Does anyone know of any lanterns that are of really poor quality; for example the Phillips SGS203

Out of interest what are your reasons for the Philips SGS203 being poor quality? One reason I can think of is its bowl having a common tendency to brown/yellow.

I don't think its a bad looking lantern, its just that it doesn't seem to be able to withstand the North-East's harsh winters and the strong wind up here in Consett. The canopy goes scatty within a few years, and some have been replaced with gear failure after only 2 years service. Some installations look older than the Alpha 8s some of which have been installed nearly 20 years now. Another lantern which is of poor quality is that of the Beta 79; its bowl is weak and cannot withstand the wind either, plenty of examples have had there bowls torn off or are taped up, some lanterns have their gear trays taped as well. The old metal canopy versions at Blanchland in Northumberland do not have a mark in the bowls. Yet the newer GRP ones have pools of murkey water sitting in the bowls, they have been replaced in large numbers recently. However some have been cleaned and refitted and these don't look too bad.

To be honest, I don't really rate the integrity of GRP canopies... they go manky really quickly, rain and ice, especially when combined with tree grime, thin the canopies out and then the leak water through... and in really strong winds (or if the column has an impact), the GRP gives way and the lantern is ripped from its metal spigot.
Even cheap aluminium-canopied lanterns like the Urbis Opalo don't leak water like more expensive GRP canopied lanterns can do.

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Yes I think GRP will be phased out over the next few years due to recycling targets etc. The Alpha8 must have quite a strong GRP canopy as up here in Consett we are situated right on top of a hill and apart from many looking like flat glass versions due to bowls being ripped off by the wind. However when the bowls become missing it actually improves the light, as some bowls are full of dirty water and ingress marks. On the other hand there have been problems using ZX3s and Alpha 2000s with canopies being ripped off, sometimes having the gear hanging from the columns on wires. I have only ever seen a few Alpha 8s with only the metal plate which holds the gear remaining. Many Alpha 8s now have taped up bowls which looks quite cheap and would be better if they just removed the bowl completely.

If you have a look at the lantern design fault thread, most of these issues have already been discussed there.

It is possible to recycle fibreglass and the reason why it started to be used in the 1970s was that it was cheaper. The GEC Z953X, Z9554, Z567X, Mi50 (Mi26 is almost the same canopy) amongst others, were originally aluminium and there is also an aluminium version of the Iridium.

As for SGS203s, it seems to be the early (late 1980s) versions which are the worst for having scabby canopies - agreed the bowl is very thin but quite often flat glass versions look and weather much better compared to early versions when they were the same age.

ZX3s lose their canopies due to a design fault with the clips - discussed in the "other thread" and Mk2 and Mk3 Alpha 8s lose their bowls as the catch goes brittle with age - again discussed elsewhere.

Don't forget in the case of some of these lanterns (Mk2 Alpha 8s) they are 30 or more years old now - which probably exceeds their "design life". The Beta 79 is essentially a 1970s design lantern and most Mk3 Alpha 8s are 20 or more years old now.

You can make a long lasting lantern but it comes at a price - if you are bidding for a PFI changing 10s of thousands of lanterns that price is important - it is less important how good the lantern will look in 25 years time as by then your PFI will have ended, and if there is another one to bid for, long lasting lanterns aren't in your best interest!

I think that lanterns are starting to become better quality, for example the Arc, the Iridium, the Sapphire and the Civic all appear to be high quality aluminium lanterns, most with curved glass bowls which don't yellow. Hopefully we are starting to see the end of GRP.

I agree GRP lanterns do get scabby-looking. We have hundreds, maybe thousands of WRTL SRL8/GEC Z8832 lanterns in my area which are really good-quality lanterns except the canopies do look really scabby. Taking into account Phosco's point though that these lanterns are all between 15 and 25 years old I suppose they haven't done too badly. I find WRTL/GEC lanterns are generally well-built and reliable whereas Philips and Thorn lanterns are not built so well. Indeed, many of the SRL8s in my area were used to mass-replace Beta 79s which had a major problem with ingress. Funnily enough, the deep-bowl B79s don't seem to suffer that problem in my experience, only the standard bowl versions.

well up here it's a little different... the Thorn Alpha 8's that are here and there seem OK, though some have taped-shut bowls, and the Beta 79's and 99's lighting the Pay and Display car park machines are all dry inside....... whereas a considerable number of WRTL 2600's (including two or three in my street) have a puddle of water in the bowl. The lanterns in question all have minicells, so maybe that's where the water gets in.
The Beta 79 I have in my collection (and the only MBF B79 on York's streets) has no signs of water ingress at all, and was dry when I got it.

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The Alpha 8s in Leeds are generally in pretty good condition; they must have the bowls cleaned out regularly.