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Author Topic: Lionel ZW transformer works great except one of the lights  (Read 2953 times)

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Lionel ZW transformer works great except one of the lights
« on: April 23, 2017, 07:24:58 pm »
I am refurbishing a used ZW transformer. It had a bad cord, one bad ground terminal and no light bulbs.  I replaced all the bad components and tested the functionality. All throttle and voltage controls work as expected including whistle and direction.  The only issue is that the red bulb (left side) does not light. Swapping the bulbs proves both bulbs are good.  I do not see any bare, shorted or open wires. Does anyone have suggestions as to what might be amiss.
Thanks,
Mike



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Re: Lionel ZW transformer works great except one of the lights
« Reply #1 on: April 24, 2017, 12:57:33 pm »
The red light should be off, it's the circuit breaker light. If it does light you have a short circuit on your layout, possible train off the the track or something laying on the track.

Steve
Lionel Marx toy train repair in Philadelphia area
I repair vintage LIONEL & MARX trains and accessories from 1900 to 1990. I have been repairing toy trains since the 1960
stevestrainrepair · sllove1947.wixsite.com
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Re: Lionel ZW transformer works great except one of the lights
« Reply #2 on: April 24, 2017, 02:03:39 pm »
Quote from: sllove1947@hotmail.com on April 24, 2017, 12:57:33 pm
The red light should be off, it's the circuit breaker light. If it does light you have a short circuit on your layout, possible train off the the track or something laying on the track.

Steve
https://sllove1947.wixsite.com/stevestrainrepair
Interesting as nothing is joked up to the terminals.



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Re: Lionel ZW transformer works great except one of the lights
« Reply #3 on: April 27, 2017, 06:10:49 pm »
When I deliberately short a terminal to ground the red light does not come on. Concerned.


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Re: Lionel ZW transformer works great except one of the lights
« Reply #4 on: May 01, 2017, 01:40:36 pm »
The red light will not come on until the circuit breaker trips. If the breaker trips and the lamp does not light, then you probably have a wiring issue.

Larry
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Re: Lionel ZW transformer works great except one of the lights
« Reply #5 on: November 21, 2017, 01:27:07 pm »
If you have not found your problem, I may have. I have (had) the same issue. I thought it was the circuit breaker, I have a new one on order. But in the mean time I found this: http://www.agtta.com/Tech-Tips/Tech-tip-ZW-repairs3.pdf
Check out page 3. It talks about a bad resister wire. I did what they suggested, swapping out a 14 volt (I had no 18v bulbs) and running a jumper wire where the resister wire is at. All of a sudden my red light worked when I shorted out the system. I'm still putting in the modern circuit breaker when it gets here as I felt it took a little long before it tripped, but it did trip and it did light up the red light. Now I have to find 18v lights with the little globe as the ones I have are too big to fit in the red light dome.
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Re: Lionel ZW transformer works great except one of the lights
« Reply #6 on: November 21, 2017, 09:21:11 pm »
The 18 volt bulbs with the small globe (G3-1/2) are #1445 and available from The Train Tender.
Parts List
We specialize in model train parts, including Lionel, American Flyer, and Marx. Contained on this site is our list which contains over 5,000 parts available through us.
ttender.com


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