 Joined: 20/12/2013(UTC) Posts: 141 Location: Houston
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I have just received my first Micro Trains loco and am pretty pleased with it so far. An F7...excellent level of detail in my opinion...it has several pieces of glass to be inserted in the body which I will do in due time.  I realise that my original DB89 (in for service right now waiting for new brushes) hails from Germany and this is American...my layout is fairly generic and can double up for both..lol. I am just finding my way in this new world. N scale is my main level of experience right now. Seems to run very well. I did run it in for about 30 mins in each direction when received. I would value other people experience with this brand and how it compares with Marklin's F7 s. I have not applied any oil, since I hope it has been lubricated properly from new. Should I do this..tiny dot to the gear wheels underneath. I am very aware of the dangers of over oiling. This may have happened to my DB89, hence the strip down to clean everything which resulted in a brush that fell apart  ..oh well.
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 2 users liked this useful post by grahame
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 Joined: 31/05/2011(UTC) Posts: 868 Location: Brazil
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Originally Posted by: grahame  I have just received my first Micro Trains loco and am pretty pleased with it so far. An F7...excellent level of detail in my opinion...it has several pieces of glass to be inserted in the body which I will do in due time.
Hello Graham! Really nice F7. Very clean livery. I don't have MicroTrains, only Märklins, but this brand is also well known for good products as far as I read on the net. I have the 8832 Union Pacific A-B-A set from Märklin, and the only modification I had done was improving the power pickup with this following instructions: http://www.zscale.org/articles/unitwiring.htmlThis website have a lot of information on ZScale. Worth to take a look. http://www.zscale.org/Cheers, Walter
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2 users liked this useful post by waorb
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Joined: 20/12/2013(UTC) Posts: 141 Location: Houston
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Thanks Walter..I am trying to decide if it's running as it should. I really don't have anything to compare to it so I might call Micro-Trains for a bit of advice. It was a bit reluctant at first but most of these tiny locos need to be run in. I did apply a tiny dot of oil to the gear wheels on the bottom (needle point dipped in correct oil). It's the best way I know to apply the tiniest amount. I am very afarid of over doing the lubrication...I know this causes lots of problems..killing it with kindness...
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1 user liked this useful post by grahame
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Joined: 20/12/2013(UTC) Posts: 141 Location: Houston
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I am sending videos to Micro Trains to get their opinion: Fast http://youtu.be/XSu8VIZGLdYSlow (not very good, quite jerky) http://youtu.be/z1FkDSKfB1sI have applied tiny amount of lube to the gears.... Every now and then it tries to speed up and then slow down again, like something is holding it back.....I am very careful to not apply more than 8 volts as instructed... It might just need more running it.....what do we think???
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Joined: 20/12/2013(UTC) Posts: 141 Location: Houston
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It's going back. ModelTrainStuff.com have been very good and are going to RMA it...rather disappointing but hopefully replacement will be better.
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Joined: 20/12/2013(UTC) Posts: 141 Location: Houston
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OK so my SECOND Micro Trains loco is on the way as an RMA replacement for the first one which never really improved and if anything got worse. I really think it should run slowly. Here it is, on the way:  I really hope it runs as well as it looks. Does anyone have some information to share on the Marklin F7's? Thanks...
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Joined: 20/12/2013(UTC) Posts: 141 Location: Houston
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This one runs a bit faster than the last, but no chance at slow speeds......(it is a bit raspy, but apart from that, pretty good)...I am running it in though...I think that is good practice for any new model electric locomotive. Edited by user 01 June 2014 17:31:38(UTC)
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Joined: 20/12/2013(UTC) Posts: 141 Location: Houston
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Well it appears that the truth is revealed about these MTL F7's. They do appear to have significant problems. I agree with everything in this excellent article, not very impressive, on my second one right now: http://www.wiringfordcc.com/zmtf7.htm
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Joined: 20/12/2013(UTC) Posts: 141 Location: Houston
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OK I finally took apart my MTL F7…not to difficult really. I cleaned the brass contactor strips and the bogie towers to ensure best possible contact. I found that all the gears and worm gear were BONE DRY..no lubrication at all. Hmmm perhaps this might explain some of the problems. I very carefully put a hint of lubrication on the big bogie gear and the worm gear of the motor. After a bit of a fiddly job I got the two halves back together with the bogies in place..nice a free movement of each one VOILA!! A dramatic improvement. Much better at the high end and for the first time it run quite nicely at slow speeds. I am not going to say its perfect and I am sure Glenn’s wipers would make it better…but honestly this is a HELL OF A LOT better than it was when I first got it.
Bottom line…MTL..I don’t think you put this together very well…not lubrication at all. The big gear wheel in the center of the bogie had NADA!!! Both of them. Runs nicely at 6.3 volts..before it would not be moving at this voltage.
It may need this again sometime..but this is it…I’m very sure this was the majority of the problem.
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1 user liked this useful post by grahame
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