GG 4855 Conrail Problem

[JoeyBotzz]

I have what I believe is a ten year old GG 4855 Conrail with dual motor. Although it is about ten years old it is brand new in the box never seen a track until today.  I placed on Lionel O track, made sure the power was to the center rail.  turned on the power and the train lights up and the horn works but it will not move in any direction. No manual came with it - just a single sheet of paper. It says there is a reverse board which I believe takes the place of the e unit. 

I have looked everywhere to try and find out what the problem is with no luck.

Anyone out there have an idea what it may be?

Thanks you in advance.

[Joe Satnik]

JB,

Does your sheet of paper say anything about activating a bell ?

Thanks.

Joe

[rogertra]

Did you try Googling "williams O gauge GG1 manual"?

I think you may find the manual on line.

Cheers

Roger T.

[JoeyBotzz]

JB - No, nothing about a bell.

[JoeyBotzz]

Roger, Found a manual for a similar GG but nothing about the problem I'm having.  I'm thinking the reverse board is bad. I have never dealt with a problem like this as most all of my engines have e units.  thanks for the reply guys

[Joe Satnik]

I would guess that the age of your loco is probably closer to 15 or 20 years old than 10.  True Blast 2 was available in 2003, and your loco is at most a True Blast (One).

Try taking the shell off and spinning the flywheels on the tops of the motors.

They should rotate fairly easily, and the driven wheels of the truck underneath should rotate at a much slower rate.

Joe Satnik

[phillyreading]

Have you tried to cycle the engine through the forward-neutral-reverse sequence?
Most likely you have DC can motors in the engine so try to use 12 volt power source like a car or motor cycle battery with them. If it works on the 12 volt DC source your circuit board could be bad.

Never run straight track voltage to a can motor! Always use a circuit board or bridge rectifier.

There are two things to do to replace a circuit board, first you can replace the circuit board with a new Williams by Bachmann board or second you can replace the circuit board with a bridge rectifier. With a bridge rectifier you lose direction control unless you add in a double pole double throw switch to reverse the wires to the motor.

Lee F.

[JoeyBotzz]

Joe Satnik - that is the train but with a different box.  It's not my train and I really didn't want to get too deep into the repairs. My nephew got from a train store owner who just recently passed away.  My nephew not being into trains just tucked it away for years.  I asked him to let me run it and that I might purchase it from him.

The wheels will not rotate. I will pop off the shell and see what's going on underneath.  If I can't get it to move it will go back in the box and back to my nephew.

Thanks for the help!

[Joe Satnik]

JB,

The wheels will not rotate from the outside because of worm-gear drives.

You will need to spin the flywheel from the top of each motor.   

If your Williams semi-scale GG1 is anything like my Williams-by-Bachmann (WBB) scale GG1, there are 6 screws holding the shell on,

2 above the front most truck, 2 above the rear most truck, and 2 exactly in the middle.

If the flywheels spin freely, check to see that the wiring from each driven truck is plugged into the reverser board.

You will need a Volt-Ohm meter for your next troubleshooting step.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

[shurlock0]

I had a problem like you have. The problem was with the truck the gears in the truck was binding. I had to take the trucks out to be cleaned and lubricated.