Class 66 in OO Gauge - New Announcement

[gary_lner]

15 hours ago, martin_l_jones said:

 

Hi Gary,

 

I have bought four DCC fitted 66's and have had no problems with control. The lights do come on as soon as you place the locomotive on the track and stay on unless you turn them off. I use a Gaugemaster controller.

 

Cheers, Martin 

 

Good afternoon Martin I hope you are well. 

 

I've been speaking to hattons and apparently the digital fitted 66s are not compatible with Hornby elite or select. But the chips in the sound ones are. So I'll have to have a chat with them and see what I can do. 

 

Thanks for you're help.

 

Regards Gary

[martin_l_jones]

4 hours ago, gary_lner said:

Good afternoon Martin I hope you are well. 

 

I've been speaking to hattons and apparently the digital fitted 66s are not compatible with Hornby elite or select. But the chips in the sound ones are. So I'll have to have a chat with them and see what I can do. 

 

Thanks for you're help.

 

Regards Gary

 

Hi Gary,

 

I guess you could swop the Decoders ?

 

If your careful with the detailing bits and lower hand rails on the bodysides the bodies do come off quite easily.

 

Good luck,

Martin

[SouthernMafia]

Given my sound fitted 66s a run today on the club layout, heres 66621 with Biffo/Hattons sound, but no EM2 - instead the 40x28mm speaker and enclosure as previously mentioned:

 

 

[adb968008]

So ive inspected my new fleet, which numbers 21 since November.

 

Operationally working: 21/21

Working lights: 21/21

paint finish / quality 21/21 

 

(the above 3 are my red line criteria for accepting them).

 

now the niggles..

 

1. Axle boxes missing 5/21 (total 7 axleboxes have been missing across the 5)

2. bad “limping” 2/21 (both relating to axleboxes / bogie frame) - known fix.

3. bogie gear tower clip loose 2/21 (1 broken) .. I think this is going to be an internal weak spot for this class, but a class 50 clip could be adjusted to fit, indeed the class 50 could be a contributor for several spare parts under the hood in the future.

4. centre door step missing 1/21

5. front steps missing 2/21 - this again looks like it could be a bug bear for these, I dont think they are glued in. Another 3 locos had them “loose” to be refitted, indeed had they not come loose, I wouldnt have noticed.. it took me some time to work out what they were. But there after it caught my attention and noticed some where missing.

6. loose buffer 1/21 -66740
7. wobble 11/21 - all acceptable, with the fix suggested to the bogie frame.

 

results...

 

A Grade  4/21 : 66623/66079/66783/66704.. flawless.. when you see them go with not a wobble, they are amazing.

B grade 11/21 : very acceptable models, will run as is, just my own OCD to make them Grade A.

..

C grade .. 6/21 needs some help from Hattons 66762*,66504*,66005/66207/66433/66621.. to be fair only 2 /21 are really an issue (66433’s missing door steps and 66207s bogie gearbox tower)... the rest are axleboxes/front steps.

 

*Hattons already resolved.

of the 21, 6 were “seconds” though none were sold as listing any of the defects mentioned.

 

returns.. hopefully zero... just need axle boxes, steps and a bit of modelling fun... on the whole these are good, only 1 of them I would question (being the bogie gear box lid).

of the seconds, Ive taken the oppourtunity to trade up 4 of them to New ones, given the bargain price, so I have 4 duplicates, which I will seek to divest down the road, though one will be the test bed for all the above work to learn on and act as a source of spares if needed.

 

Thats my weekends (indeed next two weeks spare time) works planned.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 4, 2020 by adb968008

[Class 158 productions]

Had my battered DB one replaced, very good service from hattons. Now have another functional 66. Really do forget how much detail these things have on them. 

[Johnfromoz]

13 hours ago, adb968008 said:

So ive inspected my new fleet, which numbers 21 since November.

 

Operationally working: 21/21

Working lights: 21/21

paint finish / quality 21/21 

 

(the above 3 are my red line criteria for accepting them).

 

now the niggles..

 

1. Axle boxes missing 5/21 (total 7 axleboxes have been missing across the 5)

2. bad “limping” 2/21 (both relating to axleboxes / bogie frame) - known fix.

