I have a Class J that I got several months ago. It's one of the older runs. Smoke began coming out of the bottom, and I found a number of internal problems. I removed the motor and figured I'd have it for some display, when it was pointed out that for $25 Bachmann would repair or replace it as needed. My question is, if the motor is separate, would they still accept it? Or would they call it "foul play" or something similar?
Opening it up and removing the motor probably nullified the replacement warranty. Still though a phone call to them is cheap and it would answer your question better than we could here.
The Bachmann lifetime warranty has changed over the years. I cannot answer your question about the separate motor but have had several recent dealings with them. Through a local hobby shop I sent them 2 old N scale Reading 2-8-0s with the instructions I wanted them back if they could not repair them. The hobby shop failed to pass that information along and they disposed of the engines and offered me two 2-6-2 prairie locomotives for $25 apiece. Since I model the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines I had absolutely no use for their substitutes (or the $50 charges). Note that if you send them a Spectrum level locomotive they want $50 each for the replacements (of their choice). I sent a complaint letter to them over the loss of my engines and they bent over backwards trying to make it up to me (I still would have rather to have had back my two broken 2-8-0s). I then inquired about the 13 Bachmann Plus F7s I have, all of which now have multiple cracked gears for which they no longer have parts available. Their response was a $25 per engine replacement with their old GP-40. (I have one and think it is a piece of junk). So although they have a very friendly and helpful customer service department, their "new" lifetime warranty is not very cost effective or valuable to the average serious model railroader.
I've actually had some luck lately fixing those old Bachmann's with the cracked gears.I have some older ones I bought new that I did nice custom paint on,a pile of PCC's,and two particular[sounds familiar..] Reading 2-8-0's that were given to me over 2 Christmas's well over 20 years ago by my now deceased brother in law and sister in law,which I also custom painted Reading,they're not leaving my sight. So far,I've made two 4-8-4's run better than new,one 2-6-0,and I even repaired a PCC.Turns out,ALL the Bachmann gears have a 3mm outside diameter at the place where they split.I drilled a piece of aluminum out to 3mm on my lathe,then cut the outside so it's just heavy enough to hold the gear together..I think it was 3/16 OD? I cut the tubing to the length of the split lug sticking out of the gear,and I press it on it.The hole in the gear is WAY too small from the factory,which is why they split in the first place,once again,ALL the Bachmann axles are 1/16",so I drill them out before I put the wheel in the gear.There's an added benefit to this,since I'm boring the hole on a lathe,the hole is perfectly concentric to the gear..REALLY improves the running of these things,you wouldn't believe it.The only other mod necessary is to drill the plastic part of the frame out to fit the sleeve. I have probably a dozen more I'm working on.. The PCC was a real bear,the collars are teeny tiny,LOL!! Any of them can be fixed as long as the crack hasn't split clean through the gear,which never happens on the steam locomotives.This also works on the diesels..Haven't tried a TGV yet,LOL!! I also found that the gears from the original solid frame diesels fit the late ones with the cracked gears.The wheels are the same diameter,and the gears are identical pitch.I'm working on a really good method to install them.It's easy to put them in the truck,remove the old axle,then notch out the axle holes so the wheels can be snapped in.The only pain is,since it has solid axles,you need to notch the pickup strips to clear the axles so they don't short out,and glue the strips to the trucks..Once again,HUGE improvement.. Yeah,Bachmann's new warranty is about useless..
I wonder if the changes came because Kader finally realised what was going on a few years after acquiring B-mann. OR I wonder if B-mann finally decided to do something about the abuse of its former no questions asked replacement policy. I have known a number of people, over the years, who admitted to abusing it repeatedly. To be s ure, there were times when B-mann brought that abuse on itself. More than once I sent in something with the payment requested in the literature that came with the product. More than once I received a better product in return and the return of my uncashed cheque. I have some PLUS F units, about which I would like to do something. The option used by LV Lou is not available to me. While I am somewhat less than impressed with the old SPECTRUM Fs, at least they did not have the cracking problem. I would gladly pay fifteen, or so, dollars per unit to have them replaced with the old SPECTRUM. Twenty five for the old GP-40, is, however, ridicky-poo. For one, I do not run anything of that late a prototype. Fuurther, as Rick 773 points out, they are HOON-kay. I do nothave any, but I have seen enough of them that do something that is supposed to pass for running, enough that do not run and heard enough lamentations about them that I can conclude, without ever having owned one, that they are, in fact, HOON-kay. NWSL still had the replacement geared axles for them, the last time that I checked. People have informed me that they raise them to about the quality of the old SPECTRUM. To be sure, I do not expect Bachpersonn to replace the old PLUS with the current Standard Line decoder equipped power, but I would not mind a viable replacement. I suppose that had I taken the bother, shortly after the SPECTRUM Fs appeared, to send in the defective PLUS Fs, I would have received the SPECTRUM with no questions asked, so some, if not all, or the blame is on me for those. Still, I would like another option and a better price. Finally, I wonder if B-mann knew that back in the day, it was selling HOON-kay, thus its then warranty. I have little doubt that even B-mann knows that the quality of its products has improved markedly, even those of its Standard Line. I would have to take out the literature to be sure, but I seem to recall that you get only a standard ninety day warranty these days from Bachmann. As the quality of the product has improved, if something is wrong with it, the thinking goes that it would appear in the first ninety days.
Let me know if anyone ever starts repairing them at a reasonable price. I liked the the Pennsy F7s looks and they pulled pretty well.
Northwest Short Line sells replacement geared axle/wheelsets for these things. The last time that I checked its website, which was sometime after Labour Day and before Toussaint, they were still available. I forget the price, but I seem to recall that it was something close to twenty five bananas for a complete set. I have never tried the NWSL fix, but those who have told me that it renders something that runs about as well as the SPECTRUM.
I looked just this afternoon,although,their website is so confusing,I may have missed it.The only Bachmann sets I saw were for the DD40 and the TGV..Didn't look for the price yet..
Recent experience with Bachmann's warranty system has been excellent for me. Seems that they will repair if parts are available and replace if not. They called me and asked my preference of replacement since my 2-6-6-2 did not have the part available and supplied a Southern 2-10-2 in it's place, no charge. Fast, courteous, and effective. It would have been nice to get the 2-6-6-2 back but the replacement is entirely satisfactory to me. Short of maintaining a huge parts inventory and an inhouse repair staff, it seems a reasonable compromise.
