ZW-L Quirk

Hey John,

 

I went to Radio shack to pick up the 10uf 50V non-polarized capacitor.  They are stamped for dc voltage.  I could not find any marked for Ac voltage.  Do you know where I can get the right capacitor?

 

or is this the right one from Radio shack: http://www.radioshack.com/prod...sp?productId=2102481

That's the right cap,the 50V rating is simply the maximum voltage rating.  The important part is that it's non-polarized.

 

It'll be interesting to see if it has an effect.  I am curious as to what's happening here.

Well All I know is the ZW L transformers that myself and other club members have do not have this issue.

We replaced Four Z 4000s( Great transformers) with One ZW L to run our 4 track modular layout. The last show we did was Greenberg in Monroeville. Ran both days non stop. One loop had 12 lighted passenger cars 2 powered units (4 motors). The next loop 3 powered units( 6 motors). The next loop was a passenger train I think 8  lighted cars and one engine. Last loop was a freight and it was pulled buy 2 engines (4 motors).

The ZW L worked fine both days. We have used it at many shows and never have had any issues. Never and issues with the Z4000s either.  Both are Great Transformers.

Do those powered units have Pulmore motors or DC can motors?

The magical combination so far seems to be 2 pulmor motors and the ZW-L set to max voltage.

 

I loaded the ZW-L with 12 light passenger cars and a TMCC k4 (can motor).  It was pulling at least 6 amps and it ran perfectly at max voltage.

Can Motors  

Apples and oranges, he's had no issues with can motors.

 

I tried the capacitor.  No difference in performance.

 

I also played a bit more with the engines. I tried just a single GP9.  It worked the same as if I double headed it with it matching A unit.  The red light does not flash on the GP9s (by themselves) but they do not run right.  Jerky & surging.

 

The GG1 by itself gets the red light flashing and when it surges - it really takes off.

 

I tried the Pennsy Torpedo by itself.  At speed step 1 it took off at a good clip and ran jerky.  ZW-L red light did not flash.  Drop the voltage down to 16 volts.  The torpedo then started to move at speed steep 6 instead of 1.  Nice and slow and smooth.

 

Unrelated to the red light flashing: I dialed up the power on channel 1 (tr 1 on the legacy remote).  I wanted to cut the power so I pressed the direction button on the remote to cut the power - when I did that, the light on the amp gauge went out.  It turned itself back on after a few seconds (and I was still holding the button down on the legacy remote).  Only channel 1 does this.  The power remained off on the channel until I release the button on the remote - which was correct.  I tried this on the other channels and the lights do not go off for any other channel when I press the direction button down.  At least this oddity does not affect any performance.

hello guys and gals..........

 

Does the Z4000 make quirks like that ?

 

the woman who loves the 5011,623

Tiffany

I sure hope that Jon Z. at Lionel can figure this out, it appears to be some sort of interaction with AC motors and the ZW-L, that's pretty odd.  Since I don't have one to tinker with, it's hard to do more testing.

 

A ZW-L is on my list. Still is. I am glad, however, that quirks are coming out before I purchase it.

 

Despite these quirks, it's still an awesome transformer. I plan to get a second one for all my accessories.  Running at 16 volts for pulmor motored locs is not the end of the world. But I do wonder why it does this. As soon as I hear something from Jon. I will let you know.

I'm really curious as to what is causing this, I'm tempted to make a Malvern house call with my test equipment.

 

From the Santa Fe Warbonnet thread:

<<<This is the only train I have that routinely runs right up at the limit of what the ZW-L or my old Z4000 could provide - about 160-175 watts when running at 17-18V.  When starting out, the four Pullmor motors and their AC field windings always trigger the blinking red "exceeding ten amps" warning light on the ZW-L - although with carefull backing off of the throttle I can avoid tripping the breaker - light goes off within a second or two if I am judicious with the throttle. (Did the same thing with the Z4K,too).>>>

 

Lee, I wonder if the same thing would happen if you were to back off the voltage to about 16volts on the ZW-L?

 

There seems to be something about Max voltage and Pulmores that the "L" doesn't like.

ZW-L Update:

I described in this thread about a problem where the Amp light would go out when you pressed the direction button on the legacy remote.  After more testing I found that only engines with RailSounds 2.5 seem to cause this bug.  The engines don't even need to be powered up, just sitting on the tracks.  If I unplug the tether for the steam engines (which cuts the power to the railsounds boards), then the amp light does not go out.  I tested a GP9 with railsounds 2.5 and it also caused the amp light to go out when the direction button is pressed on the Legacy remote.

 

Really weird stuff.  Operationally it does not affect the ZW-L at all.  Those engines run fine (with power set at 16 volts since they are pullmor motors).  And this problem only occurs on channel 1 (A U posts).

I'll have to dig out my Phantom locomotive, it has RS 2.5 and a Pulmore motor.  I have the ZW-C that I can use to see if that will overload with a Pulmore and RS 2.5.

 

John,

 

I have the ZW-C as well.  I have run that in command mode, full voltage to the track with double headed GG-1s.  No problems at all.  Its now relegated to my Christmas layout (which is all original Lionel  and American Flyer tinplate).  There is something about a ZW running tinplate trains at Christmas time

I guess that experiment won't prove much.

 

I begin to wonder if it's something on Joe's layout that is interacting with the Pulmore motors and the ZW-L.

I have conventional engines which I have tested with the ZW-L.  They all work fine.  But they normally do not run at max voltage.

 

The problem is only with pulmors in command mode and the ZW-L set to max voltage.

 

John: I first thought it was my layout too.  So I pulled the ZW-L off the layout and setup a test track.  I had a basic oval of Lionel tubular.  One lockon connected to the ZW-L.  And the Legacy base connected.  Nothing else.  Problem still existed. 

The ZW-L obviously doesn't like you, put it in a box and immediately send it to me!

 

LOL!

Has an answer to this problem been found yet?

Last I heard from Lionel was that they reproduced my problem and they are working on a fix. When I hear from Lionel I will let everyone know.