Class 377 centre coaches squeaky tables

[387star]

Why on earth do southern 377 centre cars have such squeaky seat back tables. A design flaw surely? The sound is dreadful and whilst the trains are very quiet otherwise they leave you with a poor impression and seem to add to the woes of travelling Southern Rail
Multiple times these units have had refreshes and I assume the tables were tightened up exacerbating the problem? They are placed at a steep angle which can't help. The metal framed seats and tables seem nasty... everytime a drink I placed on the tables they make a tinny sound.
I'm surprised this design flaw had not been fixed

 

[aleggatta]

The squeak is made from a square nylon block with a round hole in it creating the hinge mechanism. The only instruction we had to replace them was if they no longer held the table in the upright position. It really is a simple design, and I'm surprised there hasn't been a better material found to replace the nylon, but I'm honestly not surprised. I don't know if this is an issue on the SE 375's but would be interested to know?

 

[Class 466]

The squeak is made from a square nylon block with a round hole in it creating the hinge mechanism. The only instruction we had to replace them was if they no longer held the table in the upright position. It really is a simple design, and I'm surprised there hasn't been a better material found to replace the nylon, but I'm honestly not surprised. I don't know if this is an issue on the SE 375's but would be interested to know?

Yes, the 375/9 seat back tables also make that awful noise!

 

[py_megapixel]

I noticed this on a Southern train last year and thought that was just a fault with the one I was on. Really awful - I had to get up during the journey to use the toilet so I put the table in the upright position so I could get out without bashing my knees on it. it felt like the whole carriage was looking at me!

 

[D365]

How far would a squirt of WD40 go

 

[387star]

I noticed this on a Southern train last year and thought that was just a fault with the one I was on. Really awful - I had to get up during the journey to use the toilet so I put the table in the upright position so I could get out without bashing my knees on it. it felt like the whole carriage was looking at me!

The worst is when a passenger lifts it up slowly or a kid lifts it back and forth very quickly for laughs
The 377s have a lot of squeaks actually sometimes around the perspex partitions and manual toilet doors but nothing as bad as those tables. I think a few years ago many were broken and permanently in the down position and ever since they have been tightened they have become super squeaky. Ideally the sears would be replaced with something more comfortable and /or seats removed to create more aisle space as they are a nightmare to wallk through

 

[johncrossley]

The squeaky tables have existed for nearly 20 years. Therefore I presume technology doesn't exist to fix the problems.

 

[Razorblades]

I strongly suspect that unless the perceived problem is demonstrably costing the operator money, there's no incentive to spend anything solving it.

 

[physics34]

The squeaky tables have existed for nearly 20 years. Therefore I presume technology doesn't exist to fix the problems.

Shows disregard for passengers and lack of attention to detail.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Take it that a few drops of judiciously applied "3-in-One" multi-purpose oil wouldn't do the trick?