KW transformer

[Anonymous]

I have another question on this transformer. I checked the operation with a volt meter. Everything looks good. I hook it up to a load and the light come on nothing to the engine. The 5V tap works fine, everything else trips the light.

Can someone give me some ideas?

[1688torpedo]

Hello TMCRacing! Make sure there are no shorts on your layout. Use another Transformer to confirm this. If all goes well then there may be something wrong with the KW Circuit Breaker & It will need to be checked out by a Service Station.Take Care.

[Anonymous]

I did check track with another transformer and no problems. If it is the circuit breaker where can you get a replacement?

[wrmcclellan]

Try Olsen's

http://pictures.olsenstoy.com/

Regards,
Roy

[4kitties]

Question, are you saying that hooking anything up to the other fixed taps triggers the overload light, or does it only come on when you move either throttle from the off position? I ask because I bought I bought a refurbished KW where the stack had come loose in transit and was sitting in such a way as to create a dead short whenever I moved the throttles. I repositioned the stack into the chassis where it belonged and the problem was solved. If your throttles have what feels like a definite "catch" to them as you move them through their range, you may have this problem. However, if your other fixed posts also cause the overload light to come on, then I doubt it is this, and I too would check the circuit breaker or have it checked by a service station.

Joel

[martinden]

The fixed 6v circuit doesn't pass through the circuit breaker, which is why it works when the others don't.

The problem is (almost certainly) the circuit breaker. It's become so weakened somehow or other that even the load of a single locomotive causes it to open. (It probably has opened so many times, it's "just worn out.") The voltmeter places virtually no load on the output, so the breaker doesn't open and you measure correct voltage.

KWs came with a least two different CBs over the years. The early ones had an adjusting screw. If yours has one, try turning it a good amount -- all the way to the opposite end of its travel or halfway or something. (If that solves the problem, you have to find the best setting for the screw through trial-and-error.) If there's no adjusting screw, I would fool around and try to bend the "base" arm of the breaker a bit -- NOT the bi-metallic element. (You may or may not want to try this. At best it's a very crude method of adjustment.)

As a temporary fix, you can by-pass the internal breaker and use an external breaker -- very roughly, at least three amps for a single motor train, five or six amps for postwar dual motor with passenger cars, not more than 10 amps.

Replacement CBs are available from various parts houses.

[lionelsoni]

Consider bypassing the bad circuit breaker and putting a new one in series with each of the outputs, including the 6-volt one. The single breaker that the ZW was designed with does not protect against any faults between outputs, nor faults on the low-voltage output (as you have seen). I like automatic-resetting automotive circuit breakers, which are inexpensive and easy to find. You can get them in 5-, 10-, and 15-ampere ratings. The original ZW breaker tripped at 15 amperes.