I can only relate personal experience. When my son first tried a PS1 using a CW80, the battery was new, having been installed in front of us before we left the store in Pennsylvania with the engine. I specifically requested and paid for a new battery because of all the horror stories about PS1 engines and bad batteries screwing up the boards. When we got back to Georgia and my son tried the engine on his layout, he had a complete freight train behind the engine including a lighted caboose. The engine would not work.
I called the dealer we had purchased the engine from and he immediately asked me what kind of transformer we were using. When told it was a CW80 he said they wouldn't work with a PS1 and we needed to purchase an MTH transformer. The dealer was in PA and we were back in Georgia when the conversation took place so he had no vested interest in trying to push an MTH transformer. We went to a local train store where the owner basically confirmed what the dealer in PA had said. We purchased a Z1000 at the local train store and the engine ran flawlessly.
I'll append this by also noting we asked the local train store to test the engine on his in store test track using an MTH transformer and it ran fine there. That is what convinced me to buy the Z1000.
Curt
