20 Drops of Smoke Fluid -- PART 2 Added 4/3/15

lionel made removable magnet covers for the switches to set smoke on or off yet they can not or will not make a removable magnet cover for smoke units.

That's exactly why I open mine up to find out. I can't afford to ship these things back and forth to Lionel from CA every time there is an issue with the smoke unit. Under warranty or not, shipping is a big risk for more damage going that far. Like anything else, once I can see how it works, and how much fluid it will hold, now I know for the rest of them. Saves me a lot of frustration down the road.

Years ago, I was petrified to open these things up....not any more. It's not that difficult, and there's really not a lot to them. Looks intimidating because of all the wires crammed in there. I run my engines, and I run the crap out of them, so every time they need some work, I have to ship it....no thanks.

Cuz they don't want us messin with them They want us to follow the instructions in the manual  at least until the warranty period has come and gone

Thank you so much for the videos! I really enjoyed them. Confirmed my suspicion that I was not using enough smoke fluid. When I had an MTH unit apart, I put the suggested 20 drops into the empty resevior and it still looked almost empty. That was without any wicking in place. Since watching your videos, I think I'm going to prime the units with more fluid. Also, I typically wait to refill until the smoke has significantly decreased. From now on I'm going to try to refill more frequently in an attempt to keep the wicks from burning out. 

Ed Kazarian

OK Jeff, this one is for you.

I opened up my S3 because the smoke volume was dismal, even with 60 drops of fluid the other day. So I wanted to replace the batting, and also turn off the red light on the boiler. So here's what I found:

Badly burnt resistor and batting. Dry and crusty in there. I bought it used from Alex about a year and a half ago, and it smoked great when I got it, but then it really died off. I thought I over filled it, so I ran it for awhile trying to burn off the excess fluid. Well, once again, I burnt it up because the batting was dry. Once it's burnt like that, even 60 drops of fluid won't bring it back to life. It smoked, but.....ehhh

It was so crusty from being burnt, it just flaked apart into dust in some spots when I pried it out with the needle nose.

Cleaned the resistors the best I could, I don't want to break the wires. New batting.

I pre-soaked the new batting using the pipette that Lionel provides with the engines now. 6ml went in total. Now even the steam chest puts out a ridiculous amount of smoke

Those photos speak volumes.  

I'm sure I have a few just like this. I've drawn my own conclusion from all this information on what I'll do with my locomotives.  Thank you for your effort. 

BTW, thanks for the RH info, and sorry I haven't sent a reply.  Something happens every time I sit down...

I'd like to chime in late on this topic. I think laidoffsick has an excellent point. I recived one of Lionels heavy mikados with whistle steam when they were delivered a couple of months ago.

I presume it has the same ( or close to it) dual smoke unit as the cab forward. I added the intial 20 drops ran it a lap and smoke faded smoke faded. 

To make a long story short I probably added 10 drops to it every week with only a breif running here and there. I couldn't guess how much, I'm at least to 40 or 50 drops over several weeks and the loco will now run longer with steady constant smoke from the stack and whistle.

I've also noticed less of a "burning smell" , not sure if these units are primed with Lionel fuid from the factory causing this odor.

It seems a rough guesstimate of adequate fluid is indicated by a mor noticible scent of vanilla JT's that I've been adding.

I think folks flooding fan motors are adding too much at once, and not allowing the fluid to get absorbed into the wicking.

IMO much like a new sponge the wicking doesn't readily absorb the fluid which will pool on top of the unit and flow into the fan.

10 drops at a time with an overnight period to absorb and some brief smoke unit operation to prime the wicking seems to work.

My next whistle steam locomotive will get 20 and subsequent 10 drop addings over an extended period before the unit gets turned on for the first time.

This is a great thread on these smoke units. 

I have been using JTs Mega Steams new Eliminator, cleansing smoke units and it seems to be doing just great for me.  I have been using this in my VLBB.   I use about 10-15 drops in the stack and another 10 in each of the other smoke units.  Gives off a nice non scented smoke and it seems to show a nice plume of smoke.  Also I am running this at either low smoke to medium smoke output.   Anyone else having the same success as I am?

Don't forget; 10 to 20 drops from a Mega-Smoke bottle is a lot different than 10 to 20 Drops from a Lionel Bottle. ie the DROPS are much BIGGER from the Lionel Bottle. Just FOOD for thought!!

Fred