A friend (old school Navy tech electronics guru) came over to look at the DZ-1008 relays and the wire circuit I am using. Assuming I wired correctly (which D. Zander confirmed) Dan's first thought was a voltage surge from the CW-80. I am using the 14V accessory tap so when power turns on the full 14 volts turns on at once. Dan thinks there is a surge before the power supply settles down to 14V. Dan took one relay home and it looks like the two diodes and transistor in line from power (red wire) to the relay blew. Dan has an oscilloscope he is going to bring over after I get back from vacation to confirm the voltage spike (my voltmeter is not fast enough to see it). if this is the reason then Dan is going to check a second CW-80 I own to see if this is just one anomaly or is common to 'all' CW-80's.
Dan has parts on order and is going to repair the other relays.
Meanwhile I connected the wire circuit to the variable post of the CW-80. It has been four days of turning the power on and off (moving the handle from zero to 14 volts) and so far everything is working.
I also wired in my first Atlas O 200 snap relay. It is under the board so I can't hear any noise from the switching which I understand is a complaint of some. I bench tested on top of the train board and yea there is noise. So if the relay is wired in on top of the board say next to the switch motor one will hear it. I plan on inserted a rectifying diode in line with the power to help keep the relay and for that matter the turnout motors from overheating. I also use 10 amp heavy duty momentary toggle switches so the diodes are probably just a feel good measure.
Joe
