Ok, I got a NOS 6-12944 Sunoco Oil Derrick today and when I bench tested it on the workbench it worked fine. It is from 1997 made in USA. My test bench has a Lionel 1063 75-watt transformer from 1961. So I decided all was good and placed it on my layout. I use a CW-80 set to 13 watts for accessories and have several accessories on it but most are just LED lights. Feeding with 20-gauge wire. When I hooked the Derrick up to the CW-80 it would stall and jump and not pump??? I turned off all of the other accessories and it did the same, I turned it up to 15 volts and it did the same??? So I thought I needed to use bigger wire to feed it. Went to a temp jumper of 18 gauge and still the same. Ran a jumper off the ZW track connection with 20 gauge and set to 13 volts and it works great??? So I wired it up on it’s own switch with power from one of the accessory ports of the ZW and it is working fine.
Ok, I got a NOS 6-12944 Sunoco Oil Derrick today and when I bench tested it on the workbench it worked fine. It is from 1997 made in USA. My test bench has a Lionel 1063 75-watt transformer from 1961. So I decided all was good and placed it on my layout.
I use a CW-80 set to 13 watts for accessories and have several accessories on it but most are just LED lights. Feeding with 20-gauge wire.
When I hooked the Derrick up to the CW-80 it would stall and jump and not pump??? I turned off all of the other accessories and it did the same, I turned it up to 15 volts and it did the same??? So I thought I needed to use bigger wire to feed it. Went to a temp jumper of 18 gauge and still the same. Ran a jumper off the ZW track connection with 20 gauge and set to 13 volts and it works great??? So I wired it up on it’s own switch with power from one of the accessory ports of the ZW and it is working fine.
What would cause this difference between the ZW and CW?? Tks,
Joined 1-21-2011 TCA 13-68614
Kev, From The North Bluff Above Marseilles IL.
I might be way off coarse here but could it be that when hooked up to the zw the polarity is one way and the cw-80 its the other way and this unit is very picky
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
From what I remember, the CW80 outputs a modified sine wave, and some things will have compatability issues.
RT I thought of that and tried the wires both ways whit no better results. I think Jim probe may be on to something if I knew what he was talking about.
Kev,
Didn't mean for my inner EE to come out. Basically, the output of the CW80 isn't as clean as a ZW's. I got tired of the CW80's issues and quirks, and have "corrected" mine.
green97probe Kev, Didn't mean for my inner EE to come out. Basically, the output of the CW80 isn't as clean as a ZW's. I got tired of the CW80's issues and quirks, and have "corrected" mine. Yeah Jim this is not the first cruve ball the CW has pitched my way. I would think it would be better not worse. I have a lot of old transformers I guess I could use to replace it. one that comes to mind is a prewar AF #9
Yeah Jim this is not the first cruve ball the CW has pitched my way. I would think it would be better not worse.
I have a lot of old transformers I guess I could use to replace it. one that comes to mind is a prewar AF #9
Jim,
What did you do to "correct" the output of the CW80? Does this problem apply to all modern electronic transformers, or just the CW80?
Thanks in advance,
Larry
Larry,
I replaced the CW80 with a 1033. Between the compatability issues and the way that the CW80 automatically reduces power when slightly overloaded, I couldn't take the hassle any longer
green97probe Larry, I replaced the CW80 with a 1033. Between the compatability issues and the way that the CW80 automatically reduces power when slightly overloaded, I couldn't take the hassle any longer
hey Jim,
You know anyone who wants a CW-80???
"I use a CW-80 set to 13 watts for accessories and have several accessories on it but most are just LED lights. Feeding with 20-gauge wire."
I can see using 20GA with LED's. However, you might just want to try connecting your CrXp Wave 80 directly to the derrick with oh, some 16 GA and see what happens.
How do you know that you set the CW-80 to 13 volts? What kind of meter did you use?
Bob Nelson
KRM green97probe: Larry, I replaced the CW80 with a 1033. Between the compatability issues and the way that the CW80 automatically reduces power when slightly overloaded, I couldn't take the hassle any longer hey Jim, You know anyone who wants a CW-80???
green97probe:
What type of ZW are you using, postwar or modern? I think the output of both the CW-80 and modern ZW both are a chopped sine wave.
One difference in the output is the ZW directly follows throttle position whereas the CW-80 track output ramps up to throttle position over time. I don't know if the accessory output of the CW-80 ramps up, but I doubt it because the accessory output is fixed (programmable).
I would not recommend getting rid of your CW-80. It gets a lot of bad press, but I find it a very reliable nice transformer with lots of nice features. It isn't a very powerful transformer, as you noted with the overload fold-back feature, but if you use it within it's capabilities and don't overload it, it is a very nice transformer.
Good Luck...
Earl
EIS2...whereas the CW-80 track output ramps up to throttle position over time... Earl
This is a frequently misunderstood function/feature of the CW.
It only works as you describe when the direction button is pressed. Otherwise, the voltage output goes up as fast as you can move the handle. Try it.
Rob
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.
Get the Classic Toy Trains newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month