A fellow contacted me and I do not know ... so ... he has 2 Williams steam engines . Both got locked in forward only . They have the switches but won't change to be able to go in reverse . Is this a normal situation and what can be done to fix them . Sometimes it's something simple and 2 doing the same thing seems he did something wrong instead of damage or broken parts. All other features are perfect .
Have him check the power to the track. It must go all the way to zero volts for about one second for the engine to cycle to reverse. If there is any residual voltage on the track, it will not cycle. Good Luck...
Earl
I have a Williams F-3 diesel that did the same thing to me, the reversing switch is most likely the culprit. Try to replace the reversing switch and everything should work fine, can get a miniture sawitch at Radio Shack. I tried jumping the reverese switch with test leads(wires with alligator clips on the ends) and it worked for a few minutes to an hour but the problem came back the next day.
I have tried taking the F-3's off the track for a few minutes but no success with the problem.
Don't try to bypass the circuit board in a Williams as it has a rectifier unit in there as well because Williams uses D.C. motors in their engines.
Lee F.
thanks Earl ... will do ... I thought or hoped it should be something besides both almost new engines locking up . I'll contact him .... Lee ... your post came up immediatly after I replied .... lord if it's the switches they both must be crappy ... maybe a Williams bug ?
Are these brand new Williams by Bachman? If so return for repair under warrenty.
My Williams F-3's were four to six years old so I replaced the reversing switch & circuit board with a 6 amp bridge rectifier.
No .... by Williams but very very little use .... mint ...
If I am correct there are two wires going to the switch and is held in by two small screws. A miniture on/off switch, single pole single throw(SPST) or single double throw(SPDT) from Radio Shack rated at 6 amps 50 volts(3 amps at 250 volts will work also) or beter A.C. should do the trick. The switch is there to allow the circuit board to cycle or not cycle for forward nuetral and reverse. The switch should be about $5.00 to $8.00.
Other than the reversing switch going bad on two of my Williams engines I have had NO other problems with Williams engines.
I bought a Lionel GP-7 a month before I bought my first Williams engine and it was a dud from the word go. My first Williams engine was a GP-9, it had true blast horn and bell sounds and could outpull some of my other engines I had, a real work horse for the money so I bought more Williams over the years. I now have around 9 Williams engines in my fleet.
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