Well, my, love affair with the Hornby S15 didn't last long. £70 off Ebay, cosmetically 100%, ran like a dream and the only fault was a droopy rear coupling à la Dapol. However, after running faultlessly for maybe an hour, it started slowing down every now and then. After another 20 minutes it was slowing to a crawl and then picking up again, so as none of the obvious checks gave any clues, my money's on the motor - which I now see is reckoned to be a known issue.
Return process started, and the hunt for the replacement starts now.
ETA - I now learn that motor issues are apparently a known feature of the S15. Was that confined to any particular production dates/part numbers?
S15 woes
Re: S15 woes
My first thought is that this was an off loading job by the seller. Disappointing and annoying that people do that to others if this is the case. Have you checked to see if it's worth getting a new motor? Could still be cheaper than buying new.
Just found this if it helps: https://www.newmodellersshop.co.uk/horn ... _class.htm
Just found this if it helps: https://www.newmodellersshop.co.uk/horn ... _class.htm
Pete.
Re: S15 woes
Hmmm ... so spare S15 motors are widely available. I wonder why ...
Whatever, I started the Ebay return routine yesterday and have already been notified that the seller's done the refund, including p&p, so it's all packed now ready to go back as soon as I get the label.
The S15's a lovely locomotive, but AFAIK Hornby haven't announced anything about motor improvements. If replacement motors are £30 and may well be from the same batch as an iffy one, that's not a great proposition AFAIC. Plan B it is then ...
Whatever, I started the Ebay return routine yesterday and have already been notified that the seller's done the refund, including p&p, so it's all packed now ready to go back as soon as I get the label.
The S15's a lovely locomotive, but AFAIK Hornby haven't announced anything about motor improvements. If replacement motors are £30 and may well be from the same batch as an iffy one, that's not a great proposition AFAIC. Plan B it is then ...
Re: S15 woes
You did the right thing with any new powered model, and ran it for an extended period as soon as received. this is the way to flush out any 'infant mortality'. (My routine is two hours, loco alone at about one third speed, with regular alternation forward and reverse; then the decoder fit, and a further 10 hours with the load it is expected to pull, decoders need a test too. I aim to get this all done within a week from purchase, anything fails, then it's failed 'from new'.)muggins wrote:... However, after running faultlessly for maybe an hour, it started slowing down every now and then. After another 20 minutes it was slowing to a crawl and then picking up again, so as none of the obvious checks gave any clues, my money's on the motor - which I now see is reckoned to be a known issue...
From reports, both the S15 and the near contemporary Q6 release had similar motor trouble reports, unfortunately I haven't seen either as neither I nor any of those I know have gone for these Hornby models, so not had a chance for a poke around. No final statement that I have seen identifying the cause. The fault descriptions very strongly suggest either construction faults in the commutator, brush assembly and soldered joints, or poor wire gauge control in the wire used for the windings, and I would tend to the latter, as your description of power loss and recovery is often quoted, and fits very closely what happens with localised heating in the armature windings from a thin - below spec. - cross section.
The incidence was definitely 'hit and miss': get a good motor and all was well. What looks like the same pattern motor is in the B12/3, no problem reports I am aware of. (There's a model to consider, best traction of any RTR OO 4-6-0 I have sampled thanks to a near all metal body construction. Some of the class worked on the Southern and Western during the war, when a really good 4-6-0 was required, so not a total foreigner...)
Re: S15 woes
Cheers Bigmet. I now seemed to have solved the loco issue, as you may see from my other witterings this morning, but I'm still not there with the coaches ...