3. bogie gear tower clip loose 2/21 (1 broken) .. I think this is going to be an internal weak spot for this class, but a class 50 clip could be adjusted to fit, indeed the class 50 could be a contributor for several spare parts under the hood in the future.

4. centre door step missing 1/21

5. front steps missing 2/21 - this again looks like it could be a bug bear for these, I dont think they are glued in. Another 3 locos had them “loose” to be refitted, indeed had they not come loose, I wouldnt have noticed.. it took me some time to work out what they were. But there after it caught my attention and noticed some where missing.

6. loose buffer 1/21 -66740
7. wobble 11/21 - all acceptable, with the fix suggested to the bogie frame.

 

results...

 

A Grade  4/21 : 66623/66079/66783/66704.. flawless.. when you see them go with not a wobble, they are amazing.

B grade 11/21 : very acceptable models, will run as is, just my own OCD to make them Grade A.

..

C grade .. 6/21 needs some help from Hattons 66762*,66504*,66005/66207/66433/66621.. to be fair only 2 /21 are really an issue (66433’s missing door steps and 66207s bogie gearbox tower)... the rest are axleboxes/front steps.

 

*Hattons already resolved.

of the 21, 6 were “seconds” though none were sold as listing any of the defects mentioned.

 

returns.. hopefully zero... just need axle boxes, steps and a bit of modelling fun... on the whole these are good, only 1 of them I would question (being the bogie gear box lid).

of the seconds, Ive taken the oppourtunity to trade up 4 of them to New ones, given the bargain price, so I have 4 duplicates, which I will seek to divest down the road, though one will be the test bed for all the above work to learn on and act as a source of spares if needed.

 

Thats my weekends (indeed next two weeks spare time) works planned.

 

 

 

 

A useful fleet survey,  remarkably similar to my findings over a similar number acquired.  All bar one of mine have been seconds / returns. Perversely, you have the likelihood of a better purchase outcome from the pre-owned ones rather than the ‘new’ stock, purely because the photos are of the actual loco your buying, so you can see presence or not of axle boxes, handrails, steps etc.

 

In relation to the gear tower clip, was just fitting a chip to my 66756, and sure enough, noted a loose bogie on one end. Examining the bogie, it seems that the clip over the brass worm which holds the bogie in place is a weak design. I pushed mine back in place but there is no reassuring ‘click’ as it relocates, suggesting it may fail/loosen in the future. That said, this is the first instance of this of a large number purchased.  With the axle box caps cut and fixed in place, all are rock solid, silent runners now.  Overall good value, with most (apart from sound ones) picked up for 100 GBP or less.

[Roy Langridge]

The four my son and I have bought gave us:

 

Operationally working 3/4 (axle boxes glued to bogie but able to free)

Working lights 4/4

 

Issues:

Fixable wobble causes by axle boxes 1/4

Loose axle boxes 4/4

Loose air dam step 2/4

Minor glue marks 1/4

Returned 0/4

 

These were three new and one pre-owned, the pre-owned one being the best of the lot.

 

If I want another 66, it will be a Hattons one for sure. Yes they get some bad press and do have some issues, but they are cracking models. 

Roy

 

 

 

[TomScrut]

1 hour ago, Roy Langridge said:

Working lights 4/4

 

Is that on DC, or DCC and if so how many functions on the decoder?

 

I have found that the lights are FAR more reliable if not using the 4 logic level lights with a 10 function decoder (cab and night).

 

For example, my 4 locos (for which I had 5 returns) would all have been OK first time with 6 function, on 10 function 1/4, with 2 having to be returned twice each.

 

[Roy Langridge]

1 hour ago, TomScrut said:

 

Is that on DC, or DCC and if so how many functions on the decoder?

 

I have found that the lights are FAR more reliable if not using the 4 logic level lights with a 10 function decoder (cab and night).

 

For example, my 4 locos (for which I had 5 returns) would all have been OK first time with 6 function, on 10 function 1/4, with 2 having to be returned twice each.

 

 

All on DCC with Loksound V5s, so all the functions tested.

