Someone else here lost a decoder for the Super Chief too, but it was not a factory failure. They accidentally closed the coupler power to center rail and fried the decoder. I do not recall if they were able to aquire another.

Send loco only back to dealer or Marklin with warranty card.

I am waiting for an answer from marklin's service department to tell me what to do with the locomotive.

Foumaro,

you said you had sent an email to service(at)maerklin.de for instructions on what to do about your loco. Did you get an acknowledgement that your email was received?
In most cases, they will reply and ask you to send it to them or to your dealer or your national authorized service centre.

What you will need to do is as follows:

Package the locomotive, when possible, in it's original box
You will need to include proof of purchase, which could be either a copy of the sales invoice or the stamped warranty card.
Many dealers no longer stamp the warranty card, so the sales slip will be the only official invoice.
I normally attach a copy of the invoice, so that the original remains in my possession at all times.

I do not know if this is an official site or Maerklin's authorized distributor for Greece, but I found this website: http://www.marklin.gr

If you send the loco back for repairs, send it to this address:

Gebr. Märklin & Cie. GmbH
Reparaturservice
Stuttgarter Str. 55-57
D-73033 Göppingen
Germany

Tel. : 0049 (0) 7161 608222
Fax.: 0049 (0) 7161 608 225
Email: service(at)maerklin.de

Inside the box, enclose a letter describing the problem in as much detail as possible and provide your return address and contact information (email/phone).
Make sure that you send the package using a trackable and insured service. You will have to pay for the shipment to Germany. For warranty repairs, Maerklin usually sends the item back no charge.
If they determine that the problem was not related to a warranty issue, expect to receive a bill for repairs and for return shipping.

Regards

Mike C

I"m in shock!!! I also have the F-7 Super chief, and also the 37629 (U. P. ABB) and have yet to run
either one.

Boy o Boy that is depressing news to hear.

Good thing you have such a nice "Board of Friends" to help out
with the problem.

Only thing I can do is cross fingers on both hands,
and wish for good results. I am sure they will happlen!!

Regards,
gene

Two years warranty for Märklin items (like 26496), five years for MHI items.
Normally they need a copy of the invoice or a warranty card filled by the dealer.

Thanks Tom. I couldn't remember if it was two or five.

When I returned the Krok, I fully expected to get a bill. Then they said it was covered by warranty. At first I was surprised, then I realized it was not that old and they know full well when they made it.

I do not know if this is an official site or Maerklin's authorized distributor for Greece, but I found this website: http://www.marklin.gr



I know this guy,he is my friend but i do not bought the locomotive from him so i believe that is not polite to ask him now to solve the problem.

Edited by user 04 February 2015 08:41:46(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Thank you for your help.I wrote a letter to the seller i bought the set via ebay.de,he is a big seller and i am waiting his answer about my problem too.Let's wait and see how is this problem find sollution.But anyway the way of sollution of the problem will be specify for the future for what i am buying and from whom.

I recieved the new decoder and the Super Chief running perfect again.I want to thank Kieskemper,the seller and marklin service department for the perfect sollution of my problem.

I know this is a very old thread. This is my first post. Let me know if I should post elsewhere.

just got this brand new (still in shrink wrap) three days ago (from a collection). It has been running fine until suddenly 1 of the two motors seized up (the one in Super Chief, but would move slowly on intermittently if given a slight finger push (did it when it is upside down); the one in last tender still works. Then later all lighting functions for both the loco and the passenger stop responding. Finally, the second motor stop responding. But all sound functions still works.

Do you think the decoder is the source of motor problem too? How do I get a new decoder preprogammed with all the Super Chief function?

Wonder if other owners found similar problems and how do you fix it.

I have a Super Chief and a Montreal Limited, both of which have had some intermittent running issues. Mine were also NOS still in the shrink wrap, which can sometimes lead to problems with these motors. Foumaro has already provided good advice about the basics of working through this problem, which is common for these motors, which BTW are called DCMs (Disc Commutator Motor). It is really important to apply oil sparingly on a DCM to help avoid a dirty mess in the brush/commutator area.

The motors in these sets are wired in series, so if one motor does not work properly while the other one still does, the problem is probably not the decoder. There could be a wiring problem, but in my experience the problem is more likely to be in the motors themselves.

After many hours of trying to figure out this problem I gave up and installed new 5-pole motor kits in both DCMs, in both train sets. That gives you a new rotor, permanent magnet, brushes and brush plate - essentially a new motor for not a lot of money. I have not had this problem since putting in the new motor parts, so I am hoping that it is now fixed.

On examining a brush plate which I removed from one of the motors I found the copper part to be bent, which caused one brush channel to not be properly aligned with the rotor. Märklin's quality control was not the best when these sets were made and I assume that is why there can be problems with them. I also have a California Zephyr set which is over 20 years old and which has never done this, so I don't think that it is a basic design problem. Some people also think that Märklin produced defective brushes for a while, which can lead to excess dirt inside the motors, so I would at least replace the brushes if cleaning does not fix this.

Good luck! These are beautiful train sets and well worth a bit of tinkering to get them to work properly.

That is interesting and something that I was not aware of Jean. It certainly makes sense that the series wiring might be a problem with load regulation. My 26496 is also the only two DCM loco set that does not have chokes on the motors and I have wondered why they were not installed at the factory.

If I continue to have problems with these series wired, two motor loco sets in the future I will have to consider re-wiring the motors in parallel. Two years ago I installed an mSD/3 in my 26600 and luckily I have not had any problems with it.