broken power bogie clip

[GiantRoboJustin]

Crap! Managed to snap one of the clips that hold the bogie to the frame while re-assembling my Kato EF30. Was being really careful too cause plastic clips make me paranoid...First time it's happened to me, and weirdly on a loco that I haven't had apart much, so I'm guessing it might've just been some kind of fluke with the plastic.

 

The loco still runs okay, but wants to lean out when turning right...

 

I checked for replacements on HS just in case I need them, but they're sold clean out. I did find replacements available on ebay thought, but not for cheap of course, lol (but maybe still worth it?)

 

Anyways, anyone ever had this happen and been able to fix/remedy? Or is replacement pretty much the only good option?

[railsquid]

FWIW the Kato shop seems to indicate they still have some (or at least doesn't say they're sold out): http://www.e-katomodels2.com/shop/g/g3073D1/

 

though by the time you factor in the additional costs of getting it to you it might end up costing as much as the loco itself.

[GiantRoboJustin]

My housemate will be in Japan for the next three weeks visiting family. If Kato does in fact still have them, maybe I can have it shipped to her grandma's place in Tokyo. Though the lack of thumbnail pic and description in the listing makes me wonder if it's actually in stock, or just a page that hasn't been fully updated yet...

 

Also when I search for the part on Kato Japan's main page, it tells me there's 0 search results found

 

The ones on ebay are $28 +$6 shipping, which I suppose isn't too terrible, especially considering the locos now seem to be going for $90-$120. Plus it'd probably only save me about $10 to get them in Japan...

 

I thought about trying to glue it, but there's not much surface area to make use of. I could probably cut a thin piece of plastic to use as a brace to reinforce it, but the more I think about it, that might end up being more trouble than it's worth, and might not even work

 

So I might just bite the bullet on this one...plus it could be worse, at least the parts are available

 

[GiantRoboJustin]

Actually after looking at it a bit more, I decided to at least try gluing it, and I think it worked 🙂 

 

The truck feels just as steady in the frame as the other one now, and the loco doesn't appear to be leaning to one side anymore

 

[Kamome]

This seems to be a design floor as the same thing happened to my Kato EF30.

[GiantRoboJustin]

I did notice these trucks felt a bit harder to push in than most I've worked on. I wonder if the clips are wider, or the slot narrower than other models...