Roy

[Mooresby]

Aologies if this has already been covered earlier in the thred but this piece of detail has fallen off 66623 and i'm at a loss as to where it came from - can anyone give an insight into where I should be looking to reattach it please?

Many thanks

 

[big jim]

Looks like a handbrake chain, should be somewhere toward the back of the bogie under the ‘big cab’ end on the drivers side (same side as battery switch moulding)

[70000 Britannia]

23 hours ago, Johnfromoz said:

A useful fleet survey,  remarkably similar to my findings over a similar number acquired.  All bar one of mine have been seconds / returns. Perversely, you have the likelihood of a better purchase outcome from the pre-owned ones rather than the ‘new’ stock, purely because the photos are of the actual loco your buying, so you can see presence or not of axle boxes, handrails, steps etc.

 

In relation to the gear tower clip, was just fitting a chip to my 66756, and sure enough, noted a loose bogie on one end. Examining the bogie, it seems that the clip over the brass worm which holds the bogie in place is a weak design. I pushed mine back in place but there is no reassuring ‘click’ as it relocates, suggesting it may fail/loosen in the future. That said, this is the first instance of this of a large number purchased.  With the axle box caps cut and fixed in place, all are rock solid, silent runners now.  Overall good value, with most (apart from sound ones) picked up for 100 GBP or less.

Same with me - the gear tower clip came away far too easily first removing the body - your “no reassuring click” was instantly apparent when I replaced mine.  Wonder just how often others have found this?

[Jack374]

1 hour ago, Mooresby said:

Aologies if this has already been covered earlier in the thred but this piece of detail has fallen off 66623 and i'm at a loss as to where it came from - can anyone give an insight into where I should be looking to reattach it please?

I’d agree with Jim:

 

 

Whilst we’re discussing lights, all lights on my 66207 model work as expected with a LokSound V5, however the No.2 cab light doesn’t. It’s always illuminated very very dim so I suspect either a short somewhere or something decoder-based. No bother, if I can’t fix it I’ll just hardwire to the relevant function output power pad on the decoder. I haven’t tested the lights on 66504 yet, should probably get round to it...

 

Jack.

[Johnfromoz]

29 minutes ago, 70000 Britannia said:

Same with me - the gear tower clip came away far too easily first removing the body - your “no reassuring click” was instantly apparent when I replaced mine.  Wonder just how often others have found this?

Yes Dave, it makes me handle the bogies with a lot more care. Certainly no downward pressure thats for sure.  Time will tell I guess whether thesewill pose long term issues.
 

Perhaps adb968008 can comment further on his tower clip that was broken, was the plastic split etc.?

[Mooresby]

1 hour ago, Jack374 said:

I’d agree with Jim:

 

 

Whilst we’re discussing lights, all lights on my 66207 model work as expected with a LokSound V5, however the No.2 cab light doesn’t. It’s always illuminated very very dim so I suspect either a short somewhere or something decoder-based. No bother, if I can’t fix it I’ll just hardwire to the relevant function output power pad on the decoder. I haven’t tested the lights on 66504 yet, should probably get round to it...

 

Jack.

Thanks Jack & @big jim - now successfully reattached. Firm handshakes all round chaps!

 

[big jim]

I hadn’t seen the moulding on the model but that’s the only chain on a real 66! 

[MrB]

13 minutes ago, Richard Croft said:

Has anyone had a model with faulty night mode and been able to fix it? I know all the models are faulty one way or another and I accept that, but a few of the ones I've had for sound fitting plus one of my own (so far) has a problem where the right hand light when you are facing it wont come on when night mode is activated. It's only happening at one end and I know the decoder works cos it works fine in other hattons 66's, and I know the switches are set correctly because ive done over 20 now and most have been fine I cant see any loose wires, could the problem be somewhere else? maybe within the switch?

 

I've also had a few where one cab light wont work, I've tried cleaning the contacts but thats not helped, so I guess it could be a similar problem?

 

Thanks

 

On 15/10/2020 at 16:25, Martin-C said:

In case any “bug eyed” (big headlight) Hattons 66 owners have not come across a way to correct the well known lighting error, my own saga with the loco is now documented at http://s374444733.websitehome.co.uk/class-66hattons-big-headlights/index.htm

It’s not too bad if you can extract the lighting boards from the chassis intact.

