On Lionel’s website they have the CW-80 and another that looked just like it with a powerhouse? (looks like the brick that comes with the new ZW) I believe the number was 6-14003 and it was called 80 Watt/5 Amp Transformer/Controller. Can anyone tell me What the difference is between them?
LVR,
The transformer you ask about (BW-80) was only marketed for a year or so, but you can still find them on eBay. The biggest differences between it and the early CW-80’s which replaced it were:
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Evidently, it worked reliably;
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It had a fixed-voltage (12 volts) accessory output; whereas the CW-80 has an accessory output that can be adjusted to whatever voltage you want and will stay there until and unless you re-set it;
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The controller-and-brick arrangement. The controller box was feather-light and tended to slide around, whereas even a mason could love the REVISED CW-80, which is a better device.
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It hasn’t been produced in several years.
See also my post on dated yesterday, December 11, at 11:40 PM, the "Quality of Lionel Sets…" thread begun by Too_Many_Tools.
Edited so as to be specific as to which post I was referring to above.
Lehigh Valley Railroader,
Did my response answer your question?
Hi bfskinner and thanks for responding. Yes I read your reply and the other thread post reply and now I know the difference it was a great help.
Here is are some questions that maybe you or someone else can help me with. I was going to look at my instruction manual but I did not have time last night after work and paying bills 
But in the manual will it tell me if my Red posts or my Black posts are common, so I know which type of CW I have? I got my PA flyer set last Christmas time and I assume that I have a “early CW-80” but mine seems to work good, well as far as a newbie can tell. What were the major problems the “early” one was having? And when did they revise the CW-80? Do they have differnt part numbers? Do they sell the “revised CW-80” alone or only in the new sets out this year?
Sorry to ask so many questions but you and alot of the people that respond to this forum seem very knowledgeable and I was hoping you could help with these and possibly more questions that I might have.
See the following:
CW-80 Date Code Poll
Jim H
The following is from that thread.
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wolverine49 Joined on 10-14-2003 |
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Re: CW-80 Date Code Poll |
Thanks Jim H, I read the thread and I will check tonight to see if I have the “G” date on my CW-80.
Reading the thread “CW-80 Date Code Poll” it seems that a lot of people that that do not have a “G date” do not have problems with the units? I thought the ones with no “G date” were the problematic ones? There were a few that had noise problems but I thought there was more problems than that or am I confused. I guess this is not polling everyone that has a CW-80. It seemed as if most of the units either with a “G” or not did not have problems? Just curious if there were more problems than just a noise.
From other posts that I have read a lot of people trash the CW-80 and say never to buy one in regards to getting a junk one. Any thoughts, thanks.
LVR, Thank you for the kind words. I’m glad I could be of assistance.
Thanks also to Jim for re-publishing those old posts and the semi-succesful poll about “dates of manufacture.” Some days I wish “wolverine49” would return to wrestle with these issues.
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Unfortunately you cannot rely on the Owner’s Manuals (either in print or online at www.Lionel.com) to give you correct information about which posts are common. The date code test seems to work: if there is a “G” followed by 4 digits, it is very likely to be a revised one with the black posts as common; if it is simply a 4 digit number, it is almost certainly an old one, with the orange posts as common. The history of the CW80 has been Murphy’s Law incarnate; but the revised ones are great little transformers.)
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You can’t tell for certain from the date you bought the set either. One bought at Christmas '06 could be a revised one, but it might be an old one.
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The problems with the “early” CW80’s (if you can call three-plus years of production early) were of two general types. In the first group were total failures, such as dead on arrival, or dying after a few hours of normal operation. Lionel replaced these if reported within the one-year warranty period – and occasionally beyond, apparently depending on whom you spoke to. Also, folks kept testing the outputs of their CW’s with an ordinary voltmeter – sometimes prouncing them “defective” without ever connecting them to the track. An ordinary voltmeter will not read correctly due to the “cropped waveform” of the CW. (With no load on the device you either get zero or twenty volts, at all throttle settings. This is weird, but normal. Also in order to get some reversing units (E-units) to cycle properly you needed to have a smally load, such as an illuminated caboose, on the track. And so on.
The other con
bf,
Thanks again for the very informative post. I am learning alot. One thing that I will be doing like you said is getting a multimeter. I think I saw the one you were talking about online at sears for 9.99 or there is a digital one that I saw on ebay for $10 delivered. So I will be getting either one of those. Then I can do the test to see which of my posts are common. I checked the bottom of my CW-80 and it says “G0406” so it seems that I got lucky. I bought mine Dec.06 or Jan.07 sometime over the holidays.
Once I have the mulitmeter and do the test I will post my findings on the other thread for the Date Code for the CW.
I’ve been using a BW-80 for the Christmas tree loop and the after Christmas rug railroad, for the granddaughters, for a few years now. It hasn’t given me problem one. Though the extra piece of hardware, the powerhouse, does add another wire and chunk of plastic on the floor.
Lehigh Valley Railroader,
Thank you for the kind words. I believe that you have a revised CW80 and that the “date code” means “G” (revised version) April, 2006. I could be wrong, but your ohm meter will end all question.
When you get your multimeter you will surely be tempted to measure the output voltage of your CW80. Doing so will give you some suprising results. For example, with no load on the transformer, the meter will likely read only two values: zero volts (or very near zero) or 18-20 volts at any position of the throttle lever. Ignore these. Always measure the voltage with at least a small load on the transformer, such as an illuminated caboose or passenger car, or the like.
Even then, you will not get completely accurate readings unless you happen to have an RMS* voltmeter, which most of us don’t. To compensate for this, CTT forum member Bob Nelson (lionelsoni) has provided a couple of conversion charts.** The regular voltmeter is probably “close enough for government work,” but Bob’s charts can provide additional precision which can be very useful at times.
Last (no marathon post today!) you can search this and other forums for information about the CW80. Some is good, some is drivel. You have to learn who to trust – and we all make mistakes. I believe that the following is true. On most forums you can search under either CW80 or CW-80. On this forum you must use CW80 without the hyphen – or so it seems.
You might also look up threads on “common ground” or “wiring layout” on similar key words. “Advanced” searches seem to be the most useful, and most forums have them. This one does.
- In this case “RMS” is not a brand name, but rather a way of measuring the voltage of alternating currents whose waveform is not a sine-wave. The waveform of your house current is very close to a sine wave; however, the outputs of the CW80’s (revised as well as old) are definitely not. They are kno