I have been able to find much info on Marlin engines and their motors but found it difficult to get the same on Rokuhan. I wondered if anyone has both makes and could give me some of the pros and cons? Thanks Lawrie
Lawrie, Welcome to the group. I don't have any of the Rokuhan locomotives, but you can find out about the motor here: http://www.rokuhan.com/english/news/2014/12/we-start-the-sales-of-core-less-motor.html Generally speaking, coreless motors, like the ones used by Rokuhan, run quitter, draw less power than the motors used by Märklin. They are also maintenance-free. Hope this helps, Mark
That is helpful. I do know that Märklin motors need maintaining especially for the oil they use. They are mostly made of metal. Like to find out if the Rokuhans have the same or better finish Thanks Lawrie
The new Märklin BR80 has a can motor with fly wheel seems to be top notch for a c-coupler. Hopefully this is the new standaard for Märklin.
Hi Lawrie I've acquired a few Rokuhan locos to run on 'Republic Steel', my steelworks layout, when I run it in Japanese form. I've not bought any Electric locomotives or EMUs just steam and diesel as I'm not planning on putting any catenary up I'm currently doing a series of video reviews on youtube of the Japanese Z I'm collecting so if it is any help try. in the main I find them quiet, powerful and very well detailed. But.. they do start moving at a very low voltage which doesn't help if you use a Marklin 'grey' controller like I do on my test track and our Brooklyn's Alpine layout. DD51s C11 2-6-4T I'm also going to continue my series on Tenshodo with a look at the D51 2-8-2s but here is the C62 4-6-4 one I did a while back Next one after that should be the DE10 and an overview of Tenshodo and Rokuhan rolling stock Hope these videos give you an idea Kev
Hi Kev, That answers nearly all my questions The setup you have looks fantastic!! The rokuhan look good, are they metal like Marklin or plastic? Thanks a lot
Hi Lawrie, actually, they are not. The new motors Märklin is putting in are coreless motors, not unlike the ones AZL en Rokuhan are using; so a new generation of motors, following the 5-polers. They are in the new locomotives, including the smaller locos like the Diesel V36 and the BR80 steamloco that just came out. One of the German folks on Z-freunde-international.de forum got his hands on one of the first and showed a picture of the inside. Btw, also new for Märklin: leds for lighting in steamlocos. It is said to run very smoothly and quietly, albeit with a slight difference in motornoise depending on the direction All in all I guess auntie M is catching up... Cheers, Matt
Hi Matt, That info is really useful!! I was leaning towards rokuhan because I read that Marlin took more power to get going on Rokuhan track and controller...and sometimes even need a nudge. If the new motors take less juice to get going that is a plus. I will look now and see when they are available Cheers Lawrie
Hi Lawrie It is good that Marklin have decided to join us in the 21st century but have Not seen a ball park price for the BR 80 yet. Suspect it is not going to match the typical price of a Rokuhan loco though in terms of value for money. It all depends on what you want to model as a layout...Are you going to build a layout based on it is fun to operate or are you modelling a specific country/Region/Date? Also consider if you want to go DCC in the future. If you do AZL and MTL EASY! Tenshodo, Marklin Rokuhan Hmm..needs some thought If you go Marklin you are going down the German /Swiss route in terms of prototype. You'll have to be careful on what you purchase if you are only looking at coreless motored locos, previous generations of Marklin Z locos used either three pole of five pole motors but these were still archaic open frame motors with brush gear Fred Flintstone would be familiar with!. , as I know to my cost these are extremely variable in running quality I use Marklin chassis for most of my British outline locomotive conversions. with a few exceptions they are high maintenance (like the wife) requiring regular dips into the ultrasonic cleaner (the models, not the wife!) followed by proper relubrication to get the through a busy show season. AZL, MTL, Tenshodo, and Rukohan by comparison are maintenance free. Three of my AZL GP7s have now racked up over 300 hours exhibition running and the only maintenance has been to clean the wheel treads with isopropyl alcohol occasionally. Canvas the opinions of the rest of the guys on the forum. Many of us have run locos for hundreds of hours either at home or at shows and know what works. latest review. Rokuan DE10. just uploaded Kev
Thanks guys, Both those posts have helped me to decide to go for rokuhan. (as well as finding this support community) Before I buy, one last question. With Marklin it is possible to date the type/age of a loco by its engine..three, five pole or NG Being in the uk I will probably buy new on eBay to start. I cannot find, as yet, a way to know new models from old. Is that possible or does it really matter? Cheers Lawrie
I belive Jorg from 1zu220 shop in Germany has a very good knowledge of Marklin models. You can contact him by web page of the shop. He communicates in English with no problem. Pawel
Hi Laurie If you want Electric outline locos Geoff at Contikits has some 'pre-owned' ones in stock and some Tenshodo feight stock http://www.contikits.com/Marklin Z.htm He also has some ZJ and PRMloco items in but be wary, the quality is nowhere near Tenshodo-Rokuhan standards Give Geoff and Alison a ring when they are open and tell them I pointed you in their direction, I've known them for longer than any of us care to remember! Kev
That was my first thought since it matches the Märklin F and steam units I own. However, poking around the z-world.com site, there is no such pattern. You can find 4 digit units that run at 10 V and 5 digit units running at 8 V (the apparent difference between 3 and 5-pole motors): http://www.z-world.com/instructions/white/US-Typ-4-6-0.pdf It seems that the only way to tell is whether the motor brushes are a 4 or 5 digit part number or checking the z-world site, or the Märklin master database. Mark
Ah, I missed this post as I was at the York Rail show yesterday...where, when i checked your link...he was at...and I missed him!!!! Anyway I am checking his stuff out now. Cheers Lawrie
Wasn't the way to tell if the moulded part of the motor was clear or black? Black for 5 pole and clear for 3 pole? Kev
