Rapido Trains F40PH-2D Operating Instructions Manual - Break-In
5
BREAK-IN
No, we don’t mean you should reach into your wife’s piggy bank so you can buy more
F40PH-2D locomotives. Use the money from your paper route.
Every locomotive needs a break-in period. Your F40PH-2D has been tested at the fac-
tory... for about 30 seconds. That is not enough time to get the gears to mesh nicely
or to even out any jerky operation in a new motor. We suggest that, after reading this
manual, you put your F40PH-2D on a test loop and just let it run in each direction for an
hour or two. Fast and slow.
There already should be enough grease in the gearbox so you don’t need to add any
more. Just let the thing run.
CHECKING AND ADJUSTING YOUR LOCOMOTIVE
We try and make sure that every locomotive is perfectly up to spec before it leaves the
factory, but if the karaoke was particularly good the night before your model was as-
sembled there may be a couple of bugs. Doing a quick pre-service check will solve most
operational glitches.
• Check to see that all wheelsets are correctly in gauge using an NMRA RP-2
Standards Gauge. Should any of the wheelsets be out of gauge, than remove the
affected wheelset from the truck by prying off the bottom lid of the gearbox with
a small flat screwdriver. The wheelset can be regauged by grabbing each wheel
and twisting. Reverse the steps to replace the wheelset, and ensure the gearbox
cover is snapped into place before placing on the track.
• Check that all underbody piping and appliances are firmly installed and clear of
the track. Of particular note are the air hoses on the ends of the locomotive and
both coupler trip pins. Bend up any low coupler trip pins so they don’t interfere
with your switches and crossings. We recommend using Kadee part #237 (Trip
Pin Pliers) or Micro-Mark part #80600 (Trip Pin Bending Plier).
• Make sure that the trucks swivel freely and without binding. If they catch on any-
thing, check to ensure that the ends of the trucks don’t bind against the steps. If
they do, see that everything is firmly installed.
MISSING OR DAMAGED PARTS
If you open your F40PH-2D box and discover that something has obviously been bumped
in transit and is damaged, please contact us. We know that some of you don’t like to
touch your models, but if it is a matter of gluing a grab iron back on you can do it your-
self in less than a minute with a drop of white glue. If you really want to send your model
back to us for us to install that grab iron, we would be happy to. But if you do send it