CW80 tried them on the Lionel train sets then placed it in storage (there are several versions and that's why I hate Lionel for it. Lionel's older transformers are better). I have only MTH and Railking with my Z750 never had issues but if you buy its best to just get the Z1000 as it has the circuit breaker white button on the side as an added feature. MTH is a little more expensive but quality and long lasting is what you get in return!
My father bought both of these. The Z-750 is still hooked up and mostly it just works. The CW-80 is sitting in its box, I've never even tried it. Maybe I'll use it for the cattle corral -- so I can jiggle the knob to move the cows along.
@@railchief74 I don't know -- this is the 'horse corral' version of the cattle corral, but even so, they're still a little bit touchy about going back into the car.
CW80, like any modern Lionel garbage, puts out chopped sine power, instead of pure sine like an older postwar transformer or really anything not Lionel. That chopped sine, in my tests, makes incandescent bulbs run hotter, open frame motors run hotter, which leads to shorter brush life (And some replacement brushes already have abysmal lifespans). That is also why postwar whistle relays do not play as nicely with modern Lionel transformers. Without getting too deep into the science behind it, those copper fender washers on the bottom of the old relays are why they respond to DC only. Hard to explain without pictures, but they let constant flow DC magnetism through but counteract AC based magnetism which changes polarity 60 times per second. That's the bare bones Cliffs Notes version anyway. The museum I work for used to have modern Lionel ZW remakes with the power bricks. Being a museum, we run postwar classics exclusively. I traded them in for some postwar ZWs, and the difference in operation is like night and day
For what its worth, the bell button on the Lionel transformers have to be held down for a moment for them to "trigger"...it's not an instant on bell as with MTH transformers. By doing that and being a bit slower between the bell button and the 2 whistle taps, you can get the PFA to trigger.
Personally tend to favor the postwar transformers myself, but if someone is new to the hobby and absolutely wants new I usually tend to steer them to the "big brothers" of these two, the Z-1000 and the GW-180 respectively. Why? Because it's good practice to get as many watts as you can afford as it gives you room to grow the basic circle or oval into a small to medium-sized layout. Conventional operation ain't dead yet.
I run 3 tracks on my layout and had 3 cw80 transformers 2 of them gave insufficient voltage intermittently and noisy and if you ran 2 powered AA units then the nightmares begin I am now running 2 z-4000s and no problems my layout is 12-15
@@railchief74 see now here the thing 😂. I bought it for 40 bucks off eBay I should’ve known it would have catch fire it wasn’t a new model and it was just so cheap.
The older CW80 shown here is not a good transformer. The Z-750 is decent. The newer redesigned CW80 is much better and on par with the Z-1000 from MTH.
The Lionel CW 80 did not do well, I thought it was not putting out a steady power, and the Bell and whistle was weak. The Rail King was more consistent, and bell whistle's work better.
that Lionel transformer is this side of junk, bought four, three were bad, the one I now have, is been stored, got it out a couple of months back after not using it for years, the fan motor is all but seized up, plus it has those stupid three slotted screws on the bottom making it very difficult to service, an other dumb set up by Lionel. I also own that other model transformer.
Thanks to all the bs that Lionel created, can you use the CW-80 for the new electronics or not? I have decided that this once great hobby is now doomed to survive.
CW80 tried them on the Lionel train sets then placed it in storage (there are several versions and that's why I hate Lionel for it. Lionel's older transformers are better). I have only MTH and Railking with my Z750 never had issues but if you buy its best to just get the Z1000 as it has the circuit breaker white button on the side as an added feature. MTH is a little more expensive but quality and long lasting is what you get in return!
My father bought both of these. The Z-750 is still hooked up and mostly it just works. The CW-80 is sitting in its box, I've never even tried it. Maybe I'll use it for the cattle corral -- so I can jiggle the knob to move the cows along.
Better make sure they cooperate
@@railchief74 I don't know -- this is the 'horse corral' version of the cattle corral, but even so, they're still a little bit touchy about going back into the car.
