List of Zinc Pest / Zinc Rot affected japanese model trains

[railsquid]

I haven't investigated in great detail but I got the impression it's more wishful thinking than a cure for this kind of thing.

 

Anyway the chassis pictured has already been disposed of in several dozen parts in a little baggie as even as an inveterate hoarder of parts I could see no possible use for crumbly bits of metal.

[Sheffie]

Yeah, I think your options for preventing this are slim. If it was in contact with water I’d suggest attaching a lump of magnesium to act as a sacrificial anode, and if it wasn’t in contact with plastic then perhaps coating it in oil, grease or paint would help. But these are just crazy materials science suggestions, and have no grounding in model trainology 

[cteno4]

Lots of lore but I couldn’t find much of folks posting actual experiences trying this. Also is never going to be a fix as it only reverses the oxidation and damage done is not repaired and the lead can oxidize again and re-expand if water gets in (easier now with cracks).

 

in thinking on this some there may be ways to try to slow more damage once you find it starting, a quick pickle may reduce some of the accessible the lead oxide back to lead and thus relieve some of the internal metal stresses in cracks that have started. Again you would need to really dry the piece out super well after pickling and washing throughly, like in an oven for a while. Then maybe flood the cracks with thin cyanoacrylate glue to fill and stabilize the cracks. Only issue is if it’s dryed out well it may take a long time to completely cure as CA curing is facilitated with water. Then dry well seal the whole piece in a lacquer or epoxy (not water!) based paint to prevent more moisture getting in. 

 

This is just best guesses based based on the chemistry going on, but might be worth a try if you find you have a problem. From what I’ve seen though usually the time folks notice a problem the metal crystal structure has been weakened enough that it’s like railsquids it just crumbles.

 

its a bit of a death spiral as as soon as the rot starts to crack things it’s going to make a lot more paths for more water to get in and accelerate the rot.

 

prentive measures like sealing with paint and keeping low humidities is best you can probably do. Any suspect trains just put the box inna big ziplock and add some desiccant pellets. If there is an extra car slot then put the pellets in a bit of cloth and stuff into the open car slot and keep the case in a sealed bag. It’s the 99% of the time sitting in the box stored when it will be corroding so this should help a lot if it is an issue to prevent it. 

 

jeff

[railsquid]

Tomix DD51, apparently:

 

 

[brill27mcb]

Maybe the result of too many tight-radius curves... 😄

 

Seriously, it may be just one production run that is affected, and not all Tomix DD51 models.

 

Rich K.

[railsquid]

Yeah, given that Tomix has been producing DD51 for a decade or three, it's not going to be a general problem. The tweet doesn't mention the model number, just says "トワイライトロット" ("Twighlight [Express] lot").

 

My ca. 6 year old standard-ish colour scheme one is fine (thought I'd better check).

[katoftw]

One pic and not even of the broken metal part.

[Das Steinkopf]

2 hours ago, railsquid said:

Yeah, given that Tomix has been producing DD51 for a decade or three, it's not going to be a general problem. The tweet doesn't mention the model number, just says "トワイライトロット" ("Twighlight [Express] lot").

 

My ca. 6 year old standard-ish colour scheme one is fine (thought I'd better check).

 

Was this model released around 2004, the oldest one I have is a 2218 DD51-800 in JRF Renewal Livery from around 2014.

[Yavianice]

Interesting. My TOMIX DD51, all 3 of them from different years, have no zinc rot. If anybody finds out the specific batch, year, or model then feel free to post it, and then I will add it to the sheet.

[disturbman]

The list has been updated with the release months. It very clearly highlights how the problematic batch of releases is grouped around May and June 2010. Even the reported affected Tomix set is from that year (March).

http://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AZ7rqas2j4sdHuwmT4J_MCUPasDKu8_lZqQsbwuDOd8/

I owned a set (E501) on that list for over ten years that never developed any problems. Whereas my Hayate no Kaze fully disintegrated in that time frame.

[Das Steinkopf]

A8907 DD50-4/5 Toyama Engine Depot still needs to be added to the list, it is from the same period as A8906.

Edited March 14, 2021 by Das Steinkopf

[railsquid]

FWIW the particular A8901 example I have (never realised it was on the list) seems fine.

[disturbman]

1 hour ago, Das Steinkopf said:

A8907 DD50-4/5 Toyama Engine Depot still needs to be added to the list, it is from the same period as A8906.

Added. I found a Japanese source confirming the issue. The person sent his locomotives (A8906 and A8907) to MA for repairs.

http://gxxyan.blog58.fc2.com/blog-entry-198.html

Edited March 14, 2021 by disturbman

[roadstar_na6]

Another one bites the dust...

 

 

[disturbman]

Another victim of the Great 2010 MA Zinc Plague.

Model (A6070) was released in May 2010. I would recommend that everyone check their model from May-June 2010.

[JR 500系]

12 hours ago, disturbman said:

Another victim of the Great 2010 MA Zinc Plague.

Model (A6070) was released in May 2010. I would recommend that everyone check their model from May-June 2010.

 

My heart skipped a beat.... luckily mine is still ok *fingers crossed* 

[disturbman]

At this point, if yours hasn't been affected, I don't think it will.

[railsquid]

Another Twitter report:

 

 

[Kiha66]

Has Micro Ace responded to this major issue in some way?  Ideally by releasing replacement frames, but I wonder if they even acknowledge the issue.

[disturbman]

They have a repair service. They will replace if you can send them the train. Normally you need a proof of buying but I don’t know how strict they are with this, I know at least of one person that managed to get it without one.

 

The set is from the Summer of Doom, ie May/June 2010.

[disturbman]

For those of us who do not live in Japan, and don't want to have to deal with sending your train back and finding a proof of buying, if you have an affected set the best is to first remove the plastic parts and bogies from the frames and then search for a replacement chassis. Don't leave them on as they could get warped and damaged.

 

MA’s powered car architecture is standardized and the chassis are interchangeable. You only need to find a chassis of the same length. You can swap the model specific elements (bogies, seat plate, motor/underfloor equipment cover) and then slap back the body shell. However, there was a change in the motor cover design around 2005 iirc, so check before you are getting a motor car with the same design. This design hasn't changed since.

 

It is relatively easy to procure a "new" motor chassis on YJA, there is always a big choice of broken down sets or cheap unwanted sets. Count about 3,500 to 5,000JPY for a motor car. MA also started to reproduce their standalone powered chassis, the 20m one will be rereleased in September iirc. Price is 3,500 at our favourite model train dealer.

 

JR EMU cars are usually 20m long and JR DMU cars are usually 21m long. Wikipedia is a good source to know which length you require, as the rolling-stock articles always list dimensions.

Edited May 8, 2022 by disturbman
added details

[Yavianice]

List updated to include Micro Ace A5430 Series 157 Imperial Train Formation based on tweet below

 

 

[disturbman]

I have seen one report of the original Isashiburo release getting it too; which made sense since we knew the Hayato no Kaze that was released at the same time had also documented zinc pest problems.

[3dents]

My Micro Ace 181 series (A-0803) also had a crumbling chassis (see link). I wonder which replacement chassis I should get the 20m one or the 21m one. Wikipedia lists the dimension of 181 series as 20.5m long.https://twitter.com/ChuangKo/status/1585317337250471936?s=20&t=lIWjY0mW84UH08mt1mPxvA

[disturbman]

Afaik, it should be the 20m long one that was released this month.

 

How is the motor cover? Still usable? Could you post a picture of the motor unit seen from under?