Good luck!

Martin

 

 

Details as per above Richard.

I've done as above and works well.

 

Regards 

 

Roy 

[adb968008]

On 06/12/2020 at 09:42, Johnfromoz said:

Yes Dave, it makes me handle the bogies with a lot more care. Certainly no downward pressure thats for sure.  Time will tell I guess whether thesewill pose long term issues.
 

Perhaps adb968008 can comment further on his tower clip that was broken, was the plastic split etc.?

Ive had two where the clip was loose, give away was the drooping bogie 66207 and 66783.

 

I removed the body to examine and the shaft / pin was loose, its assembled very much like the class 50.

 

I clipped one back in fine, the other wouldn't sit. Once refitted it dropped again, thats when I realised the clip, which holds the tower inline to the chassis was broken. I never found the broken part, so couldn't conclude if it was me or not.

 

I rigged a piece of plasticard and screw to replace the broken side.

(Broken / Repaired one on the left)

 

A Hornby class 50 fitting is deeper, tiniest fraction of a mm width thinner (which would mean a tighter fit but did fit when  I trialled it), it just needs widening lug holes to clip fit (hole depth is also there, but needs a mm taking off the overall depth)..indeed the retainering arms are chunkier than the class 66, which is where I think the weakness is..

Conclusion a class 50 retainer could be made to fit (though my initial fix worked)

 

(Hattons 66 on the left, Hornby 50 on the right).

it definitely feels like theirs a family relationship in the design and parts of the Hornby class 50 and the Hattons class 66 (And Proto 2000 /Walthers in that vein, who also did rotating axleboxes)

66783 above, 2002 era class 50 below

 

Also as another bonus, Ive finished my first 2 “axlebox fixes” tonight by widening the axle box hole to 3.8mm, trimming the excess flash off the inside spring and re gluing the axleboxes... they roll smoothly like a dream!  I have also put a cocktail stick of glue behind each air dam step (from the rear inside) as I can see these are easily detaching, long term I think that dab of glue will pay dividends.

 

Now ive got the work schedule defined for fettling i’ll do a before & after video on the next one.

 

However full credit to Hattons.....

 

 

Their customer service has been excellant,...

 

 

they have today sent me a full house of bits I need to make my fleet whole !

 

Conclusion: The retainer might be weaker than it should be, (and less so than the 50 by comparison) but I don't think its an issue like the Bachmann 90 towers was. However at least two long term alternative fixes exist, shown above.

These 66s are so satisfying. its a modellers model.. quality and detail is way above its price, theres at least 40 parts just to the 2 bogies (compare that to Hornbys 2x 1 piece frame) . it sets a very high bar, but just needs that modellers touch to get the best out of it.

Once Ive done my 20, I think I will apply to become as a Hattons 66 servicing specialist 

 

I might just order a few more class 66’s yet ;-) I see 5 of them are now sold out.

 

Edited December 9, 2020 by adb968008

[Johnfromoz]

3 hours ago, adb968008 said:

Ive had two where the clip was loose, give away was the drooping bogie 66207 and 66783.

 

I removed the body to examine and the shaft / pin was loose, its assembled very much like the class 50.

 

I clipped one back in fine, the other wouldn't sit. Once refitted it dropped again, thats when I realised the clip, which holds the tower inline to the chassis was broken. I never found the broken part, so couldn't conclude if it was me or not.

 

I rigged a piece of plasticard and screw to replace the broken side.

(Broken / Repaired one on the left)

 

A Hornby class 50 fitting is deeper, tiniest fraction of a mm width thinner (which would mean a tighter fit but did fit when  I trialled it), it just needs widening lug holes to clip fit (hole depth is also there, but needs a mm taking off the overall depth)..indeed the retainering arms are chunkier than the class 66, which is where I think the weakness is..

