I'm not a fan of the CW-80 at all. At least certain batches were known to have problems. A postwar 1033, LW, or in the modern era an MTH Z-1000 would be a better choice, for not a lot of money. This would eliminate your transformer as a possible cause, and a better transformer would be a worthwhile upgrade for the future. My $.02.
@Ted S posted:I'm not a fan of the CW-80 at all. At least certain batches were known to have problems. A postwar 1033, LW, or in the modern era an MTH Z-1000 would be a better choice, for not a lot of money. This would eliminate your transformer as a possible cause, and a better transformer would be a worthwhile upgrade for the future. My $.02.
Speaking of that, I bought a new CW80 transformer yesterday which did eliminate the problem. But as I was going to figure out which track piece to wire, it went bad on me. My original plan was to run my locomotive around to locate any of the bad spots before I begin to wire, but as soon as I turn on my 180 watt power brick to go along with it, I heard a buzzing sound and the green light in my transformer stopped shining. Not sure what happened but now my 180watt powerbrick with the power master makes all of the lights go up on my passenger train and switches, but no the engine. This was the new version of the CW80 by the way. I can show a video if you guys need me to.
Sounds like the two are wired together and they are out of phase.
@John H posted:Sounds like the two are wired together and they are out of phase.
I’m not sure what you mean by this.
I'm lost. If you have a 180 power brick & the Legacy base, assuming you have a CAB whatever, what do you need a CW80 for. I don't get that.
And you certainly don't need another powerbrick or a CW80. The single brick can totally handle what you have.
A loop on the 8' x 8' platform with the power supplies you have should run perfectly with not too much persuasion.
As mentioned, there might be connectivity issues with the fastrack. When guys are saying you need 'power drops', what that simply means is connect a couple skinny wires at regular intervals to continue the juice flow. And yes, this involves running the wires under that platform, drilling holes and connecting the appropriate wires to the appropriate track lines.
Should be a piece of cake. I would suggest you not make it harder than it is. It is a couple wire connections is all it is.
Tighten up your connections between the fastrack best you can, add some 'power drops' and you will be good to go.
Good Luck, W1
You might want to watch a video on how to wire your layout - one example is below.
Never mind the controller issue, I was just having a transformer problem but it’s solved. Back to the main thing, I recently watched a YouTube video about voltage drops and I saw a guy solder a wire to a middle rail table to the other. My attempt is to take some 18 ga female connectors and but them on one middle rail price to the other. Just like hooking up a transformer. I also used a red wire to signify that both are connected to the middle rail. I ran my LionChief deisel with some lighted passenger cars across it and it worked. The problem with some of those connectors in my second photo is that some of them don’t make a secure connection. (So it’s a process of elimination for the connectors) Is there a smaller version of these connectors I can use instead?
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Those are .187. You need .110 female butt connectors. You're on the right track.
Either one will work.
I got some new terminals and started working on my layout today. Turns out I already had that diameter that was mentioned but the wire was to thick. It’s just some wire from Amazon. So I had to strip the wires by a few more inches. I even talked to someone who works with wires while at the auto shop. I was told that the wiring that we get on Amazon is usually not an accurate determination of the gauge. Because of this, he recommended that I tried using the 16-14 Female butt connectors. Surprisingly they worked. My wiring is the same as the one I posted last week. Both of the trains I have ran fine.
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