Hornby corroded class 31 chassis

[Trainmaster64]

Sadly, the Lima 31 isn't as readily available or accessible where I live. Otherwise I see what you mean; I would if I could. As it is, it seems like I would simply have to buy a Railroad '31' if I am interested in a 31 at this rate - less detail, but less chance of a chassis failure!

[rob D2]

31110, 270 iffy. 268 ok, newly produced ones ok

[D802 FORMIDABLE]

Awesome!!! Opened my front door this Arvo and low and behold, strike me down and slap me stupid there was a parcel from the motherland with my replacement chassis in it...I had nearly given up on it but surprise surprise the lovely Tanya at Hornby had come through.

Cheers

Anthony

 

Ps.....A very very happy camper

[hammy]

Thought I would have my periodic check of my network rail 31, 31233 R3044X and all seems body wise and droopy wise ok haven't taken the body off as its a pig to get the lights working again but what I have noticed is bogie side frame spread the outer plastic of the bogie seems to be bananaing out from the centre has any one else had this problem. Now looking at all my other locos the bogies seem to moulded so that there is support at both ends were the 31 has none

[Barry O]

Had a letter from Tanya at Hornby saying they are now waiting for more body mouldings and giving me details of a discount if I buy things direct from Hornby....

[40 058]

Had a letter from Tanya at Hornby saying they are now waiting for more body mouldings and giving me details of a discount if I buy things direct from Hornby....

 

Yes, I got a letter aswell, 20% discount when ordered direct from them. Could buy another 31 I suppose!!

[steveb860]

I have to say, Hats off to Hornby service department for the way they have dealt with this.

[Jon020]

Thought I would have my periodic check of my network rail 31, 31233 R3044X and all seems body wise and droopy wise ok haven't taken the body off as its a pig to get the lights working again but what I have noticed is bogie side frame spread the outer plastic of the bogie seems to be bananaing out from the centre has any one else had this problem. Now looking at all my other locos the bogies seem to moulded so that there is support at both ends were the 31 has none

My 31111 tends to exhibit this slightly. It's not much but worth keeping an eye on. I'll be dismantling these to detail and convert to P4 so plan to tackle it then... but maybe just a retaining piece across the ends would help... but yes, I thought this odd.

 

Had a letter from Tanya at Hornby saying they are now waiting for more body mouldings and giving me details of a discount if I buy things direct from Hornby....

Yes, I got this letter too... so, good on them! whether I use the discount will depend on many factors, but it's good to know that it's all in hand.  Well done Hornby... a company is judged not on not having problems, but on how it recovers them when they occur... doing well here!

[Trainmaster64]

31110, 270 iffy. 268 ok, newly produced ones ok

Thank you very much; I will definitely consider that when thinking about buying a 31. I don't want to have to go for a Railroad one but if I can't find any of the newer ones it may be the solution for me.

[Jon020]

I got my 31270 back today. More damage to body that when it went but I suppose it's been kicking around a workbench somewhere. Fan doesn't work (it did before) and gouging on bogie - looks like body screw fouling. Removed body - to see if I could (the problem I had before) and yes, but cab floors stuck with tar like substance and much evidence of swarf along one side at no.1 end... a couple of modules look like they've been forced to fit. Fan paint missing and inside I noticed that fan grill has been knocked... chipped paint and distortion on outside too. I've taken some photos but thought I'd share to say check yours when you get it back.

My friend's came back a different shade of green!

I'll be phoning them next week (shame this came through on a friday) and talking to them. I'll let you know how I get on.

Jon

 

EDIT - added this:

 

It's a shame that this is how I've had to spend the beginning of the weekend. This is a draft of the note that's going to Hornby assuming I can send them such a message!

 

 

Today I received my returned model loco, which had been despatched to Hornby on December 8^th 2012 for repair due to swollen chassis.

Apart from the swollen chassis and one buffer surround that had broken when I had tried to separate body/chassis, everything else worked and the body was in good condition.

 

Upon receipt, I unpacked the loco and tried it on a test track, whereupon it was immediately apparent that the roof fan was not working properly; it ran intermittently for a few seconds and then stopped... and does not operate. This is a new fault.

