all 3 units.

How old are these units?

Mine are new.

I have a pair of 2 year old GP7's that ran really bad on sections of straight flex that have wires solder to them.  After replacing them with NWSL wheels they ran fine.  I bought them when they were released but it wasn't until recently when I started laying track that I had a chance to run them.

About 2 years old

I have a Genesis F7A/B and an MP15.  Both are sound units, and had issues with all three (F7A, F7B, and MP15) of the units.  I, like PRRPappy and others,  replaced the wheels with NWSL pieces to fix the problems.  Thank goodness the fix worked. 

It's sad to have to spend money on repairs to brand new, and not cheap, locos in order for them to operate properly.

John C

Actually I don't know how old

Actually I don't know how old my units are. I bought them at different times.

So this axle fix will work on

Same axle as F7

Yes, the MP15 takes the same axles as the F units.

John C

NWSL? looked on

NWSL? looked on advertizer page, did not find...help as I'm have same problem with loosing sound, thanks Tom

NWSL

NorthWest Short Line, at http://www.nwsl.com

They manufacture a variety of mechanism parts used across many scales, and have been in the business for over fifty years.

Hobby shops can get NWSL parts through their distribution chain, or you can order parts from them directly.

I have had some difficulty in getting NWSL loco wheels

Genesis wheel replacement

Hey, where are you finding the 37191-4 numbers and such on the NWSL site?  I see a listing of wheels but don't see these numbers anywhere.  Am I looking at the right wheels and site?

Tom

Re: Tom

Look here on page 3-9  http://www.nwsl.com/uploads/chap3_web_01-2014.pdf .