Dapol Class 121 and 122 in OO gauge

[Kaput]

1 hour ago, Barry Ten said:

Thanks, Geoffers. Mine is a Bachmann 21 pin so I will see if a similar CV8 adjustment is feasible.

 

Question is which version of Bachmann 21 pin - the latest ones are ESU LokPilot Standards so should have all the functions as required.

 

The older ones on the other hand won't have enough functions and no amount of CV fiddling will change that.

[Barry Ten]

10 hours ago, Kaput said:

 

Question is which version of Bachmann 21 pin - the latest ones are ESU LokPilot Standards so should have all the functions as required.

 

The older ones on the other hand won't have enough functions and no amount of CV fiddling will change that.

 

Yes - I had a look at the packaging last night and it's only a 4 function decoder. I'd assumed that if the carriage lights are on F3, then four was enough.

 

Seems an unnecessarily complicated arrangement in my view.

[JohnR]

I see that early on in development, there were plans to produce the trailer vehicles - does anyone know if these have progressed?

[QuoitsPlayer]

Sorry to bump this topic again.

 

Does anyone know if the destination blinds light up if the cab lights are turned off?

 

Many thanks

Matt

[giz]

5 hours ago, QuoitsPlayer said:

Sorry to bump this topic again.

 

Does anyone know if the destination blinds light up if the cab lights are turned off?

 

Many thanks

Matt

The destination bind is linked to the front headlights so is lit at the leading end when the head and tail lights are on.

[Barry Ten]

My unit's had some sort of cardan shaft/ gear train failure tonight, which will need investigating. Only one of the bogies is operating under power. Frustrating as it's had relatively little operation.

[portsladepete]

Recently received my BR blue and grey model from Hattons, seems mine has the slow running that needs warming up before a relatively normal amount of speed. It reverts to its slow pace when allowed to cool down.

However it is slowly improving, have ordered the Imperium decoder,and am hoping the current draw won’t be too much.

Quite puzzled why Dapol don’t provide decal sheet on this one, but do on the Railtrack version, think it’s a bit penny pinching to be honest. If I had paid more than the £79 I would be sending it back, the drone from the motor is bit irritating as well. Great detail but overall less than satisfactory.

[stovepipe]

I bought a mint s/h one recently, where only the van bogie would run, the other end would not turn at all. On investigation the drive shaft had come adrift, but it was impossible for me to reconnect it. So I just removed the worm on that bogie, as described up thread, and now all is well and it runs superbly with plenty of power. To be honest it all seems a bit over engineered for a single car unit, and must have been pretty fiddly to assemble properly.

[Guest Half-full]

8 hours ago, portsladepete said:

Recently received my BR blue and grey model from Hattons, seems mine has the slow running that needs warming up before a relatively normal amount of speed. It reverts to its slow pace when allowed to cool down.

However it is slowly improving, have ordered the Imperium decoder,and am hoping the current draw won’t be too much.

Quite puzzled why Dapol don’t provide decal sheet on this one, but do on the Railtrack version, think it’s a bit penny pinching to be honest. If I had paid more than the £79 I would be sending it back, the drone from the motor is bit irritating as well. Great detail but overall less than satisfactory.

I've taken the drive shaft out of one of the bogies, it has plenty of power running from one bogie

 

I wouldn't say its penny pinching, the cost of the decal sheet across the whole run is minute (though costs a tenner from DCC Supplies!)  Dapol are pretty haphazard when it comes to things in the box.  I've had multiple packs of extra details, no details, duplicate documentation, no documentation, documentation for other models...

 

I never pay full price so it doesn't bother me, if something is missing that is really needed ie a detail pack then I'll take action over it, otherwise I don't really bother

 

The discounted £79 for a well detailed, well spec'd unit is a very good price these days, especially when the only other alternative (at the moment) is a Lima/Hornby model.

[Guest Half-full]

3 hours ago, stovepipe said:

 To be honest it all seems a bit over engineered for a single car unit, and must have been pretty fiddly to assemble properly.

 

The chassis is probably designed for use under other units that may be announced in future, plus there would be an outcry if it was released with just one power bogie! 

 

I think its a great model, only let down for me is the interior, but a bit of painting will sort that out 

[stovepipe]

1 hour ago, Half-full said:

 

The chassis is probably designed for use under other units that may be announced in future, plus there would be an outcry if it was released with just one power bogie! 

 

I think its a great model, only let down for me is the interior, but a bit of painting will sort that out 

 

No outcry from me, I'm happy with my 4wd Bachmann DMUs from a haulage point of view,  easily quite capable of hauling two additional cars. I understand the new Bachmann 121, with low profile motor is also 4wd, and receiving very positive reviews none the less.

[Guest Half-full]

16 minutes ago, stovepipe said:

 

No outcry from me, I'm happy with my 4wd Bachmann DMUs from a haulage point of view,  easily quite capable of hauling two additional cars. I understand the new Bachmann 121, with low profile motor is also 4wd, and receiving very positive reviews none the less.

Yeah I'm happy with the performance of my 108/150 from Bachmann, as you say 4wd.  I do remember folk complaining about them not being all wheel drive when the came out.

 

The Bachmann 121 does look a fantastic model.  I've only needed a 122 and the Dapol unit replaced my old converted Lima one.

 

I manage to avoid Rule 1 purchases but its going to be hard avoiding the 121!

