Problems with Lionel CW-80 tranformers

[Anonymous]

I am having problems with my new Lionel CW-80 transformer. It seems that I lose the voltage when I connect it to the track or to a light or gate. At the transformer terminal I have 19vac but when I connect the track to the transformer I get 0 vac. I talked to my local Lionel dealer and he stated there is a problem with SOME of these transformers but he did not elaborate. Has anyone had problems with this.. Also, can I assume that I have 0 Vac when the lever is in the down /off position? this is not the case.. When I have NOTHING hooked up I have a constent 19V.... Any suggestions? I just emailed Lionel but if anyone has an 800 # for service that would be great.

[Anonymous]

Cooker,
I purchased two Lionel train sets this past Christmas. One transformer worked fine, but the other one ran the train very poorly. The train started at a higher throttle setting than the good transformer. As the throttle was advanced, the train speed and voltage climbed and then began to reduce. Then it would catch back up to what it should be and then down again. Around 90% throttle setting, the voltage would drop to zero and the train would stop. Further advancing the throttle would do nothing. Backing the throttle back down to around 80% would bring the voltage back, but the train is now in neutral. Very repeatable.

The dealer said a high percentage of the 80 W transformers are defective and is sending me a replacement. I have yet to recieve it.

[brianel027]

Lionel does not have an 800 number other than a dealer directory. The phone for Lionel is 1-856-949-4100. Customer service takes calls anytime during normal business hours, but I believe the tech department only takes calls Wed-Fri afternoons. At least this was a policy started a couple years ago... maybe due to the large load of repair work??

Maybe the dealer where you bought the transformer will replace it (though it's certainly no fault of his or her own)?

Now for my cynical response: gee, you suppose this could have something to do with the assembly line no longer being across the parking lot, but across the Pacific Ocean instead? There must be even more cost savings by relying on the consumer to perform the duties of the new product testing lab. Is it any wonder so many of us are so determined to stick with older and less electronically complicated items that we know are time tested and true.

brianel, Agent 027

[Anonymous]

I bought a CW80 over EBay, but have not had a chance to test it as yet. I am almost afraid to plug it in judging from the responses from this and other boards.

[Anonymous]

Thank you everyone for your responses. I talked to Lionel and they are going to send me one. When I had talked to my local dealer (I DID NOT BUY THE TRAIN FROM HIM) He stated that Lionel set aside transformers for his customers. If anyone else is having this problem go to the dealer that you bought it from and they maybe able to save you some phone calls.

[Anonymous]

I am having the same problem as LesInMo. I thought I was going crazy.

[Anonymous]

My CW-90 wouldn't allow me to alter the voltage on the accessory posts. Even though the unit responded as described in the instructions (Hold down all three buttons, increase throttle, voltage to track is cut, green light flashes) the voltage stayed fixed at 19v.

I called Lionel's 800# and they offered to ship a replacement. No charge, no questions asked. Even told me to keep the defective one.

It's great customer service by the cynical side of me thinks they must have lots of know problems with this unit to so quickly offer a replacement with no documentation.

[brianel027]

Arawson, what 800# for Lionel.... this is news to me. Other than the 'find-a-dealer' number, Lionel, to my knowledge has never had a toll-free 800#. K-Line had one for many years, but even they've dropped it

[Anonymous]

Many people are having problems with their CW-80 transformers. My quit the second day that I had it. Everytime that I put a load on either terminal, the power drops out. My cousin's stopped working around Christmas, and a buddy at work's gone through two already -- something about a bad board.

[Anonymous]

I mis-spoke myself about the 800 number. They don't have an 800 number. I called 586-949-4100 x1360 and spoke to technical support. It's just the standard contact information they give on their web site at http://www.lionel.com/CustomerService/Findex.cfm

[Anonymous]

One other note on Lionel having an 800 number. If you go to www.anywho.com and choose, "Toll Free" number look up, then type in "lionel" about 15 results come up. About 10 down, you'll see three different Lional Trains number appear. I didn't try them but they may work for you.

