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New OO gauge Class 73


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Sorry if I'm regurgitating an old subject that has been done to death..but I've just bought my first class 73 and genuinely haven't got time to go through 75 pages of topic! I have 73101 The Royal Alex, which is DCC fitted with a gaugemaster decoder. I was expecting the issue with the backwards lighting which I can fix, but the problem is that it runs terribly in one direction. Pulses and stops and goes, stops and goes, and it gets more violent when you increase power. This isn't a pickup issue as it runs fine in the other direction. So..

 

1. Has Dapol released a revised circuit board as a spare part yet? Free or to purchase. 

2. Is the bad running in one direction a result of a duff circuit board/known fault? 

3. Duff decoder..

 

Alex

 

The bearing pickups are problematical on this design. Both of my 73s go through a cycle once every couple of months. They jitter in spits and spurts around the layout, I clean the bearings with meths, they are then fine for a couple of months and it starts all over again. When I get a spare life, I'll add wiper contacts at some point.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • RMweb Gold

I have just added extra pickups on my two locos. It follows a very similar method posted a year or two back by another rmwebber but couldnt find the relevant post so here is my method.

I unclipped the bogie moulding by inserting a screw driver between the moulding and wheel frames just by the coupler pocket then eased the side clips open one at a time.

The rest can be seen in the following photos. I used 0.35 phospher bronze rod available from Eileens Emporium.

post-1557-0-83276400-1539075882_thumb.jpg

post-1557-0-72513000-1539075922_thumb.jpg

post-1557-0-34131100-1539075904_thumb.jpg

Edited by roundhouse
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  • RMweb Gold

Ah yes I remember now!

 

I have also done this on my class 122 bubblecar as that was also stalling. Its a slightly different but very similar method, just that the new pick up wire is soldered ot the outside metal sideframe.

 

Running much better now.

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  • 5 weeks later...
  • Tempfix

Hi,

Stupid question time...how do you unclip the bogie frame, I can't find the slot to insert the screwdriver into?

I'm trying to do the pick up mods mentioned on here.

Simon

u

 

Hi Simon. Apologies for lack of picture, will hopefully make sense. Hold loco level so you're looking down at the roof. Pivot bogie to one side until you can see the top of nearest front wheel. Insert small screwdriver very carefully between the metal lump between the wheels of the front axle, and the rear of the bogie frame behind the coupling from the top of the bogie. Frame will drop down. Careful not to knock little bits off sides.

Rich

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The other advantage of the mod is that the axles return back to a central position after taking a curve too as the additional pickups spring the wheels back.

Before this, the wheels could slide side to side, leaving the bogie frames pointing outwards at the ends as it loco returns to the straight which looked dead awful.

Edit: FWIW you don,t really need to do all axles. I found the odd bit of juddering stopped completely with just one axle modified to have pickups. I did mine with both outer axles fitted though to ensure the bogies returned to a central positiom

Edited by JSpencer
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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Hi,

 

Did anyone ask at Warley when the next batch of Class 73s will be arriving?

 

I've seen all sorts of dates quoted and I didn't the chance to ask myself. I've got both the Southern and SWT versions on order, so I need to prepare my wallet!

 

Simon

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Nice pic.  Interesting pic too, showing how the appearance of the yellow varies according to the lighting.  I'm pretty sure that Dapol didn't make it with a swooosh from dark to light, just the how it appears.   If your picture had been lit differently, we would be saying it was too light.  Or too dark.   Better to see in the flesh?   I'm reminded of the various debates on colour going on ad nauseum on at least two different threads.

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  • 4 weeks later...

No reply - and no Class 73's either...

Hi,

 

I've been watching carefully the information coming from Dapol, which suggests the next batch of class 68s will arrive in January and no mention of the 73s (the latest hattons date is November / December 2018), so it's likely they won't be here before end of January I should think.

 

Then again, Dapol have a habit of not saying anything for months and months and then suddenly they all arrive in the shops without warning...

 

Simon

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  • 2 weeks later...

i saw an updated on a model shop website saying quarter 2 of 2019 so i guess that mean April,  May or June then for the class 73 

 

Hi,

 

Just seen that Hattons have updated their page with  'between April & June 2019', so a little while longer to save up then...

