Dear All

Today I received a 3015 crocodile in for repair and have found a previous factory repair on the loco that does not look good. The customer sent the loco back to Marklin twice 12 months ago and it still does not run correctly. The loco jumps like a kangaroo and seems to have had its wheel shafts replaced. What I do not understand is the chassis has been cut away to replace the axle sleeves. Is this the usual way to replace the axle journals? Also after the customer complained to Marklin about its performance they stated the fault was now with his transformer. Jumps on my analogue transformer as well. It cost him a lot of money to get it twice fixed by Marklin and now it is with me. I will strip it down tomorrow and see if I can see what the jumping is caused by. However I do fear that it is beyond repair looking at what has been done. I do know these locos are aligned on assembly jigs, maybe not used and a cause of the jumping as well.

What I am amazed at is, in a factory repair a hacksaw has been used to repair a beautiful 3015, beyond me really.

David

Yes , I confirm that set up is original.

Now, as JohnJeanB says, putting together a CCS800/3015 is no small job.
It requires lots of patience and precision.

**Perfect** quartering of the drivers is indispensable.
It can be best tested for smooth operation after removing the small transmission shafts to disconnect from the motor and then tested by turning the wheels by hand .
There should be no hard points!

Hard points can come from various sources, including excessive friction on the helicoïdal gears, and misalignement of the drivers , including skipped teeth on the various gears or even lack of lubrication and dirty gears

Perfect centering of the cardan shafts requires a special tool : it just a simple bushing with internal and external diameters corresponding to the driving knuckles and the connecting ring.

I have started rebuilding one myself (once again) and I have taken pictures of the various stages of the process.

Will post this sometimes in the future when completed, but cannot promise it will be "soon"!

Be patient...it will come one day

Edited by user 07 August 2019 10:47:21(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Dear All

Thank you to all for the very detailed replies. I stand corrected, the axle slots are original however they have had a file to them for some reason unknown. I am hoping the erratic behaviour of the 3015 is just something that has worked loose since leaving the factory, as it does perform so badly. I have an optical wheel quartering tool and these are a must have for any wheel alignment jobs. I will take the loco apart and measure all the wheelsets for quartering correctly. Also making the cardan shaft centerings tool suggestion from Jacques, extremely good idea. I will start again on its repair. Across all locomotives I have ever repaired, none ever match the brilliant engineering in this model, it is a special piece.

Regards
David