Postwar KW's

There are 3 guys that I know of and 2 of them forum members. The guy I use is Davis Lyons in Burlington NC. He is reasonable and has many years of experience.Generally, he charges around 35-45 bucks each.

http://www.lioneltransformer.com/

Rob

Shipping two ways will add a bunch to that.  Have you considered repairs yourself?  Normally, a new power cord and perhaps rollers is all they need.

 

You'll probably end up paying as much as you could have a new PowerHouse 180 for.  It has a modern fast acting breaker and will supply more power to the output than a KW.  Sell the KW's on eBay, you'll get at least $40-50 for them assuming they're not physically damaged in any way.  This will end up being far cheaper.  Remember, you'll need some good circuit protection for the outputs of those KW's before they go into your TIU.

For me they are more of an heirloom so selling is out of the question. I inherited a bunch of his train stuff and since he is the one that got me into the hobby I have been trying to repair everything he had. I just think using the same controls that he used would be really cool. I have had both open and did replace the power cord on one. I am a automotive mechanic so I do have a lot of technical skill but I'm not familiar with transformer repair. I just want to make sure it runs good and is safe for my layout. One roller is still round and rolls ok but the other is flattened and needs replacing.

The one with the flat roller has a humming noise also when you plug it in and I don't know where to even start to look for the problem.

Not a problem.

 

Some just hum louder than others.

 

You can do this job - this is not transformer repair per se, but rather a mechanical repair.  No need to go into the transformer windings - at that point it would not be cost effective.  You KWs don't really need rebuilding, just normal maintenance and wear/tear repair.

Davis Lyons and others sell the rollers and pins so you can do the job yourself. Pay no attention to the hum. There can be ways to deal with the hum but just ignore it. The KW is still a nice transformer and you can put fuses between it and the track.

Rob

I buy my rollers from The Train Tender, he has good prices on them.  As for cords, I buy a black extension cord and lop the one end off.  Unless you need the Lionel L on your cord, $2 will solve the replacement cord issue.  The whole repair will end up costing less than $10.  As stated, the hum is normal.  I have four of these, some are louder than others.

A flat roller can be bridging multiple turns on the winding, and this will create an extra power load.  If it hums the same when the rollers/handles are at zero volts, this is not the problem.

Thanks everyone for the input. I guess I will try to replace the rollers myself. Wish me luck!!!

For tips on how to replace the rollers, be certain to read the material presented in the link(s) below. 

The description on roller replacement will be for a different model (ZW), but the technique is the same.

 

Text on roller replacement (see item 6)

http://pictures.olsenstoy.com/cd/transfmr/pszw1.pdf

 

Entire ZW (type R) pages:

http://pictures.olsenstoy.com/searchcd31.htm?itm=672

 

 

Manual pages on KW:

http://pictures.olsenstoy.com/searchcd31.htm?itm=657

How should I clean the tops of the windings where the rollers go?

Wipe with a cloth.  Don't use abrasive as you don't want to accidentally remove some winding varnish between winding turns that could short circuit leading to possible overheating.  The roller running back and forth several times will keep things clean.