Brawa 62703, N-Scale Gravita diesel engine

This is blog post #100. It's difficult to believe but I have actually written that many articles already. It took almost two and a half year and consumed a significant portion of my time. Hope someone is reading it after all!

Anyway, this post was supposed to be just another review of my purchase. However, the purchase was made three months ago and I could not describe the product until today. The reason? Issues. Issues of various kinds. But let's not spoil too much...

I have wanted to add a Gravita locomotive made by Brawa to my collection for a very long time. I was tempted not only by its cool look but also by the included digital functions and sound. The purchase wasn't possible due to its price point but one day a significant discount was offered at the MSL store. I bought it immediately and it arrived quickly in a non-transparent yellow box.

The box hides the product so well, that the only way to confirm the content without opening it is to check the tag on the side of the packaging.

The model is protected by a transparent plastic enclosure. Some extra parts are immediately visible, as well as the manuals squeezed at the bottom of the box.

Documentation consists of three pieces: the original locomotive's description, a model's user guide...

...and a DCC information (which is available only in German).

The model comes without its couplers installed. Those are provided in a separate bag along with some other extra pieces. Installation takes less than a minute.

OK, let's take a closer look at the model.

Well, it looks very good indeed, just as I expected. It's very detailed with lots of small elements. The painted labels are crisp and the colors are nice and vivid. Nothing to complain about, right?

Well, not exactly. Upon closer inspection I've realized a front light element is missing. There's just an empty hole instead. It's clearly visible in one of the above photos...

So the model is incomplete. Bad luck. Let's hope it runs well...

Unfortunately putting the locomotive on the track did not result in a decent operation. I have easily programmed its DCC address and the model did run smoothly. However the sound performance was very poor and I was getting audio garbage instead of horns and whistles.

Because of that the locomotive was sent for repair to Brawa. This took eight weeks. Once it returned I was happy to notice the missing front light was added but was also very disappointed as soon as I placed the model on the track. The sound issue was still there and nothing was fixed.

I've sent it to Brawa's service again. This time the model returned rather quickly. To my surprise it still did not work. Here's a video showing the symptoms...

At this point I was really angry and ready to demand a refund. However, I have posted the video on Youtube and received a very interesting comment. It contained an advice to modify the value of a variable CV961. And guess what - it worked!

CV961 is an undocumented variable. But it seems to contain a value defining the voltage threshold for sound operation. The default value is not compatible with every single control station available on the market. In my case it did not work with Roco Multimaus and Z21 but internet is full of stories about issues with other equipment.

Turns out the locomotive was never broken. It's just not designed to support a wide range of devices. That's a bummer but at least it works now. Here's a video showing its functions...

I can't say I'm happy with the model. I'm glad it works but it really should not require an investigation to make it behave properly. Moreover, I have configured a variable which is undocumented. I have no way of knowing whether what I did was safe for the decoder. Perhaps I have even lost my warranty by doing that...

I'm very disappointed in Brawa. This is my first locomotive made by this company and I was very excited to get it. Unfortunately not only the model did not work as expected but also Brawa's service proved to be unable to help me at all. The solution was given to me by a Youtube user and not by Brawa's engineers after all!

I'm also disappointed in the MSL's service. They claim to have a policy of an "in advance replacement" but it somehow did not apply to me. My item was sent for repair and I had to wait for many, many weeks. Why it was the case - I still don't know...

I love the way the model looks, and it really works fine after the fix. The generated sound is satisfactory and the locomotive runs smoothly. I strongly hesitate however to recommend the product to anyone. It clearly has some issues and apparently it's the entire product line and not just my piece. All my other locomotives worked immediately out of the box. This one did not. Unless you're ready for an adventure, I recommend you avoid this model.