lionel CW board removal

Clip the leads on the old one and splice them to the new one.

thanks for the reply John but I almost cannot even see the fan wire leads to disconnect and splice to another fan

Remove the handle and potentiometer.  This allows access to both screws holding the circuit board on.  Remove the circuit board.   Then you will have full access to the fan wires.

thanks much but I did all that and it seems something is still holding this board back

Sometimes boards stick to standoffs just like plastic.

Is this some kinda really thin or ultra brittle board? A small sharp rap near the holes, on an edge, or a careful pry would loosen every board I've ever come across. They can be brittle, but not usually THAT brittle. And if traces are intact, you can glue and/or back it up if cracked. Traces and components are all that really matters really.

You have to work a bit to crack a fiberglass PCB.

I picked up a stack of fans to change all my 7 CW80 fans. Got the first done today. In order to get to the fan and get the circuit board out I had to remove the nuts and leads to the 2 red connectors they are blocking the fan from coming up out over the tabs. I also had to loosen the 2 black terminals just the holding nuts not leads so they would lean out of the way to get the fan and circuit board assembly out. Simple to change over once that is done be sure to re-glue the white screw guides back on to the new fan before reinstalling. Make sure the wires do not get pinched reinstalling. Realize this post is old but may be of use to others researching this topic like I was.  

this is strange. I replaced the fan on two of the CW 80 and only had to remove the case screws with a T27 bit remove the throttle potentiometer and two phillips screws for the board. that obnoxious heat sink makes it a little troublesome to remove the board once the screws are out. my advice on that is to do what I did. on re assembly I cut off most of that heat sink just leaving a small amount to mount the new fan and these transformer run with no faults of any kind

rebuilder posted:

I cut off most of that heat sink just leaving a small amount to mount the new fan and these transformer run with no faults of any kind

Probably not a great idea.  The whole reason they needed the fan is the excessive heat, cutting most of the HS out isn't doing the transformer any good!

well John your probably right but the two CW 80 I re worked with a smaller area of heat sync are not overheating. If I replace another fan in one of these i’ll eliminate the chinnese heat sync completely and try a said to be very efficient “board level” triac heat sync and attack the fan to the case close to where it is now that should free up some breathing space 

They're your transformers.

I think if I tried to run a lot of stuff the CW 80 could overheat but without the large heat sync more space is available to add another cooling fan. i’ll just go easy on these and have a very dependable LW if needed