Ebay ZW buzzes and melted light.

[CSXJOE]

The lights on the ZW use 6 volt bulbs, to prevent the green lens from melting, replace the bulb with a 12 volt bulb. It will be dimmer but so what.

[Anonymous]

Right on with that site alt117. Says it all
Paul

[Anonymous]

Before you buy another ZW, check this out. Lots of good info here.

http://www.napanet.net/~jlbaker/index2.htm

[wrmcclellan]

The place to go in Houston (if he is still there) is JRS HOBBY DEPOT 7317 S KIRKWOOD HOUSTON, TX 77072 Phone: [phone]. Jerry is a great guy and extremely knowledgable at repair.

The other place is Trains and Planes. These are also nice folks to deal with, but repair is not their specialty.

BTW - I am from Houston originally. I have dealt with all the shops there personally.

[jimhaleyscomet]

Thanks all. I will contact Ken after I save up the money for the repair.

Jim H

[4kitties]

Jim, I highly recommend Ken Koehler as well. I have bought 2 transformers from him via eBay, a KW and an R, and they've both been flawless.

[Anonymous]

Jim, I have had a few dealings with Ken Koehler for transformer repairs. His web address is www.lioneltransformers.com. He repaired transformers for years, now retired and does it as a sideline. He is in the Chicago area. Its probably worth the UPS to send it in for repairs. I will e mail you his ph #. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND HIM. IN the Houston area , is the train shop still in business on S. Kirkwood. S. of I-10? I would avoid the place on Westheimer. ...Tim

[jimhaleyscomet]

O.k. all, I guess I should have this one gone over by a pro. Any ideas who I should visit in the Houston area? Also, how much should it cost for labor and for parts?

Jim H

[cmrj]

I agree with the Doc. ,I am fairly good with elec. & electronic's serviceing HVAC. I looked at several ZW's ,weighed pro's & con's to rebuild my self , a fellow toy collector I worked with, at the time I bought mine , recamended this guy that go's to all the show's . Rebuilding transformer's is a side line .He takes them apart and clean's and rebuild 's like new bought it for a 150.00 . Came with his card and a one year warranty,with a repro. box and operation manual. and I didn't have to dink with it. [2c]

[Anonymous]

20 years ago I bought a ZW from a guy at a train show said he went through it and it looked good. When I got it home I took the cover off and the carbon rollers were completely worn down. After replacing the four rollers and power cord it was fine and still is. Buying an, as is, transformer on Ebay is risky.
Just my .02
Paul

[Dr.Fu-Manchu]

The Doctor is in !!! First, you bought the item on E-bay. Unless the ZW was reconditioned by the seller and he or she gives you a warranty, you cannot expect anything. Take the ZW to a dealer that can do repairs and have a "once over" done to it.
I saw one on ebay friday and the price was at the time I looked was $84.00. The seller said that the case had a crack in it. Looking at the photo, I saw a hole in the case on the voltage taps side and one tap was missing ! But they claim it works. So, beyond "Buyer
Beware" you must be willing to spend a bit more to make sure your "bargain" will give you trouble free service. I am willing to buy "Fixer-Uppers" But I can fix most things. What I can't fix, Goes to my Dealer for repairs. As to repairs on transformers, Unless you are very bright when it comes to electrical repairs and you have a repair book, Don't
do it! Leave it to the pros. Bottom Line: If you can't or don't want to fix some thing,Don't bid on it !!! Go to the Dealers and buy reconditioned pieces. You will be happy and will not regret spending your money. Till My Next Missive, I Remain The Humble, Yet Strangly Evil (and wise) Doctor !!![}:)]

[ben10ben]

The buzz is typically the result of a loose primary coil. It's allowed to vibrate back and forth across the core, producing the humming that you hear. The fix, as told by Jim Barrett of OGR, is to wedge toothpicks underneath the core to shim it and hold it securely in place.

This could be the cause of the knocking you hear as well.

[Anonymous]

First of all, there is some real ZW expertise on here. I am surprised that they haven't jumped all over this post. I was told years ago that the first thing you do when you buy a ZW is change the power cord--even if it looks good. So that's not really a major mislead.

I have seen a number of them over the years with melted green lights. Since mine is fifty years old and the green light is fine, I assume that it is the wrong size bulb that is the culprit, but none of the ones I saw with melted bulbs had a problem. The part number is ZW-23, and you can probably order it from Lionel or Warren.

I am going to leave the buzz and the clunk to someone who knows more than I do about ZWs. I seem to remember that the clunk was fairly common, should be fixed, and is fairly easy to fix. But that is with a memory that is older than my ZW.

My fireman is yelling at me to go to bed.

[jimhaleyscomet]

Hello all,

I recently purchased an Ebay ZW. When I went to plug it in I noticed some strange things.

1. One of the two power wires had "popped" out of the insulation where it bent coming out between transformer and mounting plate. I fixed it with electrical tape.
2. The green power on light was melted through. Does anyone know what could cause that. Do I need to get a different bulb?
3. There is a loud buzz when I plug it in wether or not trains are being powered.
4. One of the whistle / direction butttons does not bounce back to neutral position when I let go.
5. When I lifted it out of the box I noticed something inside clunks if I rotate the ZW. Is this a sympton of a serious problem?

The pictures were taken so the melted bulb and the cord did looked fine (even on very close examination. Here is how it was described.

USED, IN GOOD CONDITION, WORKS OK, FEW SCRATCHES

My question is this. Should I complain about poor description or do you think it was described acurately?

Jim H