Bachmann Gandy Dancer.

[Madman]

Very intersting. George Schreyer's piece on this item, that is. It seems that the motor type was changed from the model I had years ago. George mentions a can motor that can be seen in one of his photos. The model I had was equpped with an open frame motor that sat vertically over one of the axels. The earlier model also was equipped with the electrical connection between the trailer and the pump car, through a unique connection detail.

 

[Rob s]

Can be got for not a lot more than the e-bay one shown above
will prob end up at and comes with a gaurantee.

Thanks everyone. Plenty of ideas there. Family still seem to want one, so thanks Rob, I have ordered the Back2bay6 one, and, as you say, will have a guarantee.

Fairlie - looks like you might have got a bit of bargain


Seems I was wrong about it being a bit more than
the one on e-bay
Real Sorry about that 'Honest'
Mind you it might have been a sought after colour

item condition: Used
Ended: 16 Jul, 201219:39:33 BST Winning bid:
£64.30 [ http://offer.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&_trksid=p4340.l2565&rt=nc&item=170873467931 < Link To 8 bids ]
Postage: £5.00 Royal Mail Standard Parcels

 

[Brixham]

Whilst rummaging in the loft for something else, I found my long forgotten one, bought (well ) used probably before 1998. It did run then , but not well.

Today upon inspection, it doesn't run. The motor whirrs, but that's it.
Upon opening it up, the motor drives a pulley via a small rubber ring, which has become quite hard. Assuming that the pulley and worm gear turned under load, there is then a gear train to both axles, but the gears on both of these are split.

I've been browsing, and find that spares are not available

My unit is missing quite a lot of the detailing..it does have a home made drawbar to the trailer incorporating power feeds.

So..probably a static display item.

Malcolm

PS A stock image grabbed from the web..




View media item 3368

 

[AlanL]

This thread reminded me of my Gandy Dancer that failed some years ago and was put to rest in the great loft in the sky. I recovered it out of curiosity and decided that it may be worth reviving.
It is a similar (older) version with the small drive band. I ordered a standard nitrile 'O' ring just as an exercise to see if it would work. The motor has to be stripped down to fit the 'O' ring, beware of the brushes and their springs! I had to carry out a forensic search of my shed!
Amazingly, it did run fine on my short test track with 24vdc. Haven't run it on my railway as I only have DCC. Now I'm tempted to fit a decoder to try it properly !

Alan

 

[Graffen]

I just received one as a gift from a friend. The Christmas version though, with the old rubber band drive.
It had been boxes for several years.
So, both axle gears were split, the rubber band dried to a crisp and all the grease gummed up....
As is standard for Bachmann, they press on plastic gears on too wide metal axles and then the gears split.
I managed to melt together the gears, and then turned the axles to a diameter more suitable.
I glued the gears with green loctite.
The rubber band is going to be replaced by an O-ring. Then the gears will be lubed with Super lube.
Hopefully it will then run.

 

[Gavin Sowry]

Motor clapped out on mine. As usual, Bachmann do not stock spares...... or does anyone know of an alternative?

 

[Madman]

Motor clapped out on mine. As usual, Bachmann do not stock spares...... or does anyone know of an alternative?

If you are referring to the original version with the rubber band motor, I think you are SOL.

 

[paul delany]

I'm thinking of buying one of these secondhand to keep visiting children happy. Are there any defects/problems I should be looking out for?

hello there if its of any help i own a bachmann gandy dancer and i converted mine to dc with an onboard 9 v battery

 

[AlanL]

Hello Graffen, I did a thread on 'Reviving The Gandy Dancers' earlier this year. Repairing the gears and replacing the drive band is the easy part. Track pick-up was more of a challenge. It seems that power pick-up from the track is the Achilles heel of these neat and amusing units. This was after I had fitted a decoder to it. Having fitted the decoder I had to improve the track power pick-up because track power through the wheels and axles was not good enough. Read my post to see how I did it. At the end though I would Just convert to battery power.

Alan

Reviving The Gandy Dancers

I have a Bachmann Gandy Dancer Handcart which had been stored away in the attic for many years after it's drive belt had broken. I believe that it is the earlier version that has the drive belt, later versions I believe have a more reliable worm drive. I had forgotten about it but a thread last...

www.gscalecentral.net

 

[Paradise]

Another issue besides the little motor and pick-ups is the top pump mechanism can break if you are heavy handed or interfere with the railway workers when running. So perhaps not the best for kids because they will.
The LGB one is probably more bullet kid proof.

 

[Madman]

A couple of videos of my Bachmann candy dancer converted to battery power.

 

[Paradise]

Ah! That's better. I get a refreshing breeze higher up watching all this hard sweaty work. Onwards. Faster my good man!

 

[Graffen]

Well, my repair was a smashing success.

Both axle gears were split, the rubber band broken and the brushes almost gone....
I managed to melt the gears together again with a fine tip on my soldering iron.
The reason they had split was the axle diameter.
I managed to reduce the diameter using my drill stand and a diamond file.
The gears was then glued to the axles with green loctite.
I replaced the rubber band with a 17 x 2 mm O-ring.
The brushes was a different matter though. But, I found an old motor that had the right diameter brushes. Too long though, but that was easily rectified.
After assembly it works perfectly okay!

 

[Paradise]

The axle diameter is not too big. The gears shrink and the hole becomes too small therefore cracking on the axle. Anyhoo, good fix!

 

[Graffen]

The axle diameter is not too big. The gears shrink and the hole becomes too small therefore cracking on the axle. Anyhoo, good fix!

If that was true, then Bachmann wouldn't have so many cracked gears...
The On30 Shay, railbus, truck and many others had cracked gears, when I got the replacement gears, the force required to press them on to the axle would surely mean another cracked gear.
On all the Bachmann locos I have repaired, I reduced the diameter on the axles. The knurling they have on some of them are horrendous.

 

[Paradise]

I have some Bachmann replacement axles with gears and one of them is already cracked straight from spare parts.
I invested in a small supply of new delrin gears from NWSL. Unfortunately the business have now closed down.
Are my feet too big or are my shoes too small? That is the real mystery!