LMS Black 5, and "Going Home" pack questions

[BritInVanCA]

Sam has reviewed another one (please resist the Sam bashing). It was better but still had loose crank pins and a slight loco to tender connection issue which he seemed to solve with cleaning (even though it was new). They certainly don’t seem to be fault free

[atom3624]

Sam gave it a good go, and well done Sam.

Crankpins were all but good - one fell out!

Running board was still slightly deformed - should never happen, and particularly on a metal one.  He didn't seem to notice the misaligned sander which was obvious in the videos - easily corrected as it's not changed from the 'old model'.

Loco / tender connection as described.  Temporarily resolved with cleaning - which he said he also tried on his 1st one, but the contacts are not cut straight.

This is one locomotive I 'wanted to consider', but luckily I already have 4 super detail ones and a list of pre-orders.  I'm staying away from this one unfortunately.

On an individual basis, if you purchase one and have issues, I recommend you contact both your supplier AND Hornby.  I also recommend to ONLY purchase from a named Hornby supplier, as most manufacturers do not provide support for items purchased from '3rd parties'.

Al.

Edited April 28 by atom3624

[ColinB]

On 27/04/2024 at 14:22, Loewietje said:

The new type connections on both my P2’s and both my A1’s work perfect. Is the Black 5 from a different factory? 

I was asking the same question. I have the same connector on my P2s, A4s and A1s. I obviously tested them when they were new but I wonder whether they will still work in 6 months time. The only consolation is these locos only use 4 wires so if the worst comes to worst revert to the old tender connection. With the Black 5 I don't know what you do. I keep meaning to look at my Dapol Manor and see if they gold plated their connector to the tender.

[ColinB]

On 27/04/2024 at 14:22, Loewietje said:

The new type connections on both my P2’s and both my A1’s work perfect. Is the Black 5 from a different factory? 

I was asking the same question. I have the same connector on my P2s, A4s and A1s. I obviously tested them when they were new but I wonder whether they will still work in 6 months time. The only consolation is these locos only use 4 wires so if the worst comes to worst revert to the old tender connection. With the Black 5 I don't know what you do. I keep meaning to look at my Dapol Manor and see if they gold plated their connector to the tender.

[ColinB]

On 27/04/2024 at 14:22, Loewietje said:

The new type connections on both my P2’s and both my A1’s work perfect. Is the Black 5 from a different factory? 

I was asking the same question. I have the same connector on my P2s, A4s and A1s. I obviously tested them when they were new but I wonder whether they will still work in 6 months time. The only consolation is these locos only use 4 wires so if the worst comes to worst revert to the old tender connection. With the Black 5 I don't know what you do. I keep meaning to look at my Dapol Manor and see if they gold plated their connector to the tender.

[ColinB]

On 27/04/2024 at 14:22, Loewietje said:

The new type connections on both my P2’s and both my A1’s work perfect. Is the Black 5 from a different factory? 

I was asking the same question. I have the same connector on my P2s, A4s and A1s. I obviously tested them when they were new but I wonder whether they will still work in 6 months time. The only consolation is these locos only use 4 wires so if the worst comes to worst revert to the old tender connection. With the Black 5 I don't know what you do. I keep meaning to look at my Manor and see if they gold plated their connector to the tender.

[Brew Man]

Colin, you've posted the same answer four times. 🤔

[LesXRN]

Other points raised by Sam were the misaligned smokebox door and the problems with the lights. Not a good example really.

[atom3624]

Yes, that misaligned smokebox door was horrible!

One light was glued into place, another wasn't, plus replacing a lamp with a 'blanking lamp bracket' didn't blank out the light - poor design.

Sorry Hornby, but everyone was hoping this was going to be a stunner, myself included.  It doesn't look that way at the moment.

Al.

[ColinB]

1 hour ago, Brew Man said:

Colin, you've posted the same answer four times. 🤔

I only noticed just now. When I submitted it, it didn't look like it had worked, so I thought there was something in there it didn't like but no it appears it was just that it took ages to catch up. It reminds me of working with computers based in the US, in the morning no issues after lunchtime if you pressed the delete key, the computer took so long to respond you would find it had deleted the whole line rather than one character.

[NumberSix]

My Black 5 arrived Friday (26th), but I didn't get chance to run it until today. Mine too has the poor motor contact issue with the tender.

