Matt842 Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 Hi there Just bought a couple of Hornby's Class 71s direct from them. Nice model. Long overdue.Got them out of the box and ran them both for 20 minutes each to run them in and then in each caae the lights stopped working. The engines run fine. What is the problem? I am using a 1980s H & M duette controller and transformer that works with all my N and OO guage rolling stock and I have fiddled with the switches on the underside of the locos as instructed in the accopmanying manual to no avail. Can anyone shed any light on this please?Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 The switches only activate the pantograph and turn off the tail lights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olly Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 matt have you had the bodys off ? and do the lights work if you put a 9v pp3 battery across the wheels ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olly Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 I've just been running my class 71 tonight and the lights seem to flicker a lot also . i've tested the pickups and they are not working on all wheels and one bogey is not driving all the time sounds like a gearing issue. may be the pickups are the same on yours Matt as I said before test each axle with PP3 9 volt battery it looks like my model will be going back for replacement it ran fine in the shop when they tested it but that was only on the straight piece of track. not happy this has spoiled an otherwise excellent model Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael_A Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 On BOTH models? This has to be a fault with the models, surely? I wonder if peak voltages on the duette has blown the LED's :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olly Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 On BOTH models? This has to be a fault with the models, surely? I wonder if peak voltages on the duette has blown the LED's :( I did wonder with matts model if it could be to do with are the controller I don't know a lot about the duette is it one of those with variable resistance or something similar? I know some modern locomotives don't like that kind of thing hence why I asked if he had tested it with a 9 V battery I'm using the Hornby HM2000 on my 71 The lights were flickering on and off a lot. I have never had this before with any locomotive usually just the odd flicker now and again on DC power not really noticeable . I have now sent my model back to the retailer for an exchange as it has multiple problems the gearing on one bogie not working some of the time being the most worrying issue and it was only picking up power from to two of the four axles .I think thats what is causing the lighting problem . I just hope that the replacement is okay . hornby really need to look at their quality control again it's very frustrating and costly having to keep returning models . I've sent more back in the last year than in about 20 years of buying Hornby locomotives Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olly Posted July 14, 2016 Share Posted July 14, 2016 I've got my replacement class 71 this morning from Monk bar models yorkexcellent service from them as the only received the faulty one at 10:30 yesterday morning and I had the replacement here at 11:00 this morning they also included a scale autos Land Rover and small scaledale building to cover postage cost of returning the faulty one to them I have tested the replacement 71 and that is perfect non of the problems I had with the original model if only the manufacturers that Hornby use could take a little more care and had decent quality control proceduresI don't think there would be three quarters of the problems with new models . this is definitely one area where Hornby could do much better ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted July 14, 2016 Share Posted July 14, 2016 Maybe I'm just lucky but apart from a Heljan CL17 that hardly moved, the whole lot had faulty motors and all of them were returned, I have never had to return any other loco from any of the manufacturers. As far as lights are concerned, maybe I just haven't noticed if the don't work properly, they don't really bother me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augustus Caesar Posted July 14, 2016 Share Posted July 14, 2016 Flickering or non working lights could simply be the contacts within the loco not connecting properly. I've had issues with Class 31's and 56's whereby I had to simply remove the body and readjust the contacts. No more issues since. If the lights are working prior to failing then the only things that can really cause this, especially when encountering flickering also before failure, is the contacts. If there is an inherent fault on the boards then lights don't tend to work and then not work. A faulty board is a faulty board. Check the contacts first before seding the loco off... it's an easy thing to check. Your service sheet should tell you how to remove the body. If there IS another fault then fair enough.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted July 14, 2016 Share Posted July 14, 2016 I actually disconnected the cab lights on one of my diesels, I had to wear sunglasses when it ran. As you say AC most light are connected via wiper type contacts, take the top off, give them a tweak and a wipe, all done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam_robertson Posted October 24, 2016 Share Posted October 24, 2016 Hi Matt 842. Bought a new Class 71 from Hattons last week.It ran beautifully for a week,then the lights just quit.I got a replacement no problem,now after another week the lights are flickering like crazy.Must be some quality control problem.Are they all like this? At the moment it is back in the box.Waiting to see what feedback there is about this problem.Maybe this is why i drink.Mad Jock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael_A Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 Mine also now playing up. Sometimes I get headlights both ends, sometimes combination of red and white light, sometimes it works OK. Also lots of flickering. I have noticed it settles down after it's been running a while. Very poor design if it's so dependent on pick ups! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stubaggieboy Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 Hi Matt I had the same issue with one of my class 71s, The PCB was faulty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael_A Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Mine has just failed, after showing white lights both ends of the loco. I have no clue why the circuit board has to be so complicated just to powerup half a dozen LEDs!!! Poor show Hornby, baaaddddd! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delcour Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 I have just put mine on the tracks and after a couple of minutes all ligths were off. I tried digital and analogue: no lights, not a flicker. Hope I did not short anything. The decoder had a cover so what happened I don't know. Annoying as there's nothing to look at.I do notice one of the small plugs having a very short bit of black wire that is not connected. There seems to be no loose wire anywhere. Strange. I notified Rails of Sheffield where I ordered it, but other than that I'll have to a good think how to solve this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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