Heljan class 17 new release

[GWR_fan]

Given the rather poor quality of the previous class 17 releases with high friction gearboxes, poor quality motor and inadequately designed headcode box illumination, are there any positive reports on the recently released models as I do like the two tone green BR late crest models?

[Bigmet]

Not yet seen any owner reports from the new release. Only been available a week I think.

[GWR_fan]

Not yet seen any owner reports from the new release. Only been available a week I think.

Bigmet,
normally the 'armchair experts' are on top of it. No reviews on You-Tube either.

[Bigmet]

I usually take silence to be 'no troubles', but not this close to them just becoming available!

This said I have a couple of examples of the Heljan class 15, which uses the same small round can motor and much the same drive layout as was first seen on the class 17. (For the same reason, drive needs to fit within a narrow bonnet and under a cab not right on the body end.) These have been 100% from receipt, so hopefully Heljan have fully sorted out this particular mechanism layout and component combo.

[GWR_fan]

Don,
many thanks. I went cold on the idea as no one on many sites had posted a review or comment since the rerelease, which I thought unusual.

[trainlover23]

I've just received my Class 17 (D8523, BR blue livery).

She has been running perfectly for the last few hours, with no signs of the motor overheating.
However, the crappy headcode box illumination has been carried over into this new batch.

Bear in mind that in those days diesels did not have high intensity beams only two bulbs in the headcode panel box and would not be very bright

[SRman]

The "crappy headcode box illumination" is way too bright, but what annoys most of us is that it only illuminates a small central portion of the whole headcode - the rest is in darkness. mainly due to very poor design.

I replaced the lighting in mine with that from Jason Edmonds (I hope I have that right as I'm going off the top of my head!), also trading as stickswipe on eBay. His illuminates the whole panel and is a little more subtle, as well. It is fairly easy to fit, with a little soldering. He also does lighting kits for other classes as well; in particular, I found his class 20 lighting kit for the Bachmann model makes a vast improvement to that model (no lighting at all out of the box!).




I should add that I have no connection, apart from being a very satisfied customer.

[Bigmet]

The "crappy headcode box illumination" is way too bright, but what annoys most of us is that it only illuminates a small central portion of the whole headcode - the rest is in darkness. mainly due to very poor design...

One of the major assets of DCC is being able to turn the lights right down to the feeble glow of the 60W incandesent bulbs that were typical of the early generations of BR diesel designs. I have used some yellow film to also 'warm up' the output of the LED's on the Bach 47 and 55 - my only four character headcode diesels - which were way too blue-white, rather than the warm glow of light bulbs.

The illumination shouldn't be too uniform either, if both bulbs were working behind a typical four character headcode panel then two hotspots were visible, and if one was blown then it was very unevenly lit. At least one of the characters shouldn't be properly aligned vertically in the frame too! It was often a pretty cruddy design in reality, and on some locos not the easiest thing in the world for crew to access and set by accounts I have heard.

[SRman]

The lighting kits are still listed on eBay. Try this link: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/381707210415?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT . You could also substitute ".co.uk" instead of ".com.au"

[SRman]

Forgot to say: well done on finding your own solution, Don. Any pics of the end result?

[NakatsuHime]

I agree with the headcode lighting. The LEDs are way too bright, and way too white. However, I'm not going to open up my 17 just yet, although I'd like to get the 'dim yellow bulb' look perhaps. As I'm not DCC, at some stage it may just be insertion of 'something' that both reduces the glare, and varies the light colour.

The only other minor niggle is the buffer-beams come preassembled a bit too detailed. I almost lost a hook that I didn't realise was there, let alone loose.
I'd had preferred a bit less pre-fitted, and instead placed in the included super-detailing pack so I could safety fit what I thought suitable.

Other than that, it's an excellent model for running on a Western-region based layout - which the class never did.