Kato E351 and 800 Shinkansen pick up problems.

[HST.]

Hi Everyone,

I'm having problems with my kato E351 and 800 running erratically, to me, seems to be pick up problems.  I've had a look at the E351, but can't even figure out how to strip it down.  The plastic strip that represents the seating is stuck in the middle, no problem releasing the end sections and I can remove the small plastic clip in the middle that I presume holds the contact strips together, but that's it.  Not looked at the 800 yet.  I really like both trains, but this erratic running is spoiling my enjoyment of them.    Can they be hard wired from the bogie pick ups directly to the motor, with my limited knowledge of electrics, I feel that might solve the problem.  I am running on DC.  Looking forward to any replies that may help solve the problem.....Thanks.

 

Regards....Dave, in not so sunny Horwich, England.

[Bernard]

Dave - How to get the plastic strip where the seats are you'll have to turn the underside, take off the plastic piece on the chassis. In the center you'll see 2 plastic prongs on either side of the slot for the drive shafts. With a very small screwdriver, press the sides of the prongs to loosen them off the chassis. The seats should come off. Check the copper strips on the two sides of the seating mount and make sure they are making contact with the copper on top of the trucks (bogies). Then check to see that the contacts from the motor is making contact with the copper strips that are on the plastic seat strips.

The 1st photo is of a 500, but if you look at the drive shaft (black cylinder) you'll see on either side the prongs.

 

Taking apart the 800 is a little a little more involved but not that hard.

The 2nd photo is my 500 apart which is similar how you're going to have to take apart the 800. How this helps.

 

[HST.]

Thanks for the advice,  I would probably still be trying to remove the plastic strip and underfloor section without it!  Had a play, did some adjustments, ran a little better (E351), but still giving problems coming off curves, mainly, will have another look tonight.  Not had time to loook at the 800, that may have to wait till weekend.  I'm still thinking of maybe hard wiring the E351 as a project, just to see if there is any great improvement in performance, if anyone has any experience of this, I would pleased to hear any advice from them.

 

Regards....Dave. 

[CaptOblivious]

Coming off the track? THat's quite unusual. Can you describe your problems in more detail? If I had to guess, it was that one of the trucks wasn't seated correctly, and was hence binding and wouldn't rotate in a curve (I've had this issue before with Kato units). Failure to seat might be many things, but something somewhere is out of alignment. Check that the various brass bits have all been inserted correctly, for starters.

[David]

Have you bent the brass strips in an attempt to increase the contact with the trucks? When you do this it can prevent the trucks from turning properly, resulting in poor running and derailment (if you hold up the train the trucks should turn freely with no pressure - just tilting the train in the right direction should cause the trucks to rotate due to gravity). I've managed to do this before when trying to get lighting to pickup better. Just unbend the strips to correct it.

[HST.]

Hi,  Trucks seem free enough, got it running quite smoothly, put the body back on and it was surging it's way round the full layout and not just on the exit from curves !  I'll have another look later, somethings not quite right, must have disturbed something, but I'm sure I'll fix it eventually.  Thanks for all the help, I'll let you know how I get on.

Regards...Dave.

[HST.]

Just a quick update, had another look at the E351 and when I was putting it all back together, I broke one of the plastic lugs on the bottom of the seating strip, the ones near the middle that pass through the chassis block and straddle the drive shafts....yippee !  Is this an item I can get from Hobbysearch or some such place?

 

Regards....Dave

[David]

Get the booklet that came with it and find the part number. Then email Hobby Search/Hobby World asking if they can get it for you - in a couple of days you'll either get a yes or a no (few of the Kato replacement parts are ever advertised as stock).

[HST.]

Hi David,  Had a look at the booklet and it looks like it is just listing the complete chassis as a replacement part, so I will Email Hobbysearch and describe what I want and see what they come back with.

Regards...Dave.

[CaptOblivious]

Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about break those plastic lugs. I'm not sure why they are designed that way anyway, but so long as the plastic seats still seat firmly (as it were), I think it should be fine.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

This is interesting because I have been having a play today with my Super Asuza...been off sick from work with the lurg so therefore housebound...I'm sure you can't get it over the internet!

 

My issue is with the tilting mechanism. It works well with the intermediate carriages, and sort of works with the two outer driving cabs, but not at all with the intermediate driving cabs....see picture 1. The curve here is not particularly tight, and there seems to be some give in the bogie mounting (but not as much as the trailer carriages) however there is a lot of tension in the couplings. Oddly it seems to only be these two carriages that give the issues...

[Bernard]

Claude - I what is included in the "add on" car pack for the E351? I make a bet there is no head car included in the pack somewhat like the Thunderbird add on set. It looks like the coupler has no give in it or is just too short to pull another head or tail car. In your post did you say you tried pulling a regular car in the same configuration?

 

and before I forget...... get well soon!  :grommit:(<he's English too)

[David]

I have no idea if the E351 set has them, but is there a light switch on the cab cars? Depending on the model the light switch not only controls the cab lights (so that cab cars facing other cab cars don't light up), it also locks/unlocks the coupler. This way when the cab lights are on the coupler remains locked in the center, it can't move from side to side. (The switch would be located right under/behind the coupler, usually with an arrow showing it can be moved back and forward).

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Thanks for the replies.

 

Interesting... In terms of the make-up of these sets, essentially the add-on is a four-car version of the main set, with both an intermediate cab unit (with corridor connection) and an end cab unit. The main issue in my case is with the carriage on the left, which is riding up off of the track whenever the train rounds a corner. It is an interesting point over the light switch... The corridor fitted cab unit on the add-on set does not have the switch, although the gap is present. I suppose it is not needed as this set will never run independently.

 

The same carriage in the main set does have the switch. I did not realise it also effected the coupler, so I'll have a closer look at that when I next get a chance to run the set. Certainly it does look like the problem is a lack of flexibility in the coupling between these two carriages.

 

...and thank you, I am feeling better now...well better enough to go back to work tomorrow!

[David]

There are at least two types of switches - one that only controls the lights, and one that controls both the lights and the coupler.

[KenS]

On my E233 the light switch and the coupler lock are separate.  But there is a sliding part of the coupler mount that unlocks it, and if it's locked it would likely derail on even ordinary curves as there's essentially no motion possible then.

[HST.]

A quick update, I've hard wired the E351 and is now running like a dream and the 800 seems to have cured itself, so for now, i will leave well alone!

 

Dave.