[portsladepete]

Hattons actually state that the blue/grey version doesn’t need the destination decals and that the instructions can not be relied upon, (I read this after the purchase, which is typically me I’m afraid)

My point was that Dapol have decided that it doesn’t need them, and have saved a minuscule amount, can’t think of any other reason to omit them.

Does the cab come out? The addition of crew would add to the excellent detail. I haven’t removed the body yet, don’t want to risk anything happening in case the motor worsens and it has to be returned.

Overall I’m impressed with the detail, but , as with other manufacturers, niggling faults seem to be acceptable., 

[Guest Half-full]

7 hours ago, portsladepete said:

Hattons actually state that the blue/grey version doesn’t need the destination decals and that the instructions can not be relied upon, (I read this after the purchase, which is typically me I’m afraid)

My point was that Dapol have decided that it doesn’t need them, and have saved a minuscule amount, can’t think of any other reason to omit them.

Does the cab come out? The addition of crew would add to the excellent detail. I haven’t removed the body yet, don’t want to risk anything happening in case the motor worsens and it has to be returned.

Overall I’m impressed with the detail, but , as with other manufacturers, niggling faults seem to be acceptable., 

The cab comes out and the cab seats are separate parts too, so its easy to get figures on them

 

Do agree that there are some niggles, but just about every model has an error, either due to design compromise or wrongly interpreted from the CAD.  It depends on the individual as to how obvious/glaring it is.  For me its the shallow interior, but I can live with that, bit of paint helps no end.  I disconnect the interior lighting, which hides the interior further.

[portsladepete]

I’m not sure if I will disconnect a driveshaft, as the speed on mine after it warms up is ok for my layout. Has anyone worked out why some examples, including mine, return to slow running after being stationary?

The only locos that I have experienced showing anything like this were from the X03 times, and they would only do this if left for days/weeks, not less than an hour.

My decoder is still in transit, so all of my experience with this loco has been on dc, the led lights work better on dc than any  of my other diesels, I wonder if this was a deliberate design feature, necessitating slower running/more power?

I’ve removed a tiny amount from one of the steps, it now will negotiate my third radius curves without any hesitation, just hoping the Dapol Imperium I’ve ordered doesn’t also have inexplicable traits.

 

[stovepipe]

I can't see it being down to just lubrication. I've a feeling it has something to do with the long horizontal driveshafts and the worm gear drive train arrangements, which don't have the ability to get in balance at each end without one of the sets of bogie wheels slipping. On roundy layouts with curves in one direction this would take longer to achieve, compared to an end to end type.

 

[portsladepete]

I guess that could be the answer, although I’ve not had this happen on any other central motor type loco.

It might be that reducing  the power demand on the motor, gives it an easier time, hence the improvement, , this would suggest the motor is not adequate for  the design.

It’s  a shame that Dapol don’t see the need to comment, apparently they have responded to the step hitting the underneath detail, by saying that “adjustment” won’t invalidate the warranty..

Edited May 17, 2020 by portsladepete
Grammar

[portsladepete]

Decoder arrived today, fitted, had brief panic, lights worked, but didn’t run. As per a previous post,decoder wasn’t pushed fully home, now running fine and everything works.

Decoder seems to have helped with “hang over” symptom and runs as fast as I want it to. Now genuinely pleased with bargain DMU.

[Mike Buckner]

On 16/05/2020 at 03:18, portsladepete said:

the drone from the motor is bit irritating as well. Great detail but overall less than satisfactory.

 

Mine has a constant high-pitched whine. As you say, irritating.

[portsladepete]

How long have you had yours?  I think mine has quietened down after extensive running ,or my hearing has decided to ignore it.

Normally I would put a tiny amount of oil on the motor bearing, but Dapol have warned that this would destroy the motor ???

With the decoder fitted, it is now quite enjoyable, an awful lot of people seem to fit sound to this, wonder if some of them can’t stand the noise!

[Mike Buckner]

Hi Pete, thanks for commenting. Mine is a recent purchase. Perhaps it will quieten down after more running. Sunny day here in Brighton.

[Barry Ten]

I took mine apart this evening in an attempt to diagnose the drive shaft fault. The design doesn't make this sort of thing at all easy. In the end it appeared that the cardan shaft to the non-guards end bogie had suffered a loosening of the universal joints at both ends of the shaft, such that neither was gripping the shaft properly. Getting further into the model would have required unsoldering several connections (a really lousy bit of design) so rather than faff around I did what others have done and disconnected the entire drive to the bogie, leaving just the guards end powered. At least it runs again now, although I've little confidence that the other shaft won't suffer the same fate down the line.

[Kewwy013]

I had the same issue with mine, I dismantled it and re attached the shaft at the non guards end. Now it runs well in both directions, however, when running in the direction of the non guards end it does indeed sound like a bag of nails, but is sweet as a nut when running in the other direction. Should have sent it back really but life got in the way and it was about 6 months before I ran it for the first time. 

[portsladepete]

I hardly send anything back, always worried that the replacement will be worse. I had a Heljan loco that had a displaced drive shaft, that had been caused by the motor shifting slightly to the opposite end.

Must admit, this has put me off Dapol for locos, but all the manufacturers have their lemons,I seem to get more than my fair share. With this particular one, think we could stock a supermarket.

[Sam Moss]

i've took the gears out of one bogie on both of mine and they run far better. No need for all wheel drive on a single railcar and happily copes hauling a BG or GUV so would easily cope with a trailer car.