lionel zw question

[harleyman75]

Hi everyone, I'm new to site and have a question about voltage from zw transformer. When I use the AU lever(say 14volts) I also get voltage on the DU post of about 1/2 volts. Same goes for DU lever to Au post. The transformer shows no signs of broken or loose wires and has never been worked on--let me say that I'm a retired electrican so I'm at least familar with what solder terminations look like etc. Any ideas would help thanks  Greg

[lionelsoni]

I answered an earlier instance of this post.

[BigAl 956]

harleyman75

When I use the AU lever(say 14volts) I also get voltage on the DU post of about 1/2 volts.

The ZW is the king of toy train transformers delivering over 200 watts distributed amoung 4 possible outputs. There is only 1 secondary winding with a common side tied to the U terminal(s). If you open it up inside there are 4 individual wipers that swipe accross the coil giving you 4 individual controls. 

You say when you swipe A to 14v you read .5 volts on D? Or do you mean 7v on D? If .5 volts I wouldn't worry, thats just too small a number to be concerned with. If you mean there is 7 volts on D that is an issue. In either case I would attribute the problem to breakdowns in the original coil winding insulation. The coil wires are coated with a varnish like insulation material that seems to last forever however under stress it can overheat and burn off.

If you havn't already, open up your ZW and investigate the rollers attached to the arms. They need to be replaced from time to time. Maybe one has worn down causing a short of some type.

[harleyman75]

I searched the community Bob and nothing came up on the zw. what would be a good cleaner for windings and rollers? I will try again with a load on both au and du and see what outcome i receive   thanks  Greg

[lionelsoni]

It's happened again:  two threads on the same topic.  The original poster, who has just joined the forum, notices that his post didn't show up and doesn't realize that it won't until he is vetted, so he posts again.  When he is vetted, both posts show up at once.  Then members start replying to both, creating a confusing trail of responses.

I replied yesterday to the earlier original post.  Then I posted a warning on the later post, in the hope that other members would avoid that one and allow a single thread to develop.  Alas, my warning didn't stop Big Al from replying to the earlier original post.

It would be nice if the forum software issued an immediate warning to a first-time poster about the vetting process, to forestall the double post.  Failing that, we can do a better job of noticing the double posts and all replying to the same one.