Sunday, September 02, 2018

Digitizing Roco 43012 - Whoops


I ordered replacement wheel sets for the Maerklin system from Roco, so that I can run the unit on the Welztalbahn. I also ordered a replacement gear box cover that is supposed to carry the maerklin-typical pickup shoe. However, it turns out that the replacement part I got has not even a remote resemblance with the part I need.  It's clearly not made to be a one-to-one replacement.

So, ... either I'm doing this wrong, or the Roco warehouse made a mistake. Time to think about this some more. If I can't figure this out, I might end up moving the pickup shoe to the first passenger car and cable it to the motor unit.


Update September 3rd:
Wow. Yesterday I sent off a support request to Roco looking for an explanation. They not only responded within 24 hours, but gave a direct and technically complete answer. The gears of the AC version are different, so that the pickup shoe fits under the truck. The AC version has only 3 powered axles.
Not only did they advise the proper part numbers, but also checked what parts they actually have available, gave a discussion of pros and cons for which pickup shoe to use, and finally suggested a replacement motor and appropriate decoder from the Roco program. Can't ask for more than that.

I'm very impressed by Roco's customer support. Well done, guys!

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