I have a 5 yr old Lionel CW-80 transformer powering a very modest Polar Express train set with no accessories. Worked great for 5 years. Now, when I plug in the transformer produces a low growl (never did this before) and if I try to run the train the green light blinks as if there is too great a power draw (which it is supposed to do if this was really the case.) No power to track, train won't run. Lionel manual says nothing about how to correct a short circuit, if this is indeed what is happening.How can it even short with a minimal power draw?
Any insight/suggestions greatly appreciated.
Disconnect the transformer from the track , and crank up the voltage. Does the green light come on? If so, the transformer is bad. Now try hooking it up to the track with no trains on it and crank it up. If the light comes on now, there is a short in the track. Tinsel, nail, screw, anything can short out the track. If OK so far, try just the locomotive. If that works, add 1 car at a time until the problem occurs.
Larry
Just to clarify the above post (which is very good troubleshooting advice BTW), if the green light flashes, not just comes on, then the transformer is bad, or there's a short in the track, etc.
If it ends up being the track, disconnect half the track from the transformer, and check again. If the problem goes away, you know the problem is in the pieces you've unhooked. If you have a lot of track on your layout, you could do that again (and again if needed) to narrow down the problem further.
If it ends up being the locomotive, I would look at the smoke unit first. Their method of insulating the leads is pretty cheesy. It's just a tube of insulation slid over the lead and it's not really secured to anything. It may have shifted, allowing the unit to short out. This engine is amazingly simply to work on, A few screws on the underside hold the boiler. Remove them, and you can get to everything "under the hood"
Keep us updated as to what is working and what's not. Hope some of this helps, and I hope it ends up being something really simple.
J White
Oh yeah, about the growl. The transformer has a fan in it. Are you sure you never heard the growl before, or possibly the sound of the train running drowned it out? If the noise is different, the fan might be getting ready to fail, but I don't believe that would cause an overload (blinking light). I've been wrong before though.
TrainLarry Disconnect the transformer from the track , and crank up the voltage. Does the green light come on? If so, the transformer is bad. Now try hooking it up to the track with no trains on it and crank it up. If the light comes on now, there is a short in the track. Tinsel, nail, screw, anything can short out the track. If OK so far, try just the locomotive. If that works, add 1 car at a time until the problem occurs.
Clarification - When the green light comes on, it means the transformer is operating normally. If it blinks there is a short circuit somewhere. If it does not come on at all the transformer probably has blown the internal fuse. Both my CW-80s have a slight "growl" from the cooling fan.
Pete
"You can’t study the darkness by flooding it with light." - Edward Abbey -
I should clarify my post to say..."Does the light blink now?" and "If the light blinks now,..." as the original post states that "... if I try to run the train, the green light blinks...".
Sorry for the confusion.
Sorry to resurrect an old thread but this is the exact problem I was having. I've isolated the problem to one of the cars as it works when I take the car out but comes back when I put it back on the track.
what is the likely problem with this one car? Short??? How can I fix it? I have no experience taking one of these things apart!
Thank you in advance!
FL180...what is the likely problem with this one car? Short??? How can I fix it? I have no experience taking one of these things apart!
Short circuit, most likely, but we need more information on the type of car - catalog number, photo(s), etc.
Rob
Same thing happened to me, a "mystery short." It was a broken wire in an illuminated passenger car. Solved the problem by process of elimination, starting with the locomotive, then placing one car after another on the energized track until the short occured.
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