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Hornby K1 loco

3K views 14 replies 6 participants last post by  34C 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hi

I purchased a new Hornby K1 loco and put in a Hattons 8 pin decoder. It runs OK forwards, but in reverse it either sticks or runs intermittently in small jerky movements.

Is this likely to be mechanical (nothing obvious) or the decoder?

I would normally swap the decoder to test but as a newbie I don't have a stack :)

Thanks
 
#2 ·
That sounds like a mechanism problem. Take a look from the underside for anything visible such as side rods which might catch on
each other, or on fixed structure. (Incidentally, this is a check I perform on every new outside valve gear model. Modern drives can
screw a caught rod into a ball at relatively slow speed before you can press the stop button!)

Do you have any way to run the model without decoder on DC? Even a 9V PP9 type battery or other low voltage supply will do.
(That's another of my articles of religion in model railway, thorough DC test ahead of decoder fitting.)

FWIW. My overall assessment of the K1 is that the mechanism is very good (based on the four examples I have seen) so if the
trouble proves to be something you cannot solve and the model is new, return for replacement, pretty likely to get a good one!
 
#4 ·
Do you have a continuous run that will now enable the model to be 'exercised' for a couple of hours at a modest speed to see if it
will settle down to running properly smoothly? (Ideally alternate forward and reverse regularly, 15 minute intervals or thereabouts.)

This may be nothing more than some grease 'blobs' in the gear train. The viscosity of grease can absorb a very large proportion of
the circa 1W power output of the motor, and because the worm drive shifts the pinion from side to side with forward and reverse,
the whole gear train slightly changes position, which can result in different drag forward and reverse. What you want is the grease
to be 'worked' until there is a thin and even film on the working faces of the gears, and any blobs smeared out so that they are not
causing significant drag.

If there is some other mechanical fault (split gears do occur) best to surface this early while the model is a new purchase. Despite
the expense and inconvenience, at least the parts replacement side is covered.
 
#8 ·
If you bought this from Hattons, they're really good with this sort of thing. I'm in Australia and have returned faulty loco's at no expense to myself. I had to pay up front of course, but was reimbursed and not charged for the return postage. Give the seller a ring or send an email.
Just looked again and realised it's now 2021 not 2020. :)
 
#9 ·
I wonder did you run it in? better done before the decoder is fitted although I often do so with the decoder as I am terminally lazy if not better late than never, right now I am running in a second hand Black 5 bought to make 2 others good and at first it would not run, I cleaned it and then stuck it on the front of a train ironically pulled by a K1 and got it running. Supposedly a new never run loco so not sure how the wheels got dirty?
On Hattons they have no repair department and do sometimes they resell rejected new locos as brand new and hope that the buyer can fix them, if not happy - bung it back to them, usually the state of wheel cleaning will tell you, my then new Franco Crosti 9F was shockingly dirty it was OK once cleaned but it still likes to rail climb
Just note here when wheel cleaning also clean the inside of the wheel as these get dirty too, I use a cotton bud with my choice of chemical and let the loco run against a fixed object whilst I clean it up.
 
#10 ·
...On Hattons they have no repair department ...
They don't even appear to have a 12V DC supply, or if they do, then they have no short length of track to use it to test an OO mechanism. How else can I have bought s/h 'non-runners' which besides being immaculate in exterior appearance, leapt into action on a whiff of current.

...sometimes they resell rejected new locos ...
Certainly sold me a return, but from their s/h listings, which is OK. I knew it was a return, because of the previous owner's note on the 'non-runner' fault which was the cause for return, which I found folded inside the box liner. (Previous owner presumably didn't have a working 12V DC supply either, as this mechanism also leapt into action!)

There's everything to like about Hattons in my experience, and their no-quibble returns policy sets them apart from all the others I have tried in this trade.
 
#13 ·
Fair point but not this mucky, indeed someone had fitted the brake rods which are usually supplied in a seperate packet indeed on my Crosti 9F the wheels were so dirty the loco would not move at all, likely it was run until it stopped and then returned as no good by the original buyer and Hattons then punted it out to the next buyer who happened to be me. The other issue was the black masking tape holding the blanking plug so it looked like it had been fitted with a decoder, see if I can find photos of it I took at the time.
 
#15 ·
Hattons - and quite probably other retailers - have a good offer on for a version with 'BRITISH RAILWAYS' on the tender if anyone is looking. One such came to me on Wednesday, a friend's purchase which I have now given its full running test and decoder fitted, and is imminently in the post for him to enjoy.
 
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