In addition, the handrails and fan grill now shown sign of paint chipping. I presume this is due to handling. The fan grill is also “pushed upwards” at one end, as though pushed from inside, and paint is missing here.

 

I decided that it was best to attempt to remove the body to see if a wire was loose. Upon starting to remove the screws over the bufferbeam shrouds it became apparent that the steps at each corner had been glued in place with a blooming superglue, with residue in evidence; one of these was more damaged than the others and shorter.

Upon attempting to remove the 4 body screws they were found to be very difficult to release... very tight. It was noticed that one bogie had what looked like witness marks from the screw head as though it had fouled the bogie at some point during removal or assembly.

It was only when the body was reattached at the end of this “check” that the reason for tightness was found. The holes within the body do not align with those in the chassis. I was unable to refit all 4 screws and one has been left within the box, selotaped to the inside of the packaging securely.

Upon removal of the body, the cab floors detached due to the presence of a black sticky substance smeared over the inside... these were replaced easily, but the residue coats the chassis.

 

The coating on the chassis is however useful in that it now shows a quantity of swarf that has been trapped on the chassis and inside the chassis on the half shafts and gears. This is possibly through attempts to refit the body by Hornby as at this stage I had merely undone the screws.

 

In the supplied photos it should also be evident that the fan paintwork is irregular. A check with a power supply with the body off revealed an erratic fan movement initially only... then no movement at all.

 

Examination of the chassis modules revealed tight/misaligned fittings although I accept that this might be normal, it is not good.

On examination of the inside of the body, the roof grill seemed to display evidence of being knocked from inside (see above) with paint missing and a gouge mark in the plastic adjacent to the fan.

 

In summary, the following problems are now apparent and I have to presume that they have occurred whilst in work for chassis replacement, or from new this being the first time I have removed the body; I was unable to remove the body previously, hence the repair request.

·         Fan now not working; was working prior to despatch to Hornby in December

·         Bufferbeam step shorter and all roughly glued in place.

·         Bogie side gouged by body attachment screw.

·         Chassis – body screws do not align.

·         Swarf on chassis block and within transmission mechanism

·         Fan grill damaged

 

To say that I'm disappointed is a bit of an understatement. A year or so ago, my first 31 was returned to the shop with poor pickup (nothing off one bogie at all - and I was too new to the hobby to know how to fix it); then a replacement continually ran hot - again back to the shop, and a third had several body work faults... this also went back to the seller.

This one seemed ok and ran a few times. Then storred for a coupel of months before I decided to remove the body to do some work and couldn't get it to budge. Given that my interest is locos of KingsX in 1970, I need at least a couple of these and getting some that actually work is proving tricky. Good luck to you all. However, I'm going to see what Hornby say about this because I think all of these new faults are down to them. I'm not perfect but I do take care when handling/working models... and the evidence in front of me suggests that whoever worked this unit was not as careful as I would have been.

 

I'll update when I know what they'll do.

 

Jon

Edited March 1, 2013 by Jon020

[40 058]

Oh dear!

Have to say, now im worried about mine! You dont send a defective item back and have to put up with it coming back in a worse state.

It looks like someone has done this and clearly just thrown/forced it all back together without any care at all. Aside from the damage, the poor fit of some of the parts really is terrible. The swarf all over it is asking for trouble aswell, if it creates a short somewhere it'll have to go back again. Any machining, filing etc should have been done before it was put back together.

From your pics, it looks like the swarf is from someone enlarging the chassis/body mounting screw holes to try to get them to fit!? I may be wrong but they look larger than I seem to remember them normally.

 

I hope this is just an isolated example of poor workmanship. Ill have to have a good look at mine once it comes back, should be easy to tell on mine as I didnt send them the bodyshell!

 

Be interesting to hear what they have to say. 

[Jon020]

Oh dear!

Have to say, now im worried about mine! You dont send a defective item back and have to put up with it coming back in a worse state.

It looks like someone has done this and clearly just thrown/forced it all back together without any care at all. Aside from the damage, the poor fit of some of the parts really is terrible. The swarf all over it is asking for trouble aswell, if it creates a short somewhere it'll have to go back again. Any machining, filing etc should have been done before it was put back together.

From your pics, it looks like the swarf is from someone enlarging the chassis/body mounting screw holes to try to get them to fit!? I may be wrong but they look larger than I seem to remember them normally.

