I have just come to N Gauge from US HO, where everything that `i had ran beautifully straight out of the box. I wanted to model Early BR LMR. I bought a GF Ivatt which ran terribly under DCC until I changed the decoder for a Zimo but even then it gave little bursts of energy every wheel turn - not noticeable on its own but put some coaches behind and you could see them concertina'ing. I then bought a GF standard 2-6-0 which has a tender drive. This ran ok but the main loco wheels only turned occasionally as the tender drive lifted the loco up a bit. Then, can't remember on which, a band on one of the driver wheels came off and caught in the valve gear. At this point, I bought a class 25 and a class 37. Since then, no problems. I would love to have a Britannia/Princess and an 8F or 9F but I will now leave steam well alone and only use diesels.

 

You have my sympathy. It is often pot luck with quality control. After four Dapol Britannia failures, I risked buying a fifth and this has been a terrific loco. I have two A4s and both run well. My black 9F has never given me any trouble and after a repair to the worm in the loco my "Evening Star" is now another great loco. On the whole I find Farish steam locos are better and more reliable than Dapol, having only had trouble with intermittent running on a Fairburn tank loco and the valve gear dropping off my Back 5! Not bad out of 38 steam locos.

 

Hi St Martin

After 5 years with N gauge I have formed the opinion that N is high maintenance though new loco,s straight out of the box "should" have no faults and have passed a QC inspection/test.

I started with second hand loco,s all Farish, not too good on the detail front but they all ran well and except for a 57XX have been reliable.

My first new loco was a Dapol 57XX, nice detail and the sweetest of runners BUT over the last month it is becoming rough despite been clean and lubricated.

The next two new buys was a Dapol 38XX and an Ixion GWR Hinton Manor, both have lovely detail and are really sweet runners. However like you both of these suffered from broken tender to loco feed wires, not from new but after a few weeks. I replaced the wires with heavier cable, still very small wire but nothing as thread thin as the original. It was almost a microscope job doing the repair, but both engines are running fine and fingers crossed they will stay that way.

Then second hand again, a Farish 4F and a GWR King both are a tad noisy (as most older Farish seem to be) but nice runners.

The latest have been another Dapol 57XX and a Dapol Class 52 Western. They are two months old and the 57 is still very good but the Western only lasted a month when it suddenly stopped running. Sent it back to DCC Supplies (the Dapol agent) and they said a solder joint to the motor had broken, they fixed it and it is back running as good as new.

It does raise the question how much inspection and testing (if any) does the production go through, probably one picked out at random every now and then.

I must admit that when I order a new loco I am nervous with what I receive, is it ok, is it complete, will it run well etc and that should never be the case when you are buying new.

It would be interesting to know if the 00 boys have suffered any of these problems.

Ron

 

Hi

Doing both n & 00 gauge and with all new stock I have had far more out of the box issues with n gauge models than with 00, actually I have not had any out of the box failure in 00

Dapol N Gauge 5 out 6 new locos have issues out of the box from noisy lumpy runners to electrical parts not working

Farish N Gauge 3 out of 5 steam locos have issues from new but 12 out of 12 diesels have been fault free

Going to stick with Farish diesels from now on in n-gauge

Paul

 

QUOTE (Ron2 @ 1 Apr 2018, 12:51) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>...It would be interesting to know if the 00 boys have suffered any of these problems...
Only twenty years ago there was very little RTR OO worth the purchase price. Most of it was of poor and dated design, inaccurate, had inadequate mechanisms often dependent on traction tyres, needed work from the purchaser to obtain decent running when new and then regular maintenance afterwards. (Sound familiar?)

And then came the revolution, with first Bachmann and then Hornby launching entirely new model designs to a much higher standard of exterior accuracy, using well proven HO technique for the mechanisms, which came out of the box generally trouble free, and with no more than a sensible lubrication regime just run and run. Nineteen years on there's a considerable selection of RTR OO product from a swathe of manufacturers, all of this standard; and some who have moved things forward significantly.