I had the same problem with mine. If you put like a thin sheet of plywood underneath the corral, it should solve the problem
CW80, like any modern Lionel garbage, puts out chopped sine power, instead of pure sine like an older postwar transformer or really anything not Lionel. That chopped sine, in my tests, makes incandescent bulbs run hotter, open frame motors run hotter, which leads to shorter brush life (And some replacement brushes already have abysmal lifespans). That is also why postwar whistle relays do not play as nicely with modern Lionel transformers. Without getting too deep into the science behind it, those copper fender washers on the bottom of the old relays are why they respond to DC only. Hard to explain without pictures, but they let constant flow DC magnetism through but counteract AC based magnetism which changes polarity 60 times per second. That's the bare bones Cliffs Notes version anyway. The museum I work for used to have modern Lionel ZW remakes with the power bricks. Being a museum, we run postwar classics exclusively. I traded them in for some postwar ZWs, and the difference in operation is like night and day
Lionel should stop having China make JUNK for them and better quality control improvement from the manufacturer.
And bring prices way down so the next generation can afford to get in to the hobby.
@robertcornelius3514 it’s not as easy as it sounds
For what its worth, the bell button on the Lionel transformers have to be held down for a moment for them to "trigger"...it's not an instant on bell as with MTH transformers. By doing that and being a bit slower between the bell button and the 2 whistle taps, you can get the PFA to trigger.
I have a ZW from 1961. Flawless.
Personally tend to favor the postwar transformers myself, but if someone is new to the hobby and absolutely wants new I usually tend to steer them to the "big brothers" of these two, the Z-1000 and the GW-180 respectively.
Why? Because it's good practice to get as many watts as you can afford as it gives you room to grow the basic circle or oval into a small to medium-sized layout.
Conventional operation ain't dead yet.
Mike, very good video, very informative but I'm to old school. Keep up the great work
Much appreciated ED
Grew up on cw80 transformer it’s been good since 09 and did fine with a bachmann sd45 locomotive
My cw80’s run all the postwar stuff really rough. I’ve had to use a mpc era 70 watt to run them smoothly.
I run 3 tracks on my layout and had 3 cw80 transformers 2 of them gave insufficient voltage intermittently and noisy and if you ran 2 powered AA units then the nightmares begin I am now running 2 z-4000s and no problems my layout is 12-15
My CW-80 caught fire.
That’s scary and unfortunate
@@railchief74 see now here the thing 😂. I bought it for 40 bucks off eBay I should’ve known it would have catch fire it wasn’t a new model and it was just so cheap.
@@fucaesarsalad5780 , hearing this just makes me want to quit the hobby altogether.
great information, im a beginner.
The older CW80 shown here is not a good transformer. The Z-750 is decent. The newer redesigned CW80 is much better and on par with the Z-1000 from MTH.
The Lionel CW 80 did not do well, I thought it was not putting out a steady power, and the Bell and whistle was weak. The Rail King was more consistent, and bell whistle's work better.
I used the zw80 on my fast track layout witch is 25x40 and on my post war layouts
It’s a Cw-80
Z1000 are great but if you can swing it get the Z4000 u will be much happier
How do you know what will make me happier?
@@railchief74ha!
that Lionel transformer is this side of junk, bought four, three were bad, the one I now have, is been stored, got it out a couple of months back after not using it for years, the fan motor
is all but seized up, plus it has those stupid three slotted screws on the bottom making
it very difficult to service, an other dumb set up by Lionel. I also own that other model transformer.
Thanks to all the bs that Lionel created, can you use the CW-80 for the new electronics or not? I have decided that this once great hobby is now doomed to survive.
That’s what their used for
Yes the Z 750 is better for old and for new too
My PS2 locomotives didn’t like the CW80.
Get a 1033, 1044, they will work better than the ones you have.
I already have a 1033. Besides we’re not talking about those, we’re discussing opinions on the two transformers the I have in the video
Mth z750
sorry, probably gargraves track .
No Gargraves, Atlas track