After being out of the loop for a couple of weeks I was finally able to get back on the layout to see if I could track down this electrical gremlin I am wrestling with. As suggested I inspected all the power connections and there were no frayed wires, bad connections or noticeable hot spots but my intermittent power losses/signal losses continued to plague me. As one other poster suggested I reversed the ZW handles and power connections and lo and behold my inner loop now controlled by my right hand ZW handle began experiencing power losses whereas before it had been the outer loop. I cracked open the ZW to check on the carbon rollers and the right handle carbon roller has plenty left on it. However,I did notice on that right hand carbon roller there appeared to be some kind of residue build up on the roller. I cleaned the roller off with some contact cleaner and also gently wiped down the coil because the build up of residue was heavy there as well. I have taken this ZW off of my layout and have been testing it to see if the condition repeats itself. After about an hour of constantly reversing the test engine's direction my power loss gremlin has not yet reared his ugly head. I'm hoping the carbon roller just wasn't making good contact with the coil which caused the power loss. Does that sound reasonable to you guys? Let me know what you all think.
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