I think I posted this in the wrong section....
I have a Post War ZW, KW and RW for my layout. The ZW controls the track. The track contains 13 Switches and about 256 feet of Gar Graves track. The transformer is connected at various points in the track. My Kw and RW run the accessories. I have recently noticed that after just a short amount of time, the ZW gets really hot to the touch. The other transformers do not. Also, I have noticed the track power has become a bit weaker due to a recent addition of track.
Is there anything wrong with my ZW? Am I demanding too much from this one ZW? If so, should I purchase another and put them in phase? I read a little about in phase and know little about it. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
M
Yeah, you're probably in the wrong place. Is a ZW one of the great big Lionel transformers, the one with the two handles out on the sides? Had one of those in my younger days. The place you want to ask this is on the Classic Trains forum.
However, we're a bright and talkative bunch, with experience and opinions galore. My guess is, your "recent addition of track" has a mild short in it. If the track is far enough away, the current won't be enough to trip the circuit breaker, but it will be enough to warm up the transformer a lot. The first thing I'd do is go to the far end of the new section, as far from the power feed as possible, and put a screwdriver across the track, creating an intentional dead short. This should trip your circuit breaker. If it doesn't, it tells you the lines are too long, and you've got a lot of loss (resistive load) in the circuit. Next, try disconnecting the new section, both the track from the rest of the layout and the feeders. See how the Z-dubya behaves in that configuration. If it goes back to normal, you've found your culprit. If not, well, divide and conquer. It may take a while to slowly disconnect things, but you'll get it eventually.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.