Conclusion a class 50 retainer could be made to fit (though my initial fix worked)

 

(Hattons 66 on the left, Hornby 50 on the right).

it definitely feels like theirs a family relationship in the design and parts of the Hornby class 50 and the Hattons class 66 (And Proto 2000 /Walthers in that vein, who also did rotating axleboxes)

66783 above, 2002 era class 50 below

 

Also as another bonus, Ive finished my first 2 “axlebox fixes” tonight by widening the axle box hole to 3.8mm, trimming the excess flash off the inside spring and re gluing the axleboxes... they roll smoothly like a dream!  I have also put a cocktail stick of glue behind each air dam step (from the rear inside) as I can see these are easily detaching, long term I think that dab of glue will pay dividends.

 

Now ive got the work schedule defined for fettling i’ll do a before & after video on the next one.

 

However full credit to Hattons.....

 

 

Their customer service has been excellant,...

 

 

they have today sent me a full house of bits I need to make my fleet whole !

 

Conclusion: The retainer might be weaker than it should be, (and less so than the 50 by comparison) but I don't think its an issue like the Bachmann 90 towers was. However at least two long term alternative fixes exist, shown above.

These 66s are so satisfying. its a modellers model.. quality and detail is way above its price, theres at least 40 parts just to the 2 bogies (compare that to Hornbys 2x 1 piece frame) . it sets a very high bar, but just needs that modellers touch to get the best out of it.

Once Ive done my 20, I think I will apply to become as a Hattons 66 servicing specialist 

 

I might just order a few more class 66’s yet ;-) I see 5 of them are now sold out.

 

Very useful explanation re the bogie tower clip. Thanks. We shall see whether it’s a long term bugbear.  

[classy52]

On 25/11/2020 at 19:30, classy52 said:

I knew my luck would have to run out at my 3rd 66 loco, as previously mentioned purchased 66783 Biffa (full price) with sound brand new but unfortunately it may have to go back, what's worse it was the last one so won't be a direct swap with another new one.

Anyway, issues as follows;

No.1 end cab light doesn't come on but has the switching on sound, daytime/night-time running lights ok

No.2 end cab light works with sound, daytime running lights ok but night-time running lights don't work as intended (headlight doesn't come on, just the 3 markers).

 

Underbody switches checked and contrary to instructions there are only 2 and not 3 switches and are set correctly.

I haven't taken the body off to check the main switches on the board but would think if these weren't set correctly at the factory none of the lighting/cab lighting functions would work unless I'm mistaken and corrected by someone who knows what K1 to K6 control and whether my issues above would be caused by these not being set correctly. 

Any advice or feedback is most welcome.

 

9 hours ago, Richard Croft said:

Has anyone had a model with faulty night mode and been able to fix it? I know all the models are faulty one way or another and I accept that, but a few of the ones I've had for sound fitting plus one of my own (so far) has a problem where the right hand light when you are facing it wont come on when night mode is activated. It's only happening at one end and I know the decoder works cos it works fine in other hattons 66's, and I know the switches are set correctly because ive done over 20 now and most have been fine I cant see any loose wires, could the problem be somewhere else? maybe within the switch?

 

I've also had a few where one cab light wont work, I've tried cleaning the contacts but thats not helped, so I guess it could be a similar problem?

 

Thanks

 

Hi Richard,

 

Yes I had the same issue with 66783, see my post quoted above, I opened it up and everything looked normal & switches were set correctly.

Sent it back for a refund, hope this helps.

 

Cheers

Steve

[Jack374]

9 hours ago, Richard Croft said:

Has anyone had a model with faulty night mode and been able to fix it? I know all the models are faulty one way or another and I accept that, but a few of the ones I've had for sound fitting plus one of my own (so far) has a problem where the right hand light when you are facing it wont come on when night mode is activated. It's only happening at one end and I know the decoder works cos it works fine in other hattons 66's, and I know the switches are set correctly because ive done over 20 now and most have been fine I cant see any loose wires, could the problem be somewhere else? maybe within the switch?

 

I've also had a few where one cab light wont work, I've tried cleaning the contacts but thats not helped, so I guess it could be a similar problem?

On both of mine (66207 & 66504 - both original lights 'IOo oOI') the no.2 end cab light doesn’t work but if you look into the cab roof when it’s on the track (on DCC...), it appears to have a small current through it and it is illuminated very very faintly. I’ve not yet found a way to make it work...I need to find which function output it’s connected to and have a play - when I’ve got time.

