I have a Williams engine with basic electronic horn only. When I run it on my layout powered with a Lionel GW-180 transformer, the horn blows constantly. When running it on a track powered with either a CW-80 or an MTH Z-1000, it runs with no problem. Why would the GW-180 cause the horn to blow constantly and the other transformers not?
Replies sorted oldest to newest
The chopped sine wave generated by your GW-180 may be slightly different from the chopped wave output from your CW-80. For whatever reason, there may be some asymmetrical "ringing" in the waveform that generates a small DC offset. While this would not be an issue with a majority of locomotives, some are more sensitive to activation. I have observed this same issue with a couple of Williams engines while using chopped wave transformers. In my case, I found that placing a 47uf, 50V non-polarized capacitor across the transformer output terminals was enough to smooth out the noise and eliminate the constantly blowing horn issue.
GREGR - I thought it might have something to do with the chopped sine wave in the GW-180. Thanks much for the solution!
Ron
Access to this requires an OGR Forum Supporting Membership
