# Tell me about the older Lionel 275 ZW's, please!



## MohawkMike (Jan 29, 2018)

Thinking about buying an older "refurbished" Lionel 275 ZW from my LHS. The work was done at the LHS by the techie whom I trust. (he has done previous repair work for me)

The techie says these things can run 4 trains - two without bells and whistles. But, I am thinking that maybe the unit was designed to run two trains with the remaining controls designed to be used for accessories. Am I right?

Also, the unit has one RED and one GEEN light on top of it. What are the functions of these lights?

Lastly, two ZW's are available at my LHS. One has the Lionel name plate located atop the unit secured with a rivet, the other one does not. Would the rivet indicate a newer or older unit in comparing the two transformers? All things being equal, are they both essentially the same inside? (I am guess so)

If you know anything about the 275 ZW I'd appreciate hearing from you. Thanks very much.

And just a NOTE: I have been a member here before but lost my password and use a different email address now. So, I thank the moderators for allowing me to open a new account. You may have guessed from my handle that I am a big NYC fan, and from my first question (above) that I run O Scale. 

Great to be back - thanks!


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## rrswede (Jan 6, 2012)

Here are a couple of links to review. They do not provide answers to all of your questions, just most.

https://www.tandem-associates.com/lionel/lionel_trains_zw_transformer.htm

http://www.jmacbeaner.com/history/letters/lioneltrainmasteroperationsmanual.pdf

swede


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## KenH54 (Jan 24, 2018)

The ZW is mainly used for Post War conventional trains. It produces a full sine wave and not the chopped sine wave that the newer transformers like the ZW-L or ZW-C. They are workhorses though. Red light indicates a short, most likely due to a derailment. Green light just indicates that it is on and everything is fine if bright green. With a short it will dim and once the circuit breaker kicks in which can take a while, then the red light will come on.


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## KenH54 (Jan 24, 2018)

I forgot to add that modern engines with circuit boards may be destroyed if it shorts out. Like I stated above the circuit breaker is very slow. Many use fuses or some seperate circuit breaker that kicks out more quickly for this reason.


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## teledoc (Oct 22, 2014)

Mike, Follow all the suggestions that were posted over on OGR, and you won’t regret it. It comes down to what you plan on running. If anything NEW electronics, use TVS’s on all outputs, along with external fuses that react fast. The internal circuit breaker, only protects the transformer from overload, and typically slow to react.


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## rkenney (Aug 10, 2013)

Welcome Mike, great to have you!

Take a look at the ZW operating manual to see if it meets your needs. The manual is uploaded to my Google drive and available to download with this link.

This is the original Lionel instruction manual included with the ZW PW purchase. 6 pages. Enjoy :smokin:

ZW Operating Manual

While the instruction manual suggest that the B and C posts are provided for accessories, their posts are fully voltage variable across the same transformer windings as the A and D posts. This means you could run trains on these posts they just won't have a built in whistle or reverse switch. See the schematic below:


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## Lehigh74 (Sep 25, 2015)

ZWs are great. I have 2 of them. I added fuses and TVS diodes to protect my modern loco electronics (and to avoid excess current in small gauge accessory wiring). They can run four trains, but as you guessed, the smaller controls are more often used for accessories. Expect to pay around $120 for a nicely refurbished ZW.

While the ZW is the most popular postwar transformer and probably the best choice if you are running conventional (due to the cool throttles), there are others to consider. I bought a Type Z a few days ago which has plenty of power for about half the price of a ZW. The Z goes to 25 volts so, in addition adding circuit protection, you need to be very careful not to fry modern loco electronics with too many volts. Here is a link to info for all the PW transformers. https://www.tandem-associates.com/lionel/lioneltransformers.htm

I get transformers from Harry Lutz ([email protected]). If you go to Allentown Spring Thaw next month, you will probably see him there with a variety of PW transformers.


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## Lee Willis (Jan 1, 2014)

I am glad to see that you are back. 

They are very good units: nearly last forever. You can run four trains, but as others have said, no bell & whistle buttons on two of them. If you do run four trains, no terminals and output for your accessories though. 

This power supply has a great old post-war look to it. It's a good unit and if its been refurbished right, with snapping up.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

I love my ZW. Like as has been mentioned it is a cool looking transformer. The original
circuit breaker should be addressed. The original circuit breaker takes around 10 seconds
to blow. Lots of things can happen in 10 seconds. My ZW has a more modern circuit breaker installed. It will blow in about 2 to 3 seconds. Much better. I use my ZW for my
O scale and for my S scale American flyer trains. I have a nice American flyer dual control
transformer but have not used it since I got the lionel ZW. Reason being is the volt range
between the 2 transformers. AF transformer range is 7 to 15 volts due to AF reverse units
needing 7 volts to change. The ZW has a range of 2 1/2 volts to 20 volts. I can run my
AF trains at a lower speed. Watch full throttle, 20 volts is a lot for any train. I never use full throttle.


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## MohawkMike (Jan 29, 2018)

Lee Willis said:


> I am glad to see that you are back.
> 
> They are very good units: nearly last forever. You can run four trains, but as others have said, no bell & whistle buttons on two of them. If you do run four trains, no terminals and output for your accessories though.
> 
> This power supply has a great old post-war look to it. It's a good unit and if its been refurbished right, with snapping up.


Thank you. Good to be back. Changed computer and internet carrier and things got lost in the shuffle.


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## MohawkMike (Jan 29, 2018)

rrswede said:


> Here are a couple of links to review. They do not provide answers to all of your questions, just most.
> 
> https://www.tandem-associates.com/lionel/lionel_trains_zw_transformer.htm
> 
> ...


Very useful links. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.


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## MohawkMike (Jan 29, 2018)

rkenney said:


> Welcome Mike, great to have you!
> 
> Take a look at the ZW operating manual to see if it meets your needs. The manual is uploaded to my Google drive and available to download with this link.
> 
> ...


Much appreciated. And thanks to all!


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## sanepilot (Mar 11, 2012)

*zw`s*

Hi,mike and all. Glad all new ones are hear.Welcome. I`m running a 275 and a 250 at the moment. To me They are a awesome transformers. I`ve only got 2 small double track layouts. The folks on here were very helpful setting me up.I can copy the manual for you. Not sure if I got more than one original manual but I`ll look if you wish.Make sure and put inline fuses between your track and 275. TVS won`t hurt and theyre cheap.Buy extra fuses as it is easy to lose an engine before the 275 fuse kicks in. [from experence,LOL] I had a lot of trouble with my track till I got it straighten out. 

Have a great evening,hope this helps,Everett/sanepilot:smilie_daumenpos:


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## Vincent (Jan 28, 2018)

My Dad had one of these to run his 1953 Lionel trains. It ran two locomotives with no problems. He told me that the other two (smaller) controls were for running two more locomotives. However, one of them made the whistle in the coal car blow.

If something was wrong, the red light would come on and we would turn it off immediately


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## MohawkMike (Jan 29, 2018)

Thank you all for your responses. I picked one up. LHS said that the refurbished ZW's sell like hotcake. Will hook it up soon.


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