Have always been curious about that, can't be cost. Even safety remember the movie where the transformer caused a fire in the window display? Must be some reason, I don't understand.
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The ZW-L has an on/off switch
Neal Jeter
Good question, I use a main power switch for my layout anyway so it really doesn't matter...but, like the ZW-L which does have a power on/off switch, i sometime find it necessary to shut it off and leave other transformers on.....so yes a switch would be helpful on their other, smaller transformers.
-Pete
Great question! I don't think Gilbert put power switches on their AF trannys either. Through the years the first thing I did was to install one.
Rich
While my PH180s have an on/off switch, my CW80 does not. Maybe it has to do with total power output?
I have all my transformers connected to a switched 20 amp house circuit so I normally don't use the transformer's on/off switch. Like Pete, I do turn off individual transformers once in a while for various reasons and like the on/off switch.
The bigger Gilbert transformers did have an on-off switch.
Manufacturers probably considered the cost.
I would think that it would be to get people in the habit of pulling the plug, rather than just switching it off.
Maybe they do want you to pull the plug, would be the safest way? I would also guess size and cost has something to do with it? Extra parts add to manufacturing costs as well. Anyway, a switched power strip should solve the inconvenience, sometimes free with coupon at Harbor Freight.
I always thought it was due to the fact that ours was the,"common sense" generation. We grew up knowing to unplug anything electrical when not in use. We learned not to expect the, on/off switch. I grew up with the earliest Lionel Z Type. Before that my grandfather used the, Lionel T type w/rheostat for many years for our Std Gauge.
God Bless,
"Pappy"
One of the nice features of the ZW-L is the on/off switch.
As for the postwar power supplies, at least for our ZW 250, I remember hearing from the gentleman who repaired our trains years ago, when I was a kid, that the ZW didn't have an on/off switch because there would be too much power going through it. I don't know if that is true, but my father accepted the answer as he had the same question when I started running his stuff back in the 1970s. Another possibility is that there was less focus on safety then, although this doesn't explain why the CW80 or Powermax units we have lack an on/off switch, as these are modern units.
I solve the problem by plugging everything into a powerstrip. When my kids are done running the trains, I turn off the power strip.
I do think it is risky to depend upon kids to unplug things. I don't think that it is a question of the kids having common sense or similar. They are kids and kids shouldn't be held to the same standard as an adult, or they wouldn't be children.
I believe that it was thought that the transformer levers were the on/off/activation switches, therefore no on-off switch was needed. For safety it is also easier to remember to pull a plug rather than to flick a switch.
Costs!
When the first transformers were produced, the cost of an on/off switch was substantial and the size was quite large. If one were designed into a transformer, the transformer case would need to be larger (added cost), price of switch (added cost), wire and terminals (added cost) and labor to install (added cost) not to mention a new potential failure point (added cost). As the years passed and new designs were added, the fact that no on/off switch had been used was added justification to not include the switch.
Happy railroading,
Don
Don,
All my older transformers have no on off switch and I run them from a remote control power strip, in the old days we used the lighted switch on the power bar to
identify whether everything was on or off. I do not know whether Lionel was trying to keep the cost down by not having on/off switches on their old KW's & ZW's or not, to us they were expensive enough as they were, especially during that time period.
I do like the Z4K's on/off switch however.
PCRR/Dave
More than likely it was a safety issue - no 110-115-120 volt components easily accessible from outside the cabinet or even close to the enclosure when taken apart, or to get confused by service personnel. One small wire transposition in error could have been deadly to the repairman or user, or even just deterioration of the insulation inside the case near the low voltage lines/components or case could really pose a serious danger.