 

Simon

Edited by St. Simon
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I didn’t buy a Dapol 73 when they were released, because it seemed a high price to pay given the apparent faults. Despite that the second hand prices have held up, so I have only recently taken the plunge for a collector’s club green one bought from Dapol at Warley for £80. As predicted, it ran like a pig and bits fell off daily. Despite being an inexpert solderer I have managed to rewire the circuit board to correct the directional lighting and added extra pickups following the expert tips on this forum. I have reglued the various dislodged bogie and electrical pipes and now I have a fine-running, extremely well-detailed 73, which I am now putting through the weathering process. The one remaining glaring fault is the oval buffers, two of which fell out during my manhandling. Can anyone suggest a source for replacement round buffers, preferably ones which will slot into the existing sprung mechanism?

My apologies if the buffer issue has been touched on before, but to be honest I am loath to go through all 1800 ‘contributions’ to this subject again, to find it. Someone astutely pointed out a while back that finding useful, positive information is being made difficult by the tsunami of repetitive criticism which the Dapol 73 has attracted. That person also suggested that the thread be split between one for those of us interested in positive solutions to make this fine-looking model perform as well as it should, and those who wish to repetitively complain about known problems. What a good idea!

This forum offers a wealth of very useful information that has helped me improve my skills, fix problems and thus get much more satisfaction from the hobby. Unfortunately, the RMweb platform is increasingly being clogged by me-too complainers, axe grinders, self-righteous victims, and various sub-species of troll, all of whose incontinent whining lessens the enjoyment of those of seeking to improve our knowledge and share our enjoyment of the subject.

Now, about those buffers...

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I didn’t buy a Dapol 73 when they were released, because it seemed a high price to pay given the apparent faults. Despite that the second hand prices have held up, so I have only recently taken the plunge for a collector’s club green one bought from Dapol at Warley for £80. As predicted, it ran like a pig and bits fell off daily. Despite being an inexpert solderer I have managed to rewire the circuit board to correct the directional lighting and added extra pickups following the expert tips on this forum. I have reglued the various dislodged bogie and electrical pipes and now I have a fine-running, extremely well-detailed 73, which I am now putting through the weathering process. The one remaining glaring fault is the oval buffers, two of which fell out during my manhandling. Can anyone suggest a source for replacement round buffers, preferably ones which will slot into the existing sprung mechanism?

My apologies if the buffer issue has been touched on before, but to be honest I am loath to go through all 1800 ‘contributions’ to this subject again, to find it. Someone astutely pointed out a while back that finding useful, positive information is being made difficult by the tsunami of repetitive criticism which the Dapol 73 has attracted. That person also suggested that the thread be split between one for those of us interested in positive solutions to make this fine-looking model perform as well as it should, and those who wish to repetitively complain about known problems. What a good idea!

This forum offers a wealth of very useful information that has helped me improve my skills, fix problems and thus get much more satisfaction from the hobby. Unfortunately, the RMweb platform is increasingly being clogged by me-too complainers, axe grinders, self-righteous victims, and various sub-species of troll, all of whose incontinent whining lessens the enjoyment of those of seeking to improve our knowledge and share our enjoyment of the subject.

Now, about those buffers...

 

feels good doesn't it?

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  • RMweb Gold

Here let me help you..., ive added two words and rearranged it...

 

This forum offers a wealth of very useful information that has helped me improve my skills, fix problems and thus get much more satisfaction from the hobby. Unfortunately, the RMweb platform is increasingly being clogged by me-too complainers, axe grinders, self-righteous victims, and various sub-species of troll, all of whose incontinent whining lessens the enjoyment of those of seeking to improve our knowledge and share our enjoyment of the subject.

 

For example..

I didn’t buy a Dapol 73 when they were released, because it seemed a high price to pay given the apparent faults. Despite that the second hand prices have held up, so I have only recently taken the plunge for a collector’s club green one bought from Dapol at Warley for £80. As predicted, it ran like a pig and bits fell off daily. Despite being an inexpert solderer I have managed to rewire the circuit board to correct the directional lighting and added extra pickups following the expert tips on this forum. I have reglued the various dislodged bogie and electrical pipes and now I have a fine-running, extremely well-detailed 73, which I am now putting through the weathering process. The one remaining glaring fault is the oval buffers, two of which fell out during my manhandling. Can anyone suggest a source for replacement round buffers, preferably ones which will slot into the existing sprung mechanism?

My apologies if the buffer issue has been touched on before, but to be honest I am loath to go through all 1800 ‘contributions’ to this subject again, to find it. Someone astutely pointed out a while back that finding useful, positive information is being made difficult by the tsunami of repetitive criticism which the Dapol 73 has attracted. That person also suggested that the thread be split between one for those of us interested in positive solutions to make this fine-looking model perform as well as it should, and those who wish to repetitively complain about known problems. What a good idea!

 

Now, about those buffers...

 

Edited by adb968008
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