E-5, E-6 question...

[John k]

I have both Katos, E5 and E6....have a question for you guys....

 

The E6 has been flawless....it is flashy, colorful, and puts on a good show for the kids......

 

The E5, not so much......no matter what speed i have it on, it tends to jump the rails at points.....i tried to couple the two of them on the club layout the other day at a show....the 6 was fine, but the 5 was rail hopping to the point i had to take it off....

 

Question: Is the wheelset different? (like lo-profile wheels?)....And would replacing them make any difference in performance.  It IS a nice set and i hate to relegate it to the shelf sans perfect trackwork, but it seems like without some changes, it is not worthy of an NTrack show  Or any other ideas to improve its tracking?

[cteno4]

John,

 

Bummer sorry to hear that, I know how frustrating that can be! That was the same for me with the kato n700. So far I've found the kato e5 to run fine on our unitrak based JRM show layout. We have 4 kato e5 sets in the club and don't remember any of them having issues at all (except the one that was run off the end of the Shinkansen yard onto floor, but that was operator error, not a kato issue). Also been running fine in the 17 car e5/e6 config.

 

Is it the end car jumping? Wonder trying a little extra weight? Are the trucks free moving? I've had a couple that would get hung up a little an this would end up causing derailments at times.

 

Good luck with this.

 

Jeff

Edited December 26, 2013 by cteno4

[NEX-989]

I had alot derailings with my E5 to!

i did exactly what cteno4 said....

add some weight to the end cars and the problems where gone :-)

[Keikyu]

I have a similar issue with my 300 series. Do you think weighing the end cars down could help me as well?

[cteno4]

Nex,

 

very interesting! what track are you running on? 

 

Keikyu,

 

could not hurt to try! thin bits of lead work well (no worries its sealed up, just dont suck on the lead strips!). brass strips also work but not as dense. just try anything in there to begin with to see if it works like a couple of nuts and hold in place with some tape.

 

jeff

[NEX-989]

Nex,

 

very interesting! what track are you running on? 

 

Keikyu,

 

could not hurt to try! thin bits of lead work well (no worries its sealed up, just dont suck on the lead strips!). brass strips also work but not as dense. just try anything in there to begin with to see if it works like a couple of nuts and hold in place with some tape.

 

jeff

Kato Unitrack all the way

the V12 caused the most problems

[katoftw]

My Kato 500 did it also at speed sometimes with the end cars.  Added weight solved issues.

[RonaldKl]

Hi to all members on this community i am thanks to the administrator of this forum for approve my account i am sure here i got better knowledge thanks again. My name is Ronald.

[Sinus]

Hi Ronald,

 

I guess you chose the wrong thread. See this:

http://www.jnsforum.com/community/topic/2-the-introduction-thread/

[John k]

John,

 

Bummer sorry to hear that, I know how frustrating that can be! That was the same for me with the kato n700. So far I've found the kato e5 to run fine on our unitrak based JRM show layout. We have 4 kato e5 sets in the club and don't remember any of them having issues at all (except the one that was run off the end of the Shinkansen yard onto floor, but that was operator error, not a kato issue). Also been running fine in the 17 car e5/e6 config.

 

Is it the end car jumping? Wonder trying a little extra weight? Are the trucks free moving? I've had a couple that would get hung up a little an this would end up causing derailments at times.

 

Good luck with this.

 

Jeff

Interesting....my N700A has been another winner....no issues on standard Code 80 Atlas flex track (and occasional Kato track in the staging yards)

 

Also it seems the middle cars are the ones jumping the tracks....occcasionally the power car or the car immediately before or after it

[kvp]

Could this be the same issue that is mentioned in the kato e7 preorder thread? I mean if two coupled cars can't be twisted to different directions then if they go through an S curve (like a switch) or a curve with not enough transition at enough speed to make the tilting system work, then they could twist each other off the tracks. Especially if the two cars have different weights. Of course, if the two coupled cars can be twisted relative to each other without uncoupling and without much force, then this isn't the problem. (this is a usual issue with body mounted tight couplers, some modemo trains have a similar problem with their default couplers)

Edited December 28, 2013 by kvp

[cteno4]

yes for the kato n700 with the fangly diaphragm connections i think this was the case for me. it just never would make more than maybe 10 laps on the viaduct loop before derailing. i fiddled with couplers and moved cars around, but still would randomly just derail. i could not find a consistant car or place that it would have issues. we do have a large S curve but it has 186 straight then just a 45 to a straight away. not an issue for other shinkansens except for a few of the E4 tomix cars where the large rotating diaphragms were sticking some and causing tipping and then derailing. 

 

kato e5/6 do fine on the same tracks and we have 3 sets of them in the club now. they have been run quite a bit in the last year now and no major issues. usually on the shinkansen tracks we maybe have derailment like every couple of hours on average. we get little spats where there is a lot of trouble (i think usually from a bad section joint that we fiddle with and usually correct) then long periods of no issues. only a handful of trains (like those few E4 cars and the old cranky kato E1) have had intermittent issues. kato n700 was the first to be a total disaster trying to run. perhaps i just got a bad set that had some sticky coupler diaphragms or tilt mechs.

 

jeff

[Kamome]

I don't have a permanent layout but use the kato viaduct track and the viaduct station with 2 station and 2 passing tracks.  I have had an issue with my E5 on a couple of the Kato #4 turnouts even at slow speeds. The front bogie of my E5 cab car does get a bit unsettled if it doesn't have a straight clean run into the #4 point and I managed to reduce the problem by using a small file to sharpen the turnout.

 

This generally works fine now but I think some of the Kato stock could do with a full-fat diet.

 

I have a 24 series "Nihonkai" blue train with just one carriage that constantly jumps points if it is being shunted with a loco on the tail end. My JR700 headlights blink wildly which no track/wheel cleaning has managed to rectify. I think they too could do with some extra weight.

[JR 500系]

Hi all:

 

Just received my E5 couple of days ago... Was reading the manual that came with the E5 and saw this (Please refer to attached picture)

 

It mention to bring the E5 to slower speed, especially when entering turnout, to prevent derailment.. I haven't run my E5 yet, so i can't judge whether if it is correct and the method helps. Does it derail over turnout even when going straight? In that case, it would be more tedious for the operator to always slow the train down when approaching turnouts... 

[Kamome]

I had the issue with just 2 of my Kato #4 turnouts so I wouldn't worry about it too much. The other 2 work perfectly even at a good speed.  I tend to run my shinkansens on half power as too fast and they look unrealistic on the Kato curves in my opinion.

 

I have found by using at least a Kato 186mm straight from a corner leading into the turnout has more success in keeping the E5 on the track and I can run it with a bit more power. Going from a banked curve on the viaduct set into a #4 turnout often causes a problem. The #4 turnout blades aren't as robust as the #6 and seem to be easier to jump.

 

The best thing you can do is give it a run and see if you there is any issue.

[JR 500系]

I managed to try my E5 yesterday (it was screaming to be run...) And while i'm at it i installed the interior lights for it... They were... tough. The thing about Kato is the interior lights were much more difficult to install, unlike Tomix and MicoAce which are just drop in type. They do however provide lots of options for modification like changing the filter for orange lights. 

 

So i ran the E5 across turnouts at high speed and they didn't derail fortunately. I haven't tried running them INTO turnout at high speed so maybe that might be a problem... 

 

More videos once i get my lazy hands to clean my tracks... The tracks are really dirty and causing some movement and lighting issue now...

 

*P.S. i love the Grand Class car! Look at the interior seats! 18 beautifully comfortable ones ~~