[Anonymous]

I have received the transformer and it seems to be working fine. I hope everyone gets their transformer issues resolved

[Anonymous]

The CW-80 in my Grandson's new Southern Diesel Freight set lasted exactly 2 days. At the first engine derailment, the green power on light shut off never to shine again. The whole transformer is "dead as a door nail" after that single derailment. What a turn off for a kid just getting started with his first set of trains!!!!

I can thank Lionel for developing a new overload safety feature that eliminated the old circuit breaker that worked so well for 100 years. I notified Lionel about their horrible piece of engineering and product testing . Let's see what they do to make things correct.

[Anonymous]

The main problem with the CW-80 transformer is that there is not a common ground between the variable and accessory terminals. What this means is that if you want to run switches, uncupplers or other accessories with fixed voltage with the CW-80 you can only use variable power, which is really annoying. The power to the switches and lights, etc.. goes up and down as you increase power to the track.

I had to go to three different dealers until the problem was discovered. Apparently this is due the variable power being digital, while the accessory terminals are not. None of the dealers were aware of the change and assumed that fixed voltage would work.

I emailed and spoke with Lionel technical support and they confirmed this was the case. I asked if they had a work around or would be correcting the problem, they responded that it was not a problem, and that the transformer was functioning as designed.

I returned the CW-80 and purchased K-lines 120W transformer for the same price and it works like a charm.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cooker

I am having problems with my new Lionel CW-80 transformer. It seems that I lose the voltage when I connect it to the track or to a light or gate. At the transformer terminal I have 19vac but when I connect the track to the transformer I get 0 vac. I talked to my local Lionel dealer and he stated there is a problem with SOME of these transformers but he did not elaborate. Has anyone had problems with this.. Also, can I assume that I have 0 Vac when the lever is in the down /off position? this is not the case.. When I have NOTHING hooked up I have a constent 19V.... Any suggestions? I just emailed Lionel but if anyone has an 800 # for service that would be great.

[Anonymous]

I had the same problem with a CW-80 that came with a set I purchased just before x-mas, I called the service number included with the directions, they sent me a new transformer, no questions asked. They told me that they know about the problems....

[Anonymous]

Message to Floyds: Lionel should replace the transformer no questions asked. But you might want to kill 2 birds with one stone. If you have track with the black center rail you may want to have them replace it as well because the black track is not being sold only on ebay and places like that.... I think the black track may not be as conductive as the new silver rail track. Just an FYI if you did not know....

[Kooljock1]

I had quite the battle with this little guy just the other day. The best I can figure is that the "U" posts are the variable, while the "A" and "B" are in reality the "common"!

Try wiring it that way, and you'll find it works! Stupid but true. As these units have special screw mounts for attaching the case to the base, I can't crack one to see if the phased power cord can be reversed. But if you wire in reverse, all will work, albeit the bell button will blow the whistle and vice-versa!

Jon [8D]

[Anonymous]

Well, I posted a discussion topic on OGR about this transformer, except that my CW-80 has worked fine so far. I got it a week ago; won it on eBay. It's worked every time without a hitch, although I haven't yet tried the accessory terminals.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the CW-80 info. My son's Thomas The Tank Engie (actually made in USA) will not go into reverse or neutral. I replaced the E-Unit same problem. After countless hours with a multimeter - the voltage never goes to zero. So the E-Unit never switches. I should have started here first. That way when I shipped the black rail track back I could have included the transformer.

Stan

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by arawson


I called Lionel's 800# and they offered to ship a replacement. No charge, no questions asked. Even told me to keep the defective one.

im thinking of an evil plot [}:)] ask them to do the same thing, get a free 80wts

JUST KIDDING[8)]

[Anonymous]

Purchased one on ebay a while agotransformer works great but the plastic nut stripped the first time I tried to connect wire to it so have been using quick connectors for the track you can get them at radio shack fo a few dollars.

