williams fa-2 n0 coasting when power is cut

First, if you have not yet done so, do a complete lubrication service on the set especially the worms, using synthetic grease and oil as applicable.

Then, it will still take some time for the engines to get broken in an loosen up a bit.

rob...loco's are broken in real well and they have been lubricated.i dont intend to get rid of them as they are good runners and pull very well.

when i bought them i figured they were pretty much like all of williams loco's.my williams gp9 and gp38 as well as the scale fa's coast real good.

i'll learn to live with it though.

thop.....

Silly question but have you taken off the boy shell to verify the motors have fly wheels on them? IF they don't that is your problem.

Flywheels on these loco's aren't massive enough to cause any appreciable coasting.  These are actually smaller flywheels than you find in a lot of HO engines.  I suspect that the earlier sets have gearing that permit coasting while the newer models don't.

prrhorseshoe...see my inital post..yes they have flywheels and as chuck has mentioned they are pretty small.

i'll just have to slow the engine down before i press the direction button.thanks for the comments from all of you.

terry.....

Terry,

Is your new FA-2 made by Williams or Williams by Bachmann? Look at the box it came in, it will have Wiliams or Williams and Bachmann on it somewhere, the Bachmann logo may be in the lower corner and even smaller than the Williams logo.

Williams before Bachmann used to coast a little, don't know about the newer WBB engines.

Also what transformer are you using? Is it an older ZW or newer type transformer?

The newer transformers have a feature that usually cuts power a little when you change direction. However you should really be near a crawl when you want to change direction so that you don't harm the motors or gears in the engine.

What would happen when you are in your car and wanted to change direction at say 40mph? You would have severe transmission or engine damage by doing that, and needless to say model trains need to be slowed almost to a stop before changing direction.

Lee Fritz

I have some Wiliams engine that do not coast also.  In fact, if I am not careful, they stop fast enough to derail trailing cars.

Earl

Just looked these up on the Bachmann website, they are WBB engines, supposed to have a coasting action according to Bachmann. There could be a problem with the circuit board, capacitor gone bad, not letting some power go thru to allow coasting.

I don't have the newer WBB engines, but the older Williams SD-45's and F-7's have a slight coasting action.

But of course you can not be going full throttle and then turn off power completely, as any engine will stop suddenly if you do that and cause a derailment.

Something that most people don't think about is using a lower volt transformer made by Troller Company, the TAC 2001. It has two voltage ranges to choose from.

Lee Fritz

hello guys and gals..........

Yup !!!!!!, my new williams NW-2 stops on a dime even after running for 2 hours in both ways breaking in using the Z4000 and fastrack but that's okay i LOVE that little guy.

the woman who loves the S.F.5011,623

Tiffany

All of my Williams diesels coast a bit - a few inches to up to a foot.  Depending on speed and other factors of course.  They are all recent within last 4 years.  Sorry to hear that not all coast even a bit - its a nice feature that contributes to the smooth operation that Williams is known for.   -Ken

Yep, flywheels too small for much coasting, though mine do not stop as abruply

as my old Weaver scale E-8's with no flywheels. Those things will spill your coffee.

I don't find the 027 FA-2's too bad; I just wish that they were better about it.

Mine have a date with ERR cruise, anyway; I plan to make them into a small A-A switcher,

with electrocouplers at both ends. So many projects...but I've already bought the

upgrade kit, so I guess that I had better do it.

philly been away all day and havent gotten over to the train room yet.i'll check though to see whether they are williams or wbb.

im controlling the layout using bachmanns pure power dual and lionel's cab-1 controller.

tiffany..glad i didn't get an nw2 as i was tempted.

i probably should of asked the forum member's beforehand about the o-27's as to whether they have coasting action.

they are defintely keepers though and i thank all of you for your input.

perhaps i should follow D500 advise and have someone put in the err cruise.that would sure solve the stop on a dime problem!

terry...

Space allowing,you could put capacitors across the motor(s),this would make for a bit of electrical made coasting. K-line used to do this on some of their locos. They put 2, 1000 uf polarized capacitors back to back to make one 500uf NP one.

Dale H

Terry,

Have you tried the Williams FA-2's without the Cab-1 controll unit? That could cause a problem, not saying that is the problem but try running without the Cab-1 controll unit and see what happens. Your FA-2 is WBB, or Williams by Bachmann.

In the past I have had problems with Lionel switches in O gauge and Williams engines, so I am just taking a shot in the dark as they say with the Cab-1 controll.

I use an MTH Z-1000(100 watt MTH transformer)with my Williams engines or a Lionel postwar 275 watt ZW.

Lee Fritz

philly...will try and run the fa's using just the paddles on the mrc pure power.

dale...will try the  capacitors.will order them from all-electronics if they have them.

thop.......

philly...used the mrc pure power transformer to run them and they still stop on a dime.

williams is stamped on the metal underframe of the engine.

i'll have to figure out how much the err cruise is.i bet they would run great in command mode.

thop......