Mike, this what I've been saying all along, it becomes too expensive

Eek! I'll check mine this weekend...

According to what I have been able to find out, the initial production run (October/November) came with all the wires and the locos worked as described. The second production, both Trix and Maerklin (January) did not. I am NOT impressed with this flaw and Maerklin had better be paying attention.

Regards

Mike C

They ask you to place an advance order sight unseen based on a photo or preproduction model seen in a New Items Flyer and then they can't deliver the model as described. This is very disappointing. I am awaiting the official reply from Goeppingen. The dealer has offered to take the item back, but the model is listed as "sold out at factory" and "out of production" and I don't want to end up without one.
I am not a soldering expert and I would be worried about the cables getting snagged by the motor block, so I don't think I want to attempt to correct it myself, so between the dealer and Goeppingen, they are going to have to come up with a solution that does not cost me a thing. I would be willing to send the loco back to Goeppingen if they issue a 50 EUR credit against future purchases.

This is where it sucks being in North America and not having a local dealer. If I was in Stuttgart, Munich or Zurich, I would be at the dealer, checking all of their models in stock to see if I can find one good one. The way it is here, my dealer got a handful that were already spoken for, so there is no chance of selecting another. I feel bad for the dealer who now has to wonder whether the rest of the batch will also come back. It is not his fault that Maerklin could not get it right.

If it was one of my other business suppliers, I would tell them to get a replacement to me overnight along with a return shipping label for the defective one. I would then send the bad one back to them as soon as the replacement was in my hands. I do the same for my customers.

In any case, I can't do anything about it over the weekend, so I will await the new week and the response from Germany.

Regards

Mike C

Mike,

What happens if you reverse the Lok then activate the fuinction ???

I'm just wondering if in fact it is just a function assigment issue maybe ??

This particular function (F0 + F6 + F8) is supposed to turn on 3 red lights on each side. As it stands, reversing the loco does nothing, because there are two wires missing that connect those particular LEDs on the motor block side to the circuit board.

I am considering my options and trying to find out what it would take to modify the loco so that it would be possible to replace the triple red light with a function that would offer 2 red taillights as an option.

Regards

Mike C

All considdered I would definately solder the two cables myself. It seems like a very easy remedy. You even have excellent documentation and explanations from the Stummi site.
I have NEVER EVER returned an item for service and/or warranty. I fix it myself. Most spareparts can be sourced on the net, or even from scrap-models aquired from Ebay or other second-hand options.
Right, you would be doing the job that somebody else should do for free and on warranty, but... You do it better and safer yourself! And taking into account where you live; MUCH, much cheaper and faster too! No risque of the loco getting lost and/or damaged in transit. No expensive postage. No waiting time and frustration. And... you might LEARN how to service your trains for future repairs! (They wont always be under warranty!)

If your reason for NOT doing it is solely becuase you do not feel certain about your ability with a soldering iron, I would definatly get started right away! Practice on something else first, if you need to. I cant imagine building a model railroad layout without using a soldering iron ALL THE TIME!

Soldering is like parachute jumping or listening to dodecaphonic music: you either love it or hate it. I have never managed to develop even the smallest affectation for soldering - especially not on such delicate "terminal" areas as in this case (I probably would neither see them nor be able to "hit" them with my soldering gadget).

Model train manufacturers nowadays (especially Marklin and in my specific case New-HAG) should simply be forced by us customers to learn it the hard way. Either they deliver products that work flawlessly from scratch, or then they simply get the stuff back immediately or just don't sell it anymore. I am definitely fed up of being misused as an external staff member without salary who has to almost continuously repair or return defective items.

Thus I would also do it like Mike and ensure that as many fellow modelers as possible get aware of the action I have taken (see my meanwhile world-famous crusade against HAG following the disastrous flaws of my Re 460 with Fiat Panda livery). Sure, by following this track nobody will win any kind of medal from a model train manufacturer, but that has never been my ambition.

remember the Merkur set # 43918 (few months ago), due to indoor lighting we can not even put the car in any direction at the risk of a short circuit or malfunction ... IMO it is a design issue.
Designers or workers from Marklin 's electrical wiring Unit actually seem to-have few problems ... Consequences of another change in the Production lines ?
About the Merkur set : When you'll play within 5 or 10 years, will you be sure to remember in what order must be placed cars ? ( we have never seen it before ! Any lighted set you could always put the cars in any order, any direction...)

This is clearly a quality control issue. There are three options when confronted with a problem like this:

1. Return the loco to your dealer or Marklin for replacement, repair or refund. This is the correct reaction for a product covered by warranty

2. Fix it yourself. This can often be the quickest and easiest solution if the fix is easy and within your capabilities, but beware that you lose the guarantee if things go wrong

3. Live with it. If the fault is such that you can live with it, this is sometimes the easiest and least stressful option

For myself, I think I would just ignore this omission, or maybe think about adding the wires at some point in the future. I would consider the lack of this function as being of little importance as I would be unlikely to be using this light combination very often. I would be less inclined to send the loco back for this fault than if, for example, none of the lights worked.

Here is the reply that I received today from Maerklin:

Sehr geehrter Herr C,

bisher ist dieser Fehler uns bei keinem weiteren Modell bekannt. Bei welchem Händler haben Sie denn bitte dieses Modell gekauft?

Mit freundlichen Grüßen

Ihr Märklin Kundenberater
F Mayer

Gebr. Märklin & Cie. GmbH
Kundenservice

"Dear Mr C:

To this day, this problem is not known to us on any other model. From which dealer have you purchased this model?

Regards

Mr Mayer
Customer Service"

Do I take this to mean that nobody has reported this issue? That nobody at Maerklin reads this forum, Stummi or the Swiss Hag Forum?
He then asks from which dealer it was purchased when that information was included in my original message to them.
I replied to the message and await a more helpful response.

Regards

Mike C