I know the CW-80 has a less than stellar track record, and I’m eventually going to replace mine with an MRC dual. But in the mean time, I have a question. Last night I plugged in my CW-80 that’s been working fine for 11 months. The fan turned on, but the green light did not. And no power was being supplied to the tracks. Dead, dead, dead. What’s up with that and what could have caused it? Could my new El Capitan set somehow damage the CW-80? I’m guessing the fuse blew. Why?
JIM,
Yes your fuse did blow. I don’t know what caused it ? Mine blew when I hooked up a Lionl whistle button on the wrong side(DUH).
The good news id that you can change the fuse by taking the CW apart , it is encased in shrink tubing and getting a fuse I can’t remember what kind it was but should tell you on the side of the blown one. It requires some soldering and replacing the shrink tubing.
As for the cause maybey there was some condensation somewhere either on your tracks or the prongs of your cord? I don’t know hope this helps?
laz57
Thanks, Laz. Moisture, huh? Well, it is in a basement, and it did rain the entire month of October. I still have 3 functioning CW-80s. And I’m looking to buy a dual power MRC before too long. Just waiting to see what Santa brings me before I go and buy something that expensive. I’ll hit Radio shack and see if I can find that fuse and shrink wrap. I’d like to see if I can repair it - just to see if I can.
Why were you hooking up a whistle button to a CW-80? It already has one built in. Post war whistle?
I for one would be very interested to learn how your repair goes. The biggest challenge may be to get inside the case, which is NOT recommended by Lionel. The screws are an unusual (to say the least) triangular-head type. Some forum members have reported grinding down a screwdriver to fit.
I was lucky enough to get a BW(The one with the separate brick)and it has been a reliable performer for the better part of two years.I guess when they eliminated the brick problems resuklted!