Hornby Britannia R3865 Oliver Cromwell

[mikesndbs]

So I got tempted and decided to trust Hornby again with a costly locomotive.

 

To me it looks like its been sat on and the front and back are bent up, looking at the front buffer beam compared to my V Trains 37 the buffers are way too high and the running plate does not look right.

Have I yet again bought a pup or is there some fix?

 

You can see how far I have to lift the back wheels to line up the buffers

 

 

[APOLLO]

Send it back. Hornby's quality control has gone haywire recently.

 

brit15

[mikesndbs]

5 minutes ago, APOLLO said:

Send it back. Hornby's quality control has gone haywire recently.

 

brit15

 

Ah yes I am in the process of that now, took it down for a run in and part of the valve gear fell off, also sounds like I am running it on PWM when I am not so something amiss with the motor as well  FFS Hornby come on

[mikesndbs]

This was the final straw! Never even got 1/4 way around the layout before pivoting itself off the track with this rod hanging down, seems to be some black box lose now as well, lubricator?

 

There is nothing like a defective loco to break your heart and make you feel utterly pissed off, especially when you have saved up and built yourself up for it

[cypherman]

I would definately send it back.

Edited March 13, 2021 by cypherman

[Right Away]

Return it Mike.

If it was just the lubricator drive rod, it’d be fixable as it is a static component. However, with the motor and alignment issues as well, this model just doesn’t “cut it”. 

My 70013, with a Zimo MX600R decoder is a very sweet runner at all speeds. (I chose the Zimo as I had heard adverse comments regarding the slow running of Hornby’s latest Britannia releases).

 

You’re not alone with these quality issues on new locomotives; yI’ve had valve motion come apart, speedo drives come adrift, cab doors fall off, even a safety valve becoming unglued. It’s very, very frustrating but if we try to fix every production error then the manufacturers will assume all is well from their end when clearly much more care is needed. 

[DCB]

It's the new normal.  We used to get a base loco which ran well but needed detailing, finer wheels, separate handrails, now we get a base loco which is fully detailed and  needs fettling so it runs and then needs constant maintenance to re attach the bits what fell orf.  You could always buy an old Triang one off eBay and tart it up t least the footplates were straight, oh and they had magnets fitted ready for DCC concepts track bases, and smoke, and room in the tender for decoder and speaker.

[APOLLO]

Happened on the real thing to - A Britannia loco & tender parted at speed on a Manchester to St Pancras express, and part of the valve gear fell off at settle causing derailment and fatalities.

 

Brit15

[mikesndbs]

Hi guys

 

Got my new loco yesterday (Amazon)

 

Thankfully she is better but have a couple of questions and observations.

This is R3865.

Instructions refer to speedo cable but none is fitted.

Brake rigging for loco and tender does not match the instructions.

Pony truck axle boxes are not yellow, when was this carried for real please?

Whistle was lose in the box.

Ran terribly jerky initially with the middle pair of driving wheels seen to jump up at the same place on the stroke.

However, about an hours running in things are better.

I've oiled around externally but given how delicate those lubricators are and the caution on the instructions, can anyone give detailed advice on opening the body up so I can oil the grindy sounding motor please?

 

 

 

[RFS]

56 minutes ago, mikesndbs said:

Can anyone give detailed advice on opening the body up so I can oil the grindy sounding motor please?

 

And when you do, can you please report back as to whether there are any capacitors attached to the motor? I need to remove them from my 70004 but there were none in the tender where the decoder socket is, so wondered if they are in the loco?

 

Thanks

[mikesndbs]

Right don't know if I should start a new thread or not, but here is an update on the second model.

 

 

I honestly don't know what is causing it. 

[cypherman]

Hi,

Have you tried applying power directly to the motor and missing out the dcc socket. I have heard of some engine which seem to have a problem with the dcc socket.

[roythebus1]

It would appear the connecting rod on the rh side is fouling the crank pin on the leading driving wheel. I had this problem on a Bullied pacific. I bent the con rod out slightly and put some keyhole waters on the axles to eliminate  side play on the front drivers. But then it also appear the rh leading wheel is out of true as well. this could cause the centre drivers to "pump" to use your terminology. The trouble is with locos being designed for minimum radius curves there is often too much slop which causes problems.

