I'm wondering if the following is at all common. I bought a used Intermountain SD45T-2 on ebay a while back and it didn't have a decoder so ordered one. I'd had the shell off once but didn't examine the loco in any detail at the time. For the decoder install you need to loosen the frame screws and spread the frame a little to lift out the light board. Once I loosened the screws parts of the frame above and below the motor on one side only just broke away and fell out. The top piece fell in a couple pieces and the bottom didn't quite fall away but was broken on both ends. I was able to install the decoder using just the clips on the far side and it is working fine. I felt that taking the bottom piece completely out might end up being a problem so for now it is still there but broken on both ends. Not sure if the top piece is salvageable or not as the pieces are really small and bits of them are lost at this point. Wondering if I can find just the one side of the frame anywhere and if it would end up being too expensive to mess with. The frame is also cracked in other places on this side but the other side doesn't look like this. I'll probably use the engine as is until it has a major problem. I've mostly bought used engines at this point and hadn't had a problem like this come up but only have about 9 engines at this point and two are brand new. So is this something that is seen fairly often or should I not worry much about it in the future buying older used equipment? It doesn't appear to of been mishandled by the previous owner except for the handrails and I've already managed to mess up a few myself Sumner
Looks like it might be what I believe is called Zinc Pest/Rot, unless that's damage from being dropped by a previous owner or something. If indeed Zinc Rot, I believe it tends to only get worse and usually requires a complete replacement. Might want to try to find a replacement frame.
I agree, this is zinc rot -- I would contact Intermountain. I had an F-unit do the very same thing. IM was gracious and sent me a new frame -- free of charge. Hopefully, they have one of these Wolf
Like techachapifan [EDIT: and others, they snuck in as I was typing this ) said above, this looks like zinc rot. I can't imagine the frame breaking into so many pieces with no other damage elsewhere (e.g., the shell). This is extremely unusual so I would not use this one time experience as a benchmark for not buying used equipment. Intermountain was hit bad by this problem a few years ago. I've heard that they are very good in honoring their warranty for this condition so I would suggest that you contact Intermountain. Many have sent it in and Intermountain would replace the frame. But first give them a call and see what the procedure is. I'm 99% sure it's zinc rot.
I guess I have to say I'm a bit surprised considering the age of this type loco that it is already having zinc rot issues.
The floor on my almost new Trainboard special run Missouri & Illinois Microtrains box car went bad and swelled. It broke the plastic center sill and crack the shell. It is sort of rare but happens to everyone.
I found my special run boxcar also cracked after reading the message above. It may not be "rare" in this run done by MTL. Everyone who bought this item should check yours! arx@Boxcar Red Collection
I had that happen to one of my SD40 Tunnel motors from IM. They were very cool about it and sent me replacement frames. In my case, I was taking the shell off to see about the decoder only to have the frame fall apart into about 6 pieces.
From what I can find on Trovestar.com it looks like it was a 2005 release. I did send an email to InterMountain yesterday asking if they had frames still and how much one would cost? They promptly got back to me this morning and said they would replace it under warranty. That would be unbelievable service in my opinion. I like the loco a lot and it runs well even in its current condition, Sumner
According to this article on zinc pest "articles made after 1960 are usually considered free of the risk of zinc pest since the use of purer materials and more controlled manufacturing conditions make zinc pest degradation unlikely." We have been shown that this is really not the case.
Quite clearly not the case. What cannot be controlled is the human factor in production, or safekeeping through the years.