Upon inspection there did appear to be a lot of play in the connector,  especially with the female socket on the tender. Insertion of a thin piece of card to force a more sound mechanical connection, placed on the underside of the male connector, fixed the running issues but resulted in the loss of lighting and firebox glow due to their contacts being blocked by the card.

I have resisted further "diagnostics" / tinkering and will be asking Hornby for a return tomorrow.

Nothing else, bar the connector, caused me any other concerns although this is,  unfortunately,  a "show stopper".

[BritInVanCA]

5 hours ago, ColinB said:

I was asking the same question. I have the same connector on my P2s, A4s and A1s. I obviously tested them when they were new but I wonder whether they will still work in 6 months time. The only consolation is these locos only use 4 wires so if the worst comes to worst revert to the old tender connection. With the Black 5 I don't know what you do. I keep meaning to look at my Manor and see if they gold plated their connector to the tender.

My Dapol Manor is a dream. It also has a metal boiler and cost less than half the price 

[ColinB]

12 hours ago, BritInVanCA said:

My Dapol Manor is a dream. It also has a metal boiler and cost less than half the price 

I know I would say the same. People on this site get very protective when you mention prices.

[Deem]

I am thinking of buying this model with points and 15% discount, this will cost me £62.00 plus postage. It is dead cheap but is it worth the original price of £229.99. Especially with new tender to loco connector which is having problems.

 

Or should I use my points and 15% discount on something better quality locomotive?

[Deem]

On 28/04/2024 at 20:42, BritInVanCA said:

My Dapol Manor is a dream. It also has a metal boiler and cost less than half the price 

Do you happen to have model number of Dapol Manor?

[BritInVanCA]

@Deem sure. Although I maybe get in trouble for promoting another manufacturer 😆 I bought mine in 2022 so I think they are about £150 at the retailers now

 

[Eyesgoing]

Had a bit of a panic reading this as I received my model of 5200 a couple of weeks ago and, apart from taking it out of the box, hadn’t checked its running as I’m between layouts.

Greatly relieved to find that mine appears to be as ordered, having laid an oval of track and run it in, but I can only imagine how unhappy those who’ve got a duff one must feel. I know I’d have been fuming if mine had the faults described above.

Hopefully none of those problems will manifest further down the line, once it’s no longer covered by the guarantee 

[BritInVanCA]

So now Little Wicket also did an YouTube review. Similar problems with connecting rods and the electrical connection. He did persevere and got it running on DCC in the end. Perhaps “ultimate” means ultimately it will work if you keep trying!

[DJN]

I have now fitted a Dapol  Imperium 3 and run in my  Black 5.   The running in was completed on a rolling road due to problems  crossing Hornby points.

These included a derailment of the front bogie leading to sparks flying as the loco short-circuited . I will look at adjustments to the bogie but really my points were the problem here.

No issues from the tender connection   when negotiating 2nd radius curves. The fire box flickers, but the lights remain off - a default setting of this decoder ?

[atom3624]

There has been doubt expressed wrt the ongoing reliability of the loco/tender connection long-term.

I always have this doubt with the fiddly little white 4-pin plugs.  Unless you are able to maintain them connected, generally for storage, and for every major maintenance - body removal, etc. - they need to be disconnected / reconnected for use.  The same can be said for these, with the best of careful intentions.

It's obviously a new / more convenient initiative by Hornby, who should be commended for at least trying something different and considerably less tedious.

Good luck to all purchasers of this 'beautiful but flawed' model - it does look superb.

Al.

[ColinB]

On 05/05/2024 at 11:31, atom3624 said:

There has been doubt expressed wrt the ongoing reliability of the loco/tender connection long-term.

I always have this doubt with the fiddly little white 4-pin plugs.  Unless you are able to maintain them connected, generally for storage, and for every major maintenance - body removal, etc. - they need to be disconnected / reconnected for use.  The same can be said for these, with the best of careful intentions.

It's obviously a new / more convenient initiative by Hornby, who should be commended for at least trying something different and considerably less tedious.

Good luck to all purchasers of this 'beautiful but flawed' model - it does look superb.

Al.

When I designed anything in electronics I avoided those edge connectors like Hornby use, like the plague, they gave so much trouble on old equipment. I tended to use the pin and socket connectors just like Hornby have moved away from, because they were so much more reliable. The other thing is, should the 4 pin socket break for someone like me, it is relatively easy to fix. From what I gather the new connection arrangement is not. I always said, if you are going to change something, whatever you replace it with, must be better.