Anyone else experience this problem with Williams by Bachman

Did you remove the shell to see if anything is binding the gears or if the motor is loose and not making contact with the truck gearing?  I know a long shot, but just trying to offer constructive options.

I'd definitely turn it over, hook the transformer wires to the pickup roller + truck sideframe and see if both motors are turning. What you describe sounds an awful lot like only one of the two motors is running. This could be an easy fix with some basic detective work.

---PCJ

Check for loose screw holding the trucks and the motors together.

Thanks John.  I will try your suggestion tomorrow.  Got to head to bed right now.

Thanks Dallas.  Will try your suggestion too.

From my experience with Williams it sounds like the screw that holds the motor to the truck assembly has come loose and I would look at that first. Turn the engine over and see if you can turn the Phillips head screw that holds the motor to the truck assembly.

You can turn the motor by hand when you have the shell off it and see if the wheels turn or not. One note about the can motors "they are D.C." so don't put voltage to them directly, always go through the circuit board for power or use a D.C. power source to test the motors.

Lee Fritz

I had the same problem with an Aristo-Craft G-scale engine years ago.  The cause was a bent frame, which was replaced at no charge, even though the engine was long out of warranty.

take the shell,

REMOVE the screws that hold the motor to the trucks,

TAKE the motor out of the trucks, and reseat the motor in the trucks.

make sure the motor turns the wheels before you screw it back to trucks.

test run before you put the shell back on.

had to do this 3 times on three different WBB loco's,

scale GG1, E7, and a F7.

ALSO, check to see if a small piece of ballast or object is stuck in the gears on the bottom of the truck. had this happen a few times over at the club...

Call the place where you got it.

Some won't honor warranty after you tinker.

Problem is probably loose motor but if it isn't, then you need , unless you are a repair person, advise.

I had this happen once with a GP, WILLIAM S fixed no charge, said armature was too short, I never heard of that with their engines.

WILLIAMS engines are the EVERREADY bunny of engines, my idea.

Good luck.

Rod

Yes, this happened to me. Not with that particular model...it was a WbB J-Class steamer. Since I bought from a LHS though, I took it back and they fixed it on the spot (It was a single loose screw.) Watching what they were doing, I realized it was so simple that I could have done it myself.

Obviously the guy on the assembly line whose job it is to tighten screws needs some "correction".

I have had issues with two of my Williams that were similar to the issue you are experiencing. Both were brand new in the box.

The first one had a stripped out axle shaft and the gear would spin about the axle causing that axle to drag because it wasn't being driven. Williams sent me the new parts and it was running right as soon as the parts were replaced.

The second had a motor with a bent shaft causing the worm gear bind. Williams sent me a new motor and that took care of the problem. The same loco also had a side frame rubbing against a wheel that caused binding and the loco ran very jerky and would take off very quickly because it took a lot of voltage to overcome the friction in the binding area. It took me a while to figure it out because the wheel in question was slightly off camber and I had to look closely at all of the wheels with loco inverted and power applied in order to see it. (This one was on me because there is some play in the mounting area of the side frames and the truck block assy. When I removed the side frames for a repaint, I installed the side frame too closely to the wheels. A slight readjustment took care of it. It is possible that yours was assembled this way at the factory which is why I mentioned it.)