[TheLordsServant]

Well, my replacement Aristo Mallet arrived today, and it still has some binding, this time from the back mechanism. It's not bad, but it's definitely there at low speeds When I get it up to high speed, there is a noise I can best describe as a low growl, but it's pretty loud. Is this normal for Mallets?

 

[Torby]

No, this is not normal. Should be silent and smooth.

Mine's on the table groaning right now

 

[Guest]

Im sorry to have to tell you again,i did post this earlyer in this thread, but this is a major problem with this company and they really don't care as you can see and if they did, you would have gotten a loco that worked back from them.they knew you were having problems and still didnt make it wright. i told you this was going to happen and once again im proven right. in the future i suggest looking at USA much better quality in my opion, and they dont make mistakes twice.. and again im sorry you are having all these problems with your NEW loco
Nick..

 

[lownote]

I'm sorry you're having this problem too, although my experience with Aristo customer service has been quite good. You should post this over on the Aristo forum. Maybe take a video of it

 

[Art]

Posted By TheLordsServant on 07/31/2008 9:51 AM
Well, my replacement Aristo Mallet arrived today, and it still has some binding, this time from the back mechanism. It's not bad, but it's definitely there at low speeds When I get it up to high speed, there is a noise I can best describe as a low growl, but it's pretty loud. Is this normal for Mallets?




I would contact Lewis directly and let him deal with it. I had a GP40 that had some problems. It went through customer services and came back with the same problem. I contacted Lewis and got a new loco.

Art

 

[TheLordsServant]

Well, I think I'm getting my money back, and I definitely won't be buying an Aristo product again. I wasted my $400+ dollars. After one engine being bad, I could deal with it, but with two having the same problem, I'm done. If I can my money back, I'm probably going to.

 

[Guest]

QUOTE...
07/18/2008 12:40
OK, now i am confused. You said G Scale Junction was sending you a replacement and now you are saying Aristo is repairing it. Sounds like someone is getting their signals crossed here. Just for clarification, I just spoke with Maryanne, Aristo is picking up your locomotive and replacing it with a new one, not a repaired one.
George


This is my last response on this , but i wouldnt bother calling the boss, as some of the good old boys from the other site would say. They knew it had a problem by their QUOTE to you, and instead of checking it before shipping, it appears they just sent another defective one to you. Thats just par for the course with them, unless of course your a good old boy from the yellow box site and you like repairing new trains all the time? if thats the case then i would suggest you invest in a LOT of tools and a tool box.
What i suggest you do before you buy anything else, is to use this site and theirs, to read up on all there problems before you make another purchase.
You will be surprised to to see all the issues with alot of their products. be educated purchaser not a takened one...in my opinion
there are a lot of options out their, so do your home work before you buy and dont make the mistake alot of us did...
Nick.....

 

[Michael Tollett]

Sorry to hear that you've had so much trouble with your Mallet.
I hope that either Aristo or the dealer makes it right to your satisfaction.

mdt

 

[Guest]

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[TheLordsServant]

Well, someone over on the Aristo forum suggested I try running it for an hour with no load, which I have done now, and it hasn't improved. Just thought I'd let you all know.

 

[Greg Elmassian]

I would like to hear the answer, from what I read before, this is the SAME Mallet but "repaired", right?

Regards, Greg

p.s. lube the axles with light oil and run it both forward and backward... more than an hour...

 

[Trains]

I was going to buy one, maybe not. I thought one might look pretty good pulling my USA trains PFE reefers.

 

[Torby]

I used my flame to heat a screw driver. Then I was able to loosen the screw and turn the wheel back to where it's supposed to be. That red locktite REALLY holds.

Wonder if I got it right.

I think G scale junction has treated you very well. Call Aristo at 973-351-9800 and explain your situation. They'll get it taken care of for you.

 

[lownote]

Nick likes to jump on Aristo, and it's true that they have quality control issues. But they ALL do--read up on the Bachmann K-27, or the Accucraft K4. I recently bought an engine from USA trains, my first loco from them, that was defective out of the box. USAT has had it since Monday and hopfully I see it back soon, and working. All the large scale manufacturers seem to me to have quality control issues.


I had a problem with a mikado--which is half the mallet power block--where it would not run right and would bind and stall at slow speed. I could not figure out why. It seemed to be "quartered" correctly. I sent it back to Aristo and it came back running perfectly, and it's been fine ever since. But I have no idea what they did or didn't do.


In my experience you can call Aristo and speak to someone in service and they are quite good. You have every right to be really annoyed and to demand either your money back or a working replacement

 

[Rayman4449]

Yeah I agree, this isn't normal. Aristocraft transfers power through inside gear boxes and not through the connecting rods so it should run super smooth. The binding is most likely caused by drivers being out of quarter as has been said and this was something I had to adjust on some of my axles.

Sorry to hear you are having more issues. I hope you decide to maybe get Aristo to make it right, but I understand your frustration.

Good luck.

Raymond

 

[TheLordsServant]

Well, I was gone most of the day today, but when I came back, I set up a large oval on my back driveway which is 70X12 ft. After about an hour of running at flat out, it's smoothed out quite a bit, but still isn't perfect. I'll try lubing the axles tomorrow, I've packed it in for the night. I'll go take some pictures, and maybe one of you can be better at seeing if the drivers are out of quarter or not. And to answer Greg, this is a DIFFERENT mallet, I requested a replacement, not a repair.

 

[Rayman4449]

If you have time, take and put the engine on it's side and hand test each driver to see if any can be fairly easily turned on the axle. If you find one or more then I would either send it back or work on securing it.

If for some reason you decided to try and loosen the axle screw, DO NOT attempt without heading the tip of a screwdriver with a torch first. You will most likely snap the screw head off the axle and you will be faced with an even larger task of dismantling the motorblock to replace the axle end. (ask me how I know...) Don't put too much torque on the screw.


Raymond

 

[TheLordsServant]

None of the drivers are capable of being moved more than the absolute tiniest amount, and I'm quite certain that the drivers are quartered correctly. I'm suspecting gearbox trouble because I can hear gear grinding when the loco is running at slow speed. I tried pushing on the drivers fairly firmly and they didn't move hardly at all, no more than any other loco I've had. I have heard about the axle screws, so I left those alone, I don't have anything to heat the screwdriver with. I'm calling Aristo on Monday and I'll see what they can do for me, I'd love it if they could send me a new rear mechanism, as I'm pretty certain the front one is fine, and I'm really not in the mood to wait a month and a half while Aristo tries to repair my engine.

 

[TheLordsServant]

Well, after running it some, it looks like the back right driver on the front mechanism is out of quarter. What puzzles me is this is the FRONT mechanism, the one that is not giving me trouble, at least as far as I can tell.

 

[aceinspp]

If your capable of removing the rear brick then I would just send that back for repairs if this is the one making all the noise. Thats what I did with mine. Its sad that you have had this problem but believe me AC will stand behind it and make it right. Sounds like you have that little guy on your shoulder as I do at times and known as Mr Murry.

I have several other brands of locos and they are not much better as far as problems. Later RJD