 

A 'hard fix' if I can’t solve it within the decoder will be to wire it to a full power aux pad on the decoder, or a different pin (with a transistor) on the decoder socket, but I don’t want to resort to that.

 

As you say Richard there are some funny little quirks of these 66s, but thankfully most are rectified by doing some m*delling.

 

On another note, having re-read the instructions, it says the middle of the "3" underneath switches isn’t used, so maybe Hattons decided to simply use a double switch instead of a triple once they realised they’d never use the middle of the 3, but the graphics etc were already done before this decision? It is a tad confusing because nowhere does it mention two switches, just 3 different banks of 3.

 

Jack.

[TomScrut]

10 hours ago, Richard Croft said:

Has anyone had a model with faulty night mode and been able to fix it? I know all the models are faulty one way or another and I accept that, but a few of the ones I've had for sound fitting plus one of my own (so far) has a problem where the right hand light when you are facing it wont come on when night mode is activated. It's only happening at one end and I know the decoder works cos it works fine in other hattons 66's, and I know the switches are set correctly because ive done over 20 now and most have been fine I cant see any loose wires, could the problem be somewhere else? maybe within the switch?

 

I've also had a few where one cab light wont work, I've tried cleaning the contacts but thats not helped, so I guess it could be a similar problem?

 

Thanks

 

I have this issue with cabs on 2 of mine, and the night lights were the reason I have returned so many.

 

Because it only seems to be an issue on logical outputs I think it's the amplifier buffers which are on the bottom of the circuit board that are either faulty or not wired in correctly. If you put the switches to 6 function mode, and then manually swap to night mode I assume the LEDs work?

 

I intend on trying to resolve the issues on my own cab lights at some point but have had more pressing things to do.

[The Black Hat]

14 hours ago, Richard Croft said:

Has anyone had a model with faulty night mode and been able to fix it? I know all the models are faulty one way or another and I accept that, but a few of the ones I've had for sound fitting plus one of my own (so far) has a problem where the right hand light when you are facing it wont come on when night mode is activated. It's only happening at one end and I know the decoder works cos it works fine in other hattons 66's, and I know the switches are set correctly because ive done over 20 now and most have been fine I cant see any loose wires, could the problem be somewhere else? maybe within the switch?

 

I've also had a few where one cab light wont work, I've tried cleaning the contacts but thats not helped, so I guess it could be a similar problem?

 

Thanks

 

Ive had the same issue with some 66s not having the lights change over for some engines. I am thinking it is either the body not fitting as tight when are attached as when I had some issues with a 66 being chipped from DCC ready to have sound, then I tested the lights before reattaching the body. Some of these must need to line up exactly, as I think the wiring to lights was all working. 

Cab lights might the due to the contacts not meeting on the body. These models are built to be strong but still have tight tollerances and thus delicate - so if these do not line up exactly then the model is seen to have faults. Its also a case of that models checked and looked at might have had issues when they were reassembled by modellers, as a result my DCC ready engine was probably fine until I took off the body to turn it into a DCC sound engine! 

It might be helpful to have a sub section on this for the Hattons 66. General thread moved there too, with a sub thread for each problem noted and then solutions from the community to fix them - rather than try and wade through 171 pages of discussion and info. 

[TomScrut]

29 minutes ago, Richard Croft said:

I think it'll just make a pile of ones with lighting faults then and send them back, I'm not spending ages sticking bits back on them for them not to work properly anyway

 

Richard

 

Yeah, I wasn't that bothered about the cab lighting (but was about nights) so I gave up and accepted the ones with faulty cab lights as these I have are the third ones of 2 locos so I was getting sick of taking them to the post office.

[TomScrut]

22 minutes ago, The Black Hat said:

Ive had the same issue with some 66s not having the lights change over for some engines. I am thinking it is either the body not fitting as tight when are attached as when I had some issues with a 66 being chipped from DCC ready to have sound, then I tested the lights before reattaching the body. Some of these must need to line up exactly, as I think the wiring to lights was all working. 

 

The best way to help ID the fault is to set the switches to 6 function mode, with night mode selected. If the LEDs work on there you know its nothing to do with the LEDs themselves or the wires, the issue is then either with decoder or PCB (and attached components).