Lionel PW ZW Restore Problem

Roger you can use the side mount breaker. Did you clean the windings where the roller roll across them?

Lenny.....yes, I was thinking I could just attach it on it's side to the spot where the bottom mount was. And also yes......I had cleaned the windings. 

Roger

Sometimes poor contact between the roller, the pin, and the arm can cause what you see.  Also, it's normal for there to be a bit of extra current flow, the carbon roller is shorting several windings.  A new roller will sometimes burn off the excess powdered carbon on the surface.  I solder the pin head to the arm, and I also use Deoxit-D5 on the pin to minimize the voltage drop across the roller to the arm.

John,

The new rollers haven't arrived yet (they were supposed to get here today). I'll try it again when I put new rollers on. Is it possible there's a residue on the coils from cleaning them with contact cleaner?

Roger

Mystery solved!  I'll bet it's the contact cleaner burning off from the heat where the rollers are contacting the coils.

John,

Later on, I'll clean off the coils with alcohol and see if there's a difference. I thought about the contact cleaner this afternoon, but I always thought the stuff evaporated. Maybe not.

Roger

Many contact cleaners have a lubricant in them.  Don't worry about it, it'll burn off pretty quickly and cease to be an issue.

Music to my ears.         Smoke coming out of my transformer is static to my eyes. LOL

Bingo.  One roller had no smoke the other had much less. 

Roger

While I don't think alcohol would attack the insulation on a Lionel transformer, some of the "enameled" wire that Lionel used can be ruined by alcohol. Why take a chance?

I would use pure mineral spirits.

Update on the ZW:

I just finished the rebuild/restore of this ZW and it looks and functions great. Replaced the diodes with studs, replaced the breaker, 2 of the rollers and the power cord.  The issue with the smoke was definitely the residue of the contact cleaner and it no longer "puffs".  John.....I replaced the rollers and as you suggested, I soldered the heads.  I fabricated a bracket for the side mount breaker and attached it to the screw hole in the base where the old breaker attached (vertical with the contacts facing up now). 

I had a bit of a letdown right at the end. After reassembling, I plugged in the power cord and.....nothing......no light. Oh man.....the prospect of tearing it down again to find the problem was depressing. But then......I looked down at the cord and realized.......it was the old cord.....I had clipped it off inside the transformer and then replaced it, but it was still lying on my bench ready to be plugged in (which I did, but of course, the other end was cut). That was a head banger for sure. Plugged in the new cord and everything worked. 

Thanks for the tips!

Roger

Roger, that little trick would be really cool if the transformer DID fire up!