[Anonymous]

[Thanks for the CW-80 info. My son's Thomas The Tank Engie (actually made in USA) will not go into reverse or neutral. I replaced the E-Unit same problem. After countless hours with a multimeter - the voltage never goes to zero. So the E-Unit never switches. I should have started here first. That way when I shipped the black rail track back I could have included the transformer.

the train may be made in USA but the transformer is made in China[;)]

[Anonymous]

The CW with my father-in-law's Southern Freight went dead after few hours use. Just dead. To it's credit, the local hobby shop just gave him one in exchange. On the exchange unit (like the original), the whistle/bell functions are reversed.

The 40w unit that came with my son's Glacier Freight is very erratic, especially after it warms a bit. Voltage doesn't quite drop enough to let the eunit cycle. Hafta pull the plug. Whatta pain.

I got an LW. Problem solved. The modern unit has better slow speed control. But the eunits and pullmores are much quieter with the LW.

While I'm on the topic, the conductivity of fastrack stinks. 50 year-old rusty Marx 027 track was better. Current 0-31 Lionel track works great!

Rant off. (I love that little GN RS3, though!)

[phatkat64]

What was wrong with the BW-80 from a couple of years ago anyway?????

Was it THAT important to get rid of the separate brick?

Carmine

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Old 2037

The CW with my father-in-law's Southern Freight went dead after few hours use. Just dead. To it's credit, the local hobby shop just gave him one in exchange. On the exchange unit (like the original), the whistle/bell functions are reversed.

The 40w unit that came with my son's Glacier Freight is very erratic, especially after it warms a bit. Voltage doesn't quite drop enough to let the eunit cycle. Hafta pull the plug. Whatta pain.

I got an LW. Problem solved. The modern unit has better slow speed control. But the eunits and pullmores are much quieter with the LW.

While I'm on the topic, the conductivity of fastrack stinks. 50 year-old rusty Marx 027 track was better. Current 0-31 Lionel track works great!

Rant off. (I love that little GN RS3, though!)

My Thomas the Tank engine e-unit won't cycle either when using the CW-80. I take Thomas and the transformer toe a Lionel dealer. Thomas and the transformer both work. We try Thomas on a different track and CW-80. Works fine. Come home - now it doesn't work. Now I'm p****d and on a quest. I buy an older transformer (separate power pack and a grey cheesy box with the controls) and what do you know? Thomas runs great.

The only thing I can think of now is that the voltage is higher at my house than at the hobby shop. While sitting on the track CW-80 off Thomas track voltage is 5 volts - just enough to not let the e-unit switch - unless you unplug the transformer.

I was wrong - even Thomas was made in China - bummer

Stan

[phatkat64]

Well, I fixed MY CW-80 problem....
My hobby shop had 2 BW-80s left in the store. Bought it, hooked it up, and voila! My MTH Proto 2 works, my other Lionel engines run strong, it doesn't overheat, and it doesn't cut out!

I may buy the other one from him too!!![:D]

[Anonymous]

I bought a CW-80 when they first came out. Right now, all I use it for is to run my NYC Flyer O27 with a few cars. I have one uncoupling track section hooked to the fixed voltage accessory terminals, as well as a flashing crossing gate which I ran through an Atlas on/off switch, so I can turn it off if it gets too annoying. Have never had any problems with the unit to date (I bought it in 2001 or so, I believe). It is the older model with the fixed accessory outputs rather than the variable ones.

[Anonymous]

I bought a CW-80 on eBay maybe a year ago. Contrary to most everyone else's experience, mine has worked fine every time. I don't run the trains that often, however, so maybe I haven't put enough demand on it yet.

John

[Anonymous]

My CW-80, which came with a Land's End Christmas set about a year ago, acted erratically from day one. It's now boxed up and sitting in storage, likely never to be used again (yes, I know I should have taken some action to get a replacement). Too bad, too, because I kind of liked the look of the thing.