It isn't perfect, some models have had troubles on accuracy, mechanical robustness, materials deteriorations, assembly faults. And you will find critics who still yearn for their Triang one piece body shell on a crude XO4 powered mechanism, that you can hit with a baseball bat and it will probably survive. But taken overall, if good models are of interest, RTR OO is day over night superior to what was available just twenty years ago, and there is an unprecedented range of choice.

 

Another write off ( this is the 3rd now) Had my A4 updated to sound , lights & firebox glow by CR signals who did a first class job and it sounded great. Running it over the weekend and the valve gear jammed ( not the first time) I stripped it all out and examined it under a magnifying glass and the centre bolt had been screwed tight onto eccentric rod but it had not engaged on the brass centre bolt and as a result over time this had worn the locating hole thus the centre bolt would not tighten and as soon as the loco runs within seconds the bolt allows the rod to turn and thus jams. This is the second loco like this as it is obvious they are not checked at the factory and the clearance on some of these holes is ridiculous. The only solution is to sell them on for spares which I hate doing and is expensive. Just bought what is probably my last Dapol, Mallard and I am hoping this is going to be OK if its not its going back as I am not prepared to keep writing off locos which go wrong after a few runs. I have checked all my Dapol locos centre bolt and another has this fault which fortunately had not damaged the hole and I have been able to locate it properly on the brass centre pin

 

You really are not having much luck with loco,s...

I have had one or two things here and there like the tender to loco wires plus the odd bit of detail falling off but nothing like the issues you have suffered.

Have you thought of sending them to DCC Supplies for repair, even if they are out of warranty DCC still offer a repair service at not too high a cost. My experience of DCC Supplies work and service has been excellent.

Its just a thought, it seems crazy that you are having to sell otherwise good loco,s for spares.

Also have you spoken to Dapol UK telling them of all the issues and how fed up you are with their products...?

Ron

 

Well StMartins you have cured any thoughts of going small, not had many such issues in OO gauge but worst cases were of Bachmann poor materials about 2010 when coupling rods were wearing out very swiftly and my then new N15 Mileaus de Lile had its reversing rocker retaining pin fell out. Since 2013 when I returned to the UK had very few problems at all and all mine are steamers.
Mind there were three locos that were poor, Hornby T9 was a weak puller also the Schools a bit better but not great both had traction tyres and then the Oxford Adams that would hardly pull itself so all these went. I have been ruthless with poor or duff stock.

Are you unlucky, I think you must be, you are right to punt out the poorer items and do something better, more of a worry is warranty, had some secondrate performances here although the Heljan Garrett has had issues have to admire Hattons for keeping it running, a maze of small black wires puts me right off.

When it comes to quality of repairs honours go to Bachmann at Hinckley, Hornby get the wooden spoon, one repair to a 28xx involved a wire off the white plug, Hornby shortened the loom and returned same, one checking I found the loom is too short to connect the plug indicating a lack of checking, this and other poor repairs has decided me to avoid sending them anything again so very helpful to see the DCC supplies recommendations so I have 6 Hornby needing repairs, both my 28xx and the 2884 need wiring repairs, my Duchess has never been able to deal with fish but it can sure fry chips, I have three black 5's in trouble, very good these are, one has a duff motor (had plenty of use) forget the other two but anyway the first three will be off to DCCsupplies shortly,

Meanwhile I have remembered other failures such as the lubricator crank on the A4 sparrowhawk failing (now removed) speedo drives on Bachmann locos also failed, I have 5 Bachmann SDJR 2-8-0's and 4 of them have had new motors so far, several of my ROD's have also had motors, - it goe on and I have fixed quite a few myself a Bachmann 9F today - it stopped working a DCC issue, a Bachmann Ivatt 2MT which I had to thoroughly clean up and now I have another with DCC issues and a BR class 5 with a blown motor.

Anyway here is a my L1 tank, many thanks for advice about the pony truck fix, I have used a brass strip in the end - did the job OK