gvdobler,
Mr. McClellan has it exactly right. Some members (including myself) have suggested that if the number on the bottom of the device itself is four digits and lower than (around) 0906* it is an older one; whereas if the number is a 5-character alphanumeric of the type G0906 it is a revised one. I have asked Lionel Customer Service directly, but they have refused to confirm or refute this, so rwmcclellan's way is best.
Be sure to do Mr. McClellan's continuity test with the transformer unplugged from the wall and nothing connected to any of the four terminals on the back.
* Presumably this is a date of manufacture, so that : 0306 means March, 2006, whereas G0906 would mean September, 2006 and indicate a revised model. CW80's with designations in the first 8 months or so of 2006 are in a "gray area" and I am not clear whether they are old or revised based on the numbers alone.
I am confident that folks will be a lot happier with a revised one than an earlier version. I realize that many people have used the older ones without serious problems or annoyances (I am one of them) but in most cases one finds that all they have done is used their CW80 to drive a starter set with no frills. Those who have tried to do something just a little more elaborate, such as hook up a constant voltage lead to a turnout using the Programmable Fixed Voltage Accessory Taps, will understand what I mean, and this is only the tip of the iceberg.
Incidentally, since the revised CW-80's appeared, I have seen only one report of a "bad" one. Prior to that, virtually every day a major complaint appeared on one forum or another. Some of these were the same complaint repeated over and over again. The facts seem to be that the old ones tended to be problematic but the revised ones generally work as they are supposed to.
If you have one of the revised versions, I recommend connecting the orange post (throttle) to the center rail and the black post to an outside rail. This should ensure that the bell and horn/whistle buttons do what they are supposed to. The owner's manuals (at least the ones online) remain both unclear and inconsistent on this subject.
It is easier to just use an ohmmeter and check for continuity between the two red terminals. If a direct short (0 ohms) is shown between the two red terminals, then consider the red terminals as "common".
If there is a direct short between the two black terminals, then the black terminals are "common".
I put a label on the ones with a red "Common" so I wire them correctly in a layout.
Regards, Roy
bfskinner
How do know what the later model is? By serial number, etc?
One reminder: the early Lionel CW80 transformers do not work well with many FasTrack pieces and accessories unless you wire them up "backwards" with the orange posts as "common." This design defect seems to be reflected in some of the manuals which say (or at one time said) you just can't do something that you want to. Not necessarily so, but the "workaround" (which has been discussed to death on the forums) reverses the bell and horn/whistle control buttons. The newer revised CW80 models should work just fine with Lionel equipment as well as some but not all of other manufacturers' equipment.
kpolak,
Kurt wrote:
It torques me to have to spend $25 to figure out how to use someone's product.
Good point, but I think each specialized piece of FasTrack comes with an Owner's Manual. In any event, you can always go to
http://www.lionel.com/
---> Customer Service ---> Owner's Manuals and key fastrack into the search box. They're free for the viewing and can be printed out.
There's is also a useful forum devoted more-or-less exclusively to FasTrack. To access it you have to sign up, but it's free and the amount of information there is amazing. For more info try:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Lionel_FasTrack_System/
Tedwards wrote: Two good resources for beginning FasTrack users are the book "The Lionel FasTrack Book" by Robert S. Schleicher
Two good resources for beginning FasTrack users are the book "The Lionel FasTrack Book" by Robert S. Schleicher
I don't know about anyone else....
Kurt
Track has no problems with heat. I used a 33watt ungar soldering iron(about 800 degree tip temp).
Solder just like this. I found it easier to solder to the tabs that hold the rails to the bed. Just tin the wires and tabs before you solder the wires to the tabs.
Bob Nelson
Both are excellent, but there are a few cases in the book where the track plans need a few small joiner sections to make them operate correctly.
The DVD shows a lot of ways to make connections under the track, isolate rails, etc.
You can use somewhat smaller wire for the last few inches without any problem. Here's a resistance table:
AWG resistance, ohms per foot
10 .001
12 .0016
14 .0025
16 .004
18 .0063
20 .01
You can see that 6 inches of 18 AWG is equivalent to 2 feet of 12 AWG; so a 6-inch 18-AWG tap at the end of, say, a 20-foot 12-AWG feeder is a negligible increase in resistance and voltage drop.
One might consider soldering short light-gauge wires to the bottom of the track, then poking these through holes in the table and splicing them to heavy-gauge wire with wire nuts under the table. This way the soldering can be done on the bench; and the track can easily be disconnected and reconnected for repair.
I have a ton of 14 gauge wire I got for just about free and would love to use it. The #18 connectors work on them or #14?
PS Layout 5x6
Since the track itself is the rough equivalent of 16 AWG, 18 AWG feeders can't be expected to help much unless the track joints are pretty bad. I recommend 14, 12, or 10 AWG.
You can squeeze 16 gauge in too. I would go 16 gauge feeders to 12 gauge mainline back to the transformer. Some would even recommend 10 gauge mainline...
God bless TCA 05-58541 Benefactor Member of the NRA, Member of the American Legion, Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville , KC&D Qualified
Can I assume #18 connectors work only on #18 gauge wire and...is 18 gauge the best choice for wiring a small layout?
gvdobler wrote: Numer 18 connectors.A bunch for a couple bucks. Radio Shack, Ace Hardware, etc.
Numer 18 connectors.
A bunch for a couple bucks. Radio Shack, Ace Hardware, etc.
Right on. Lowes here even has narrow bladed ones. I have soldered long sections of my Realtrax. I used a high wattage gun, "load" tip and you touch it and move it away. Copper tabs soldered together with no plastic melting.
DAN,
Did my two loops of fastrack with solder every 4 feet no problems in over a year.
laz57
didn't know Radio Shack had the connectors...you guys are awesome. Thank you for the suggestion.
dan
Instead of buying the expensive Fastrack connecting wires, can I just solder wire to the metal tabs on the underside to power my layout? In other words, if I'm careful, can it handle the heat?
Thanks,
Dan
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