I have 2 ZW 275 watt post war transformers. I took both of them in for service (lionel service) over the last year for cords and rollers and a complete check up to ensure they were ok to keep using. I didn’t trust myself to check them out. I have been updating my trains and now 1 of the zw seems to be on the fritz. I have been running 2 engines on one of the zw’s and it was ok but now since I have put on the cars the 1 zw with 2 engines/trains will run for about 2 minutes and then the red lights come on. The other zw will run 2 trains plus accessories and even a burro crane with no problem. I can give you all the details of the cars etc. but I think the problem is inside the 1 transformer. I have swapped out the transformers to run the different trains (there are 4 trains running plus the burro and gang car) and the 1 zw will only seem to run 1 train, if I put on the second train even if it is the burro crane or gang car the red light comes on after about 2 to 3 minutes. I have individual 10 amp fuse on each of the train lines (A/D) as you have suggested here and they do not blow only the transformers fuse. I assume the fuse is bad inside the transformer but I figure you guys can correct me or hopefully let me know how to identify the fuse inside the transformer. I have looked and tried to compare it to the diagrams but am clueless. Is there a short term fix to bypass this or is it back to the shop for this transformer. I am getting by with a couple of older/unknown transformers but they have not been check out and hopefully the in line fuses will keep me safe. As always any help would be greatly appreciated.
Harold and a Merry Xmas to all.
Just to help someone else who may chime in have you tried hooking up to B/C instead or tried say A/C and B/D to see if you get the same results with the transformer giving you a problem as it might be one of your outputs is causing the trouble I'm not that good at stuff like this but have seen replays like this suggested to try first to see if it can be narrowed down
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
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There is no fuse inside the ZW. There is a single 15-ampere circuit breaker in series with the common terminals. That circuit breaker may have failed. You can replace it with a 15-ampere auto-resetting automotive circuit breaker.
All the common (U) terminals are wired together. From them there should be two wires, one going to 60-ohm resistor and then to the short-circuit lamp, the other directly to the circuit breaker.
Bob Nelson
Thanks Rtraincollector and Bob.
I have tried all the combinations of ab, ac, ad, bc, bd etc.... I have just got done comparing the two zw's. One looks like it has a z-22 circuit breaker and the other a z 232. The z 232 is the one that is giving me the problem, and I have seen it lock open when it fails. It looks just like an old set of points on a distributor for a car.
Bob, That is the way it is wired. When I get the automotive circuit breaker I assume I can keep it in the case and other than 15-ampere is there any other information I should be looking for such as number of watts etc.
By the way Bob, your bridge rectifiers work great slowing my train down the downside of the incline. My one problem is I am running my 2343 Santa Fe with the 2400 series passenger cars which seem to carry the voltage farther down the incline. I am guessing it is moving from one power wheel on the car to the other. But the run is long enough to slow down before the turn so all is good. I will have to do my test with the trains fully loaded next time. Live and learn since the alternative is to die young.
Thanks again for everything you guys.
Harold
Yes, put it in the case. The only other rating that it would have is for voltage, which would be 12 volts DC for the automotive application. Because it is so much easier on a switch to open an AC circuit rather than DC, anything made for a car will work just fine at the 21 volts that the ZW puts out.
I'm glad to hear that the rectifier trick is working for you. That is a problem with lighted cars with double pickups. If you get ambitious, you can try what I have done. That is to disconnect one pickup and put a rectifier-capacitor circuit into car. This will also eliminate the minor flickering that even a two-pickup car has, which is why I do it.
Bob is correct on the auto breakers. He told me to do that on my 4 post war ZW's and two KW's. Actually I one had one with bad breaker. After its conversion, I did all my other post war transformers. Try it and then do a short. See how fast it works.
God bless TCA 05-58541 Benefactor Member of the NRA, Member of the American Legion, Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville , KC&D Qualified
I have tried all the combinations of ab, ac, ad, bc, bd etc.... I have just got done comparing the two zw's.
A postwar Lionel ZW transfomer is not desgined to have any circuits made up with a combination of posts from the bottom row, such as what has been listed above (ab, ac, ad, etc). In fact, when a circuit is created through any two of these terminals the circuit breaker is not included, and provides no protection. All circuts on a postwar ZW transformer should include one common post from the top row ("U" post), and one post from the bottom row ("A", "B", "C", or "D")
When a circut is created between two posts in the bottom row, the output voltage is equivalent to the difference between the two setting for those posts. So if a circuit is made with "A", and "B", with "A" is set to 6 volts, and "B" set to 16 volts, the circuit will have about 10 volts. As I wrote earier, this is a bad idea due to the lack of protection.
I believe that cwburfle has it right. Check out the link below. There are also pages on most (if not all) Lionel pre- and post-war transformers. In the last page of this link find a chart giving various combinations of workable connections. It may seem a bit complicated at first, but it is most useful once you figure it out.
In the simplest case, for a post-war ZW, connect any of the U terminals to the outside rail of your track, and run a second wire from the center track to terminal A, or B, or C, or D, depending on which of the ZW's handles you wish to use as the throttle, i.e., to vary the track voltage.
Other old transformers, certainly including those by Lionel, use different schemes; so you need to check the instructions for whatever model you have. One size does NOT fit all, so to say.
For anything you still do not understand, feel free to post more questions.
http://pictures.olsenstoy.com/searchcd31.htm?itm=630
I probably should have mentioned that if one of the controls is set to off, there will be no power, or if both controls are set to the same voltage, there will be no power.
bfskinner...In the last page of this link find a chart giving various combinations of workable connections...
Rob
I understand about the common. I was trying to run 2 trains and with a/u, d/u and the draw kept blowing the breaker. What I meant by ab, ad ... was a/u for 1 train and b/u for another train but the breaker would also blow. The breaker in the transformer is bad.
Thanks Harold
ChiefEagles,
Where did you find the breakers. I tried 4 auto parts stores and radio shack and no one has them. For a quick fix I have put in a regular 15 amp auto breaker but I will have to pull the cover each time to replace it if it blows. Thanks for the help.
Harold and Happy New Year to all
I see them at several local stores, PepBoys, Advance Auto Parts, and AutoZone locally.
Not in Kentucky. I went to all of those stores and no go. I'll keep trying though.
Happy New Year...Harold
Not in Kentucky. I went to all of those stores. Going to try Rally's next.
Happy New Year. Harold
I guess in the backwater they're not as well stocked.
You don't have to run over half a state hunting for a circuit breaker at some auto supply store. Almost any Lionel parts dealer has the Z-22 replacement for ZWs. (Some even have the ZW-232 wafer type, if you want it.) By now, the gas you've used would easily have paid for the shipping charge.
Martin
Been gone. CarQuest.
Finally got the 15-ampere circuit breaker. One post on the breaker says aux the other post bat. Can you verify that it matters how the breaker is wired. Then I would guess that the battery (bat) post goes to the the resistor and short-circuit lamp and the auxilary (aux) post goes to the common.
Thanks again Harold
You should connect it between the rear "U" busbar and the transformer, it should replace the existing circuit breaker.
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