Getting very frustrated at Dapol failures

[Rabbitaway]

Yet another Dapol loco having to go back due to faults

I am looking at about 25% having to be returned or developing faults

Latest is Class 22 from DCC Supplies with a light not working and running hot

Before this a Class 56 running very hot

I have over 100 locos

24 from Dapol

The Farish failure rate is far lower out the box and split gears an easy DIY fix if it occurs

Dapol locos are lovely to look at but can they just not sort out their reliability?

Wasting my time on dealing with returns and trips to the post office

[austinbob]

Yet another Dapol loco having to go back due to faults

I am looking at about 25% having to be returned or developing faults

Latest is Class 22 from DDC Supplies with a light not working and running hot

Before this a Class 56 running very hot

I have over 100 locos

24 from Dapol

The Farish failure rate is far lower out the box and split gears an easy DIY fix if it occurs

Dapol locos are lovely to look at but can they just not sort out their reliability?

Wasting my time on dealing with returns and trips to the post office

Sorry but Farish are just as bad. I've just returned a Duchess of Hamilton which ran like it had square wheels for replacement. Was part of a Cumbrian Mountain Express pack.
I've had bad locos from Dapol and Farish, and as I'VE said many times on this forum, it's not acceptable to receive a loco that doesn't work out of the box. AND I I am fed up with all the excuses for poor quality you see on this forum

[Rabbitaway]

Bob

Thanks for reply but I disagree based on the number of locos I have as it is large sample

Reliability of Dapol is far worse than Farish

Saying this I have far more modern image than steam so for this type of loco Farish are significantly better!

[austinbob]

Bob

Thanks for reply but I disagree based on the number of locos I have as it is large sample

Reliability of Dapol is far worse than Farish

Saying this I have far more modern image than steam so for this type of loco Farish are significantly better!

i guess its just down to individual experience at the end of the day. I've had pretty much equal experience of bad locos with Dapol and Farish (I have about 40 locos in total) but I accept your experiences may be different. I also know that most of my failures, but not all, are steam locos.
What I don't like is the generally high failure rate I've experienced out of the box or after a normal running in period.
But yet many people on this forum seem to think this is sort of acceptable!!
Something which would be totally unacceptable for any other product you would normally buy.

Apologies for all those who have heard this from me many many times before. BUT I won't give up pointing out the problems in the hope that one day the Manufacturers may take notice and sort the problems out.

[Rabbitaway]

Bob

Yes, we should send faulty locos back and I am now applying his rule unless a very minor issue. I do feel for our overseas modellers as this is very inconvenient

I have been guilty of fixing problems or running in for unacceptable long periods until a rough running loco is just good enough

Retailers and manufacturers exchange usually with out any issues but my frustration is wasting my time because Dapol can not get the basic QC right

Their 2 year guarantee is not worth the paper it is written on as after a year you need to pay for an unnecessary service!

[Agrippa]

Its a pretty poor show, strangely enough I only have
one Dapol loco a tiny 14xx, people always used to say it
couldnt pull your hat of but it runs perfectly, however
the failure rate mentioned is not on.

[Les1952]

I'm doing well with Dapol locos lately- no real failures apart from self-inflicted ones.

However, I have picked up three Dapol locos quite recently that were sold as non-runners as follows.

B1 - "will not run".  Turned out that the loco to tender wires had been removed and not replaced - note NOT broken.  The drive shaft was also missing. A snip at £25.....

A3 - "broken bogie and will not run".  Bogie securing screw was missing, as was the driveshaft.  Again a cheap buy.

A3 - "wobbles and runs rough, stops dead randomly".  The screw holding the plate underneath the driving wheels was present, but the plate wasn't pushed home correctly causing the brake hangers to catch in the track at random intervals. Once pushed home the loco ran perfectly.

All three now running perfectly.  Very likely all the product of someone who hadn't the patience to sort a minor issue.  None were Dapol NQPs, or carrying any box marking to show they had been in the past.

My latest batch of problems, however, are with Farish (tender drives yet again).  BOTH my A1s have now gone off to BR Lines again- and both for the second time.  One is making all the noises you associate with a split gear while the other randomly stops moving and sits there with the motor spinning and an occasional sound of things grinding- which has the hallmarks of a worm out of mesh.  So, another two shows with no A1s on a BR(NE) layout. The third one away is my surviving Jubilee which has had its piston rod overtravel and leave the piston, causing quite a bit of bending, again one to be fixed by the experts.  That is 30% of my Farish tender drives at BR Lines at the same time.

I spent a lot of years teaching and handling statistics.  Your sample of 100 locos is still statistically within the range where you are liable to get a completely false set of readings.   So is my experience with a similar sized fleet and often the opposite results.  For example my fleet of (now) twelve Dapol A3s are the most consistently reliable steamers I have of any make including my Continentals.  My Farish and Dapol type 2 diesels are the best diesels I have- two of each and nothing to choose between them..

Les

[PLD]

i guess its just down to individual experience at the end of the day.

That is the key - some modellers certainly do seem to have nothing but problems with locos from one or the other of the two main manufacturers, but others have very different experiences with few if any issues with the exact same locos.

With a statisticians head, it feels to me to be more than just bad luck and random variation. There has got to be some other factor in play leading to some modellers getting a disproportionate share of the lemons. Is it certain dealers, shipping/transit methods, something those modellers do different in handling or storage of locos (I don't know and aren't blaming any of the above...)
If only we could identify what that was we could all avoid it...

[Rabbitaway]

Les

As the majority of my locos are diesels or electric the comparison is better with this type of loco

I still maintain that Farish locos are significantly better out of the box

As for steam one Farish sent back and held onto a Dapol A3 that sounds like a coffee grinder!

With Dapol it is either very hot motors, noisy running or failed lights

Never had any of the above with Farish although repaired a number of split gears and as I said an easy DIY fix

[Agrippa]

The point is if you were buying lightbulbs
and suffered the same failure rate you
wouldnt buy the same brand or go
back to the same shop.

[lil chris]

Those new fangled energy saving light bulbs are not that good either, they do not last has long as they say on the box. I must admit has far has lococ go I have only had one Dapol a 9F I bought secondhand which failed soon after I bought it. With the graham Farish Locos I have a Black five which always sheds a tyre off the drive and a new Jinty which made a hell of a noise when I put a dcc chip in it. I have a new GF 4f which is a nice model but it will not pull the skin off a rice pudding. The Jinty runs nice now after I hardwired a chip into it, at the same time voiding the warranty.

[1936ace]

Before getting back into the hobby, all my loco were fleischmann with some going back to the early eighties when u was in primary school. All still run spot on
I've now gone British and have have a few roughies and a few DOA's. When they were 1/4 of the price of the German locos I'd cop  it but the farish and dapol stuff here in oz are the same price as quality German locos
Why can't they get their act together
Bart

[Rabbitaway]

A very minor improvement in the quality of the electrical components would make all the difference

Looks like a failed LED on the Class 22 as the wiring and solder joints look OK

Probably a few pence on the cost of production of each loco and paid back in the reduction of rejected locos

[Rabbitaway]

Just to add insult to injury DCC Supplies do not take calls on a Saturday so I will have to arrange the return on Monday

Very unhelpful considering I am at work all week

I do also note that the loco was sent directly from Dapol based on the sender's label

Really not acceptable customer service

[railsquid]

If it's any help, I was able to make arrangements with DCC Supplies to get a Western repaired entirely by email.