 

I hope this is just an isolated example of poor workmanship. Ill have to have a good look at mine once it comes back, should be easy to tell on mine as I didnt send them the bodyshell!

 

Be interesting to hear what they have to say. 

Thanks. All I think I'm trying to highlight is the need to check yours once you get it back... I tend to always (new or otherwise)... maybe that's just the pedant in me. Today I received a response stating they'll come and collect it and investigate it further, which is all I can ask for really... and they were apologetic for not responding sooner... but given that I wrote to them on Friday evening, I can't really expect anything quicker. So, so far so good. Again, I'll update with info as/when possible.

 

Jonathan

[br-nse-fan]

Hi All,

 

I thought I would post an update, or lack thereof..

 

it's been over a month since Hornby received by package of 7 locomotives as confirmed by the couriers website, but I have yet to receive any word from them, and there have been no answer to emails.

 

I'm sure they have been busy, but surely in the space of 30+ days... someone could have replied to an email?

[silverlink]

I'm sure they have been busy, but surely in the space of 30+ days... someone could have replied to an email?

You should be so lucky!

I sent two back middle of November 2012 and after six weeks emailed them. Still waiting for a reply.

silverlink  

[Jon020]

Hi All,

 

I thought I would post an update, or lack thereof..

 

it's been over a month since Hornby received by package of 7 locomotives as confirmed by the couriers website, but I have yet to receive any word from them, and there have been no answer to emails.

 

I'm sure they have been busy, but surely in the space of 30+ days... someone could have replied to an email?

 

 

You should be so lucky!

I sent two back middle of November 2012 and after six weeks emailed them. Still waiting for a reply.

silverlink  

To be honest, I'd just give them a call; they do seem to have a lot on at the moment, but were very helpful when I rang. You'll probably have a "complaint" number "HB#####", if you quote that they can track you down and give you an update... which is what they did for me a while back. To my latest issue they got back to me very quickly.

Jon

[Jon020]

Update: I received a call on Monday asking if I wouldn't mind having a replacement body with a different running number (run out of 31270s?) I said that was fine; I'll be renumbering at some point anyway. Today I received the package through the post and this included a new loco - new body and underframe/bogies etc. Haven't taken it apart but I'll do so at some point. One screw link has come undone (could reapply this) but apart from that it looks brand new. "Chitty" says "replacement" so I suppose they decided this was the easiest course of action. I'm happy with this... as I'm sure I should be. No complaints. The issue was responded to on the next working day and the only delay was my getting the loco back to them. They were to refund my postage (and they didn't)... but with a new loco I can't really complain I suppose... so I won't.

 

They did well... I'll take it apart and check the innerds (and make sure this one doesn't have the chassis swell of before) and update if necessary.

 

Jon 

[richierich]

Within Model Rail, there is a small side column article suggesting Hornby now has in stock BR Blue and Dutch bodies, with chassis blocks to repair customers failed models.

 

This reminds me to check my R2421 Dutch 31 110, which so far seems to be ok (touch wood).

[Fireline]

Update: I received a call on Monday asking if I wouldn't mind having a replacement body with a different running number (run out of 31270s?) I said that was fine; I'll be renumbering at some point anyway. Today I received the package through the post and this included a new loco - new body and underframe/bogies etc. Haven't taken it apart but I'll do so at some point. One screw link has come undone (could reapply this) but apart from that it looks brand new. "Chitty" says "replacement" so I suppose they decided this was the easiest course of action. I'm happy with this... as I'm sure I should be. No complaints. The issue was responded to on the next working day and the only delay was my getting the loco back to them. They were to refund my postage (and they didn't)... but with a new loco I can't really complain I suppose... so I won't.

 

They did well... I'll take it apart and check the innerds (and make sure this one doesn't have the chassis swell of before) and update if necessary.

 

Jon 

 

In the past, some people have received their loco back, then the postage refund a while later. I don't know if that will happen for you, but that seems to be how it works.

[br-nse-fan]

Just got an email from Tanya @ Hornby advising that my loco's are with the repair tech's and that I should receive an update shortly.

 

As for the postage being refunded... I hope so... cost me over $200 to send back the 6 loco's that needed to be repaired! 