I'd be inclined to send it back again.

[great central]

Personally, and please don't take this as offensive in any way, I'd return it for a refund and get one direct from a proper dealer. 

There's plenty on here who would welcome the business and will willingly fully test a loco before sending it out if asked I'm sure.

Better to give them the business rather than add even more to Amazon's massive profits while also helping them to avoid paying their taxes.

There's been a steady stream of parcels through our front door since the wife discovered Amazon, I've used them once, and that was unknowingly!

 

[mikesndbs]

34 minutes ago, great central said:

Personally, and please don't take this as offensive in any way, I'd return it for a refund and get one direct from a proper dealer. 

There's plenty on here who would welcome the business and will willingly fully test a loco before sending it out if asked I'm sure.

Better to give them the business rather than add even more to Amazon's massive profits while also helping them to avoid paying their taxes.

There's been a steady stream of parcels through our front door since the wife discovered Amazon, I've used them once, and that was unknowingly!

 

 

None taken, Cheers. 

[The Johnster]

On 15/03/2021 at 14:03, mikesndbs said:

can anyone give detailed advice on opening the body up so I can oil the grindy sounding motor please?

 

 

 

There should be an exploded diagram of the loco in the box which shows the crosshead screws that need to be removed for the body to be taken off.  These are small and easily lost; I insert such screws and and other items of that sort of size into a lump of Blutac to stop them making a break for the border or sacrificing themselves to the carpet monster. 

[John Tomlinson]

On 14/03/2021 at 02:58, DavidCBroad said:

It's the new normal.  We used to get a base loco which ran well but needed detailing, finer wheels, separate handrails, now we get a base loco which is fully detailed and  needs fettling so it runs and then needs constant maintenance to re attach the bits what fell orf.  You could always buy an old Triang one off eBay and tart it up t least the footplates were straight, oh and they had magnets fitted ready for DCC concepts track bases, and smoke, and room in the tender for decoder and speaker.

I think you've hit the nail on the head David. Look at the A2/2 saga going on recently.

 

The steady stream of problems with new models has completely put me off buying stuff at top (and increasing) price when it comes out, as I'm simply not prepared for £150 - £200 for them not to be right. I don't mind buying pre-owned stuff on ebay and provided the price is right then having a fiddle around, but the manufacturers can't have premium pricing for duff merchandise.

 

The ridiculous thing is that by the time they've had the expense of returns plus the time spent by staff, they'd have been much better off getting it right in the first place. And that's before the goodwill hit from the likes of us lot.

 

John.

 

P.S. Meant to add while I'm having a moan that whilst I have bought stuff from Amazon in the past, not much I might add, I haven't done so in several years. On top of the "corporate citizenship" point made by Great Central, I didn't like the way they tricked me, and I suspect many others, into signing up for Prime at checkout. Whilst I was able to cancel immediately, the goods I ordered then didn't arrive, needing more time spent on communication. So thank you and goodbye Mr. Bezos!

 

 

Edited March 21, 2021 by John Tomlinson
added P.S.

[Il Grifone]

Working inside a box will help to defeat the carpet monster. It is particularly effective with those wretched tiny springs which are a vital part of Kadee couplings. I store mine on a piece of wire and keep count.

 

 

Edited March 21, 2021 by Il Grifone
finger trouble

[The Johnster]

Forgot to mention that the exploded diagram is avaialable as a free pdf download from Hornby.

 

I have had one or two wobbles with Hornby QC in the last few years, especially with regard to a 42xx which shed bits all over the layout; the rear coupling fell out of it's pocket as I removed the loco from it's packaging.  I now go over all new locos checking for loose bits and glue them back on if there are any, and the plain fact is I find them on Hornby locos but not on Bachmann.  A particular worry that I found with my new 5101 was the lh motion bracket, loose at the top where it fits to the bottom of the running plate, something that had potential to cause serious damage if it came adrift while the loco was running!

 

I am capable of attending to most problems myself, and hesitate to send locos back in case the replacement is the same, but if you are not comfortable taking things apart (and why should you be, or the manufacturer expect you to be?) you are dependent on returning a loco for replacement to a manufacturer you already have reason to distrust in terms of QC.