Transformer Compatability

I'm still new to all this but I use the CW-80 at full power with the DCS Remote Commander.  Seems to work fine.

Eddie

The Z1000 will definitely work. I have had issues running MTH engines with a CW-80. It tends to work a little better when there is a second load on the tracks, i.e. a lighted caboose. 

Thank you both very much!

There has been previous discussion about this, try a search:

https://ogrforum.com/t...356#2415514336585356

If you want to run some MTH then the Z1000 would be a good choice. The CW-80 is not garbage, lots of people use them, they just are not compatible with an MTH engine...

... The CW80 is probably fine if you're going to operate Lionel trains, but I do not recommend it for MTH locomotives. MTH doesn't recommend it either (they list about 25 compatible transformers in their owners manuals) ...

How different is the CW80 from the ZW-C in this regard?  I use the ZW-C with my MTH trains and do not have a problem.  I thought it had a chopped sine-wave too?  Is the problem the chopped sine-wave or something else about the CW80?  I did have a CW80 at one time, and I got some weird results at times.  In the end, I just needed more power to run multiple trains.

George

The Z1000 black brick transformer puts out a pure sinewave of a fixed voltage.  The Z1000-controller chops this pure sinewave to create the variable voltages to drive your "transformer controlled" GP38.   Your engine does not need pure sinewaves to operate.

That said, there are slight variations in how controllers chop sinewaves leading to possible variations in engine behavior when driven by a CW-80 vs. a Z1000.  So you'll see workarounds such as adding a lighted load to the track to suppress sometimes erratic behaviors such as whistles and bells going off by themselves.

If you later choose to dabble in DCS command control whether the full-TIU system or the Remote Commander, the communications is more reliable when there is a pure vs. chopped sinewave.   In such a case you would then just use Z1000 brick's pure sinewave and put aside the Z1000 controller.  Or, as Eddie reports, if you only have a CW-80 you can turn it up to full (where there's less "chopping").

To answer as simply as possible, without all of the information, I would say that if the CW-80 will cause problems, so will a Z1000 with Z-controller.  If your engine actually needs a pure sine wave to run, use a transformer that provides a pure sine wave.  if it will run on a 'chopped' wave from one transformer, it should run on a 'chopped' wave from any other transformer.  On the technical end, the wave-form may be different between various brands, but the effects on the electronics are going to be practically the same.

JGL