My First WBB DOA

That sounds about right, 4-6 weeks is normal, for any company to fix something when you ship an item to them. To get a faster repair time you would have to do it yourself!

I have older Williams from before Bachmann buy-out of Williams and have no problems with anything, other then not having enough power from a single diesel unit to pull a set of passenger cars.

Lee Fritz

If you waited six years, what's another 6 weeks? 

That is a rare thing, though: a WBB NIB loco with problems.  Proof however, that it happens to all manufacturers.

if the engine was new, it is unlikely that the coating (insulation) would have rubbed off.  The short was probably from either the manufacturing process or the engine was used and the consultation had rubbed off during many hours of use.  Did you try repositioning the wire to eliminate the short and see if the engine moved?

Re-wrapping opened items with shrink wrap is done quite often.  I see post-war items packaged in shrink wrap at train shows.

Earl

I've seen it done, too, so well that it's hard to tell it is not factory fresh.  Sort of underhanded.

I'm curious - did the center pickups and wheels show any sign of having been run.  Even fifty feet of running marks them enough that it's just about impossible to cover it up.

I'd try a little electrical tape on that wire and see if thats the only issue. If it is I'd rather fix it than risk sending it in the mail. I've had perfect locos broken in the mail. I work on my WbB locos and in fact use their parts to fix my other brands. I have a few MTH Premier locos bought cheap, fixed with WbB DCU's! 

My concern would be, if you repaired the wire and then discovered the board is shot, then WBB may not honor the warrenty. And you could be stuck with buying a new board.

Best to call WBB and explain your situation with the new out of the box defective item.

New-in-box would not have the insulation rubbed off. A factory defect causing a short would be a different matter of course. My new GP 30 had pick-up wire issues, only Williams I ever bought that had a problem...Jim

True....but why I said electrical tape as a temp 'fix' and if it's more pull the tape and send it back.....if that fixes it two layers of shrink tube for a perm fix. But only if one is comfortable doing this work. 

In testing a while back while looking for a similar problem, I found those boards are nearly bullet proof, able to stand up to many shorts without blowing.. You probably could have wrapped the wire with tape and gone on.

Rob

I would go with the tape fix and see if it runs. Like Rob and few others I have found the boards to be bullet proof. The fact that the lights work is a good sign. I think the shell is held on by 4 screws. Unlikely you would void the warranty if you took the shell off and took a look around.

Pete

The shell is off and you saw the problem. Why wouldn't you put a piece of tape over the exposed wire to see if that's all that needed to be done, instead of shipping it off for 6 weeks?

I too bought the WBB L&NE locos and was luckier. Ran well out of the boxes. However, if the problem was an exposed wire, I would have taped it and, if it solved the problem, fine--go onto the next one.

I bought it from justrains, and it was NEW as it had the cellophane plastic wrap that my other WBB trains came in.

there were no "RUN" marks on the pickup rollers or wheels.

bachmann gave me a RA# and I took it to the ups store this morning.

the powered A unit was stuck in neutral, I did move the wire away from where it was rubbing into the frame but still nothing. So with that problem still present after loosing the screw and turning the wire away from the frame, I was not going to mess around anymore and just send it back.

After waiting 6 years, another 4-6 weeks just might give me enough time to find two dummy B units. 

Pete

You will get the engine back and have many hours of enjoyment running it.

The Williams EMD F & Alco FA are my favorite Diesels. In PRR of course.

Have four Williams F3's from 1989 that I have run a lot. never had a problem. These early models are great pullers and have no traction tires. But rewired them in parallel to slow them down.

My company bought me a new company car about ten years ago. A nice new Ford. I picked it up at the dealers and drove about three blocks, it died. Took them two weeks to fix. Things happen. Don

Well, there' your problem right there. 

I know it's kinda late to ask....but what transformer were you using??? My Lionel CW-80 will not operate newer WbB locos....it will not cycle the DCU.....a MTH will....swapped a DCU before I found this out!

Put a lighted car on the track and the CW-80 should then cycle the Williams loco successfully.

Earl

Found that out later.....but had swapped a DCU already!!!!

just received my L&NE a unit back today. they took the shell off the old chassis and put it on a new chassis.

So, how's this one working for you?

after I wired the motors in series, runs like a williams engine should.....

amc dave, my test loop O42 tube track is lionel O27 with a CW80 for power. I never had a problem with it for the cycle on all of my WBB engines. On my layout I use 1 Z1000, 1 Z750, and 1 CW80.

DL&W Pete.  I'm glad your story has a happy ending. Any luck finding the dummy B units? Enjoy.

Nice dog by the way.  When my dogs here me going down stairs to the layout they come flying right behind me. They jump onto the back of a couch and watch the trains go by.  I blow the whistle when passing them, they seem to like it. I was glad the day they stopped barking when the trains went by.