cshaf posted:Morning, wondering why CW-80 is incompatible? , i have been running MTH ES44 ps3 in conventional and using remote commander with my CW-80 for a year. works very well. is this going to damage my engine?. thanks.
The way the Lionel circuitry works to modulate/reduce the voltage drastically changes the waveform of the output voltage in a manner that is not properly recognized by the MTH electronics (search for the innumerable discussions, comments and opinions on this matter here and elsewhere). MTH locomotives are happiest with "pure" sine waveforms (or equivalent from Z-4000). A special case exists with the Z-500/750/1000 waveforms which are apparently close enough.
This is mainly a conventional problem. If you are using the DCS remote commander, you not running conventionally.
As far as I know, using the CW with MTH does not damage the engine, but can cause erratic or undesired behavior such as never leaving startup mode. Certain mid-90s engines were designed to recognize if the incompatibility was present and go silent.