[Jon020]

In the past, some people have received their loco back, then the postage refund a while later. I don't know if that will happen for you, but that seems to be how it works.

Yes, that's fair enough and makes sense if they're going to do that. I've no complaints. I took it apart and it all looks "new" - although one cab is missing a second man's seat - looks snapped off. I'm not worried about that though. It was a pig to put back together... but I got there eventually and I was careful with those screws.

I've put it away for now but I'll run it in properly on my (lads') OO roundy before it gets parked and put away for detailing and modifying to a -400 and P4'd at some point in the next few months.

[Dogmatix]

Just found that my R2413 '31 270' is suffering from chassis rot as well. There are splits in three corners of the body, and a small piece of the body had broken away completely. Unscrewing the body to un-chip the model prior to possible shipment to Margate was difficult; perhaps due to expansion of the shassis, the screws were very stiff. I didn't bother to fit a blanking chip as the model is clearly a write-off (though some parts could no doubt be stripped for spares).

 

Time to call Hornby (citing this thread....).

[Jack Cregan]

Hi Just recieved my 2 locos from Hornby today.They were sent on 26th of February.(from the Republic Of Ireland).That's just over 3 weeks which is a good result all things considered.

The locos were both BR blue No.31111 which did not have any body damage but the lights packed up and the bogie sideframes were distorted.This loco recieved a new set of bogies new PCB and new lights unit.

No.31270 had cracks in 3 corners of the body and the bogies were distorted.This one got a new chassis,a new body (31174) and a new set of bogies.

I haven't opened either of the locos as they both seemed to look ok and ran well when tested with all lights working.I am very happy with Hornby's customer service on this occasion and maybe it will encourage others to bite the bullet and send their faulty models back.I had purchased these locos when they were first released so they were well out of warranty.

Jack

[Jon020]

Hi Just recieved my 2 locos from Hornby today.They were sent on 26th of February.(from the Republic Of Ireland).That's just over 3 weeks which is a good result all things considered.

The locos were both BR blue No.31111 which did not have any body damage but the lights packed up and the bogie sideframes were distorted.This loco recieved a new set of bogies new PCB and new lights unit.

No.31270 had cracks in 3 corners of the body and the bogies were distorted.This one got a new chassis,a new body (31174) and a new set of bogies.

I haven't opened either of the locos as they both seemed to look ok and ran well when tested with all lights working.I am very happy with Hornby's customer service on this occasion and maybe it will encourage others to bite the bullet and send their faulty models back.I had purchased these locos when they were first released so they were well out of warranty.

Jack

Jack,

That sounds like a good result. 31270 seems a prime candidate for this problem; when mine came back a second time it was 31174 too... I think they'd run out of '270s. The weathering on 174 is much more subtle and a better effect all in all. I'm aware that on the 111s, the lights are fragile... theyre are what 4 or 6 at each end and removing the cab (or moving it when dismantling) can cause the plastic optics to break easily so these are best treated with care on dismantling and reassembling. The others (e.g 174, 270 etc) have just the two lights and whilst these are also fragile, there're less to break. 

Good service... yes. The company can be judged not on the problem in the first instance, but how they've overcome it. Well done Margate.

Jon

[Dogmatix]

Have called Hornby about my 31270; they said to send it to their Repair Department who would fit a new chassis and body, which they do have in stock.

 

Quite frankly, I would have thought it cheaper for Hornby to replace models rather than spend time disassembling and reassembling models to change the chassis and body. Still, I suppose that's their problem.

[Ray H]

Apologies ofthis has been mentioned earlier but I've just dipped into the thread.

 

I have an old Airfix Class 31 which I'm told has a better body than the Hornby model which is one of the reasons why I bought it, the other is because it is green with a roof mounted four character reporting number.

 

I have heard it suggested that fitting a Hornby class 31 chassis is a good option for improving running and saves converting the Airfix model to DCC.

 

My understanding is that the Hornby chassis needs modifications to accept the Airfix body. However, because there have been problems with the Horby chassis, picking up one with the ends broken off avoids the modifications.

 

Is the problem reported in this thread pertinent only to the ends of the Hornby chassis? Would a chassis with the problem be suitable (i.e. the problem won't spread)? Does anyone know what Hornby are doing with the damaged chassis?