Some basics on Williams engines; one they use DC can motors, so AC getting to them will make them get hot quickly. The circuit boards transform AC into usable(or pulsating DC) DC by means of electronic parts, and if one of those parts fails and lets some AC pass through then the DC can motors will heat up.
There is more chance that a circuit board goes bad then the can motor.

Lee F.

JP,

So Lionel is buying and using certain Weaver products, not all the Weaver line, correct?
There was something mentioned on another forum about Lionel buying some Weaver engine molds.
Atlas might be buying some Weaver stuff as well.
Will be very interesting to see what happens.

Lee F.

Like JP mentions you would do better trying to find Lionel or MTH passenger cars. Right now WBB is not trying to compete that much with the other big companies or so it seems. WBB is trying to make a profit with the Williams line, so making something for only a few people is not in their financial best interest.

Lee F.

Probably similar to the Williams diesel engines rather then an MTH engine. As far as I know Williams and MTH don't have any partnership with each other.

Lee F.

I have a Williams FM Trainmaster that I just bought and I am using Gargraves track with Ross switches. So do I have to look for this problem too?

One thing that I did to a Williams SD-45 diesel engine was to replace the plastic wheels in the truck assembly with metal wheels. I did this when I upgraded an F-7 to a powered unit, I used the flanged wheels from the F-7 and ground the flange off the wheels on a grinder wheel.

Lee F.

As far as Aristo Craft they were partners with Walter M. and RMT for a little while.

News to me about Lionel buying Weaver, as I think that would be like Sears buying K-Mart.

Lee F.

I think that Atlas O might be buying Weaver molds, not 100% sure.

RMT seems to have sold out to another company, or somebody to get rid of their inventory. Not 100% sure on that either, but there is a company selling some items that look just like RMT stuff.\

It would have been nice for Williams to come out with something new. As I know the H.O. line usually gets about 3 to 5 new items per year.

Lee F.

How about a new caboose style??
The N5C has seen it's life span!
We need another style of caboose, even a work caboose would be great!

That's my 2 cents on the subject.

Lee F.

You are not the only one who wants to see some new Plasticville in O gauge.
But it seems that H.O. gets all the attention! Even more then one type of caboose, H.O. has at least 4 caboose types while O gauge or Williams has only the N5C caboose.

Lee F.

From what I have read on this subject your circuit board is most likely the culprit. Replace the circuit board with a new one or use a bridge rectifier rated at; 50 volts, 6 amps and use this instead of the circuit board. Never put straight track power to a Williams with can motors, as the motors are DC and track voltage is AC, the circuit board has rectifiers in it to convert the AC to DC power.

The reason some circuit boards failed has to do with the design of the circuit board, something don't cool properly and causes a slight AC voltage leak to the motors. If this is not corrected you may burn up your motors.

Lee F.

I just added an extra center rail pick-up assembly to my F-7 Amtrak diesel(AA set, powered & dummy, no numbers on the F-7's) set. Used an older Crown Edition truck assembly that I had laying around, took the wheels from the F-7 and installed them on the older assembly and added an extra wire to the powered unit to give it better power. Added a horn unit while I was at.

Lee F.

What scale is that in? H.O. or O gauge?

Lee F.

To clean the potentiameter metal; I use alcohol on a Q-tip and lightly rub the wax off it.
You may need a jeweler's screw driver to adjust the potentiameter, I have used a very small needle nose pliers.
I keep some small tools on hand because I do H.O. race cars and repairs as well as O gauge trains, got hooked on H.O. race cars many years ago.

Lee F.

I forget who the guy is but somebody in Maryland bought a lot of Williams parts and he may have what you need.
Hopefully somebody else knows who I am talking about.

Lee F.

You have to clean the potentiameter's area really good(may have to clean the area 2 or 3 times) or it will sound like garbage. WBB uses a lot of wax or something on the pot. area to keep the contacts from corroding.
The speakers are either 8 ohm or 16 ohm, these are the most common speakers in use for miniature apps.

Lee F.