I have had a brand new walthers 130' turntable sitting in a box for a couple of years now waiting for installation on the layout. Well the day finally came this weekend so I followed all the instructions carefully and it went in without much trouble at all. Then came the test, and it was down hill from there.
The turntable bridge would move just a tiny bit before coming to a halt and not moving again in either direction or even making a sound.
I removed the bridge from the pit and turned it over to inspect the gears and make sure I didn't accidentally get anything in the pit and then into the drive gears. They appeared clean and did not appear to be in a bind, but when I tried to rotate the cog wheel on the backside of the motor it was binding up.
Upon disassembly and inspection I discoverd the nylon gear that makes contact with the worm on the motor was the culprit causing the motor worm to bind just enough to stop the motor. I cleaned off the grease and it would appear that walthers used some type of glue similar to CA to affix the nylon gear to the shaft and they fouled up one of the teeth.
I attempted to scrape it out with a fine flat tip screw driver, but have not been successful in curing the problem. I'm thinking next I'll try a jeweler's file to clean up the teeth.
Has anyone else ever had such a problem? Does walthers sell parts for these? I would imagine the gear drive is the same in this one and the newer DCC version.
Its frustrating to spend that kind of money on something and it not work out of the box. Lesson learned, test immediately after purchase even if not planning to install.
