I've been told you should always shut the engine down when adding smoke fluid. Is this necessary? Can you damage a smoke unit by adding fluid when the unit is on? I don't recall seeing this advice in any of my owner's manuals.
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This video explains it around the 22 minute mark.
I roll my running engines to an access point and add smoke oil with no issues... obviously smoke unit off. These are MTH.
Thanks MartyE, the video definitely answers the question!
Good to know these things.
You just need to turn off the smoke so that the fan cannot swirl the fluid around the inside of the engine.
I add smoke fluid using an eye dropper while engines are running with the smoke ON. Squeezing the eye dropper with authority squirts the fluid into the smoke unit very well. In my opinion, it is very important to add smoke fluid as soon as the smoke out put diminishes, and not when the smoke stops. Doing so prevents burning of the wick material inside of the smoke unit.
All of my engines are MTH Rail King.
I was told that adding smoke fluid to hot smoke unit will actually promote the fiber material to bond to the wire wound resistor as the smoke fluid crystallizes around this area... not that a dry smoke unit will do this as well?
No proof or data... just hear say.
I was told, by the guys at Ready To Roll, that adding smoke fluid to an MTH steam engine while running can make it spit the fluid out of the stack and make a mess. So I try to add fluid when the engine is turned off.
Lee Fritz
J Daddy posted:I was told that adding smoke fluid to hot smoke unit will actually promote the fiber material to bond to the wire wound resistor as the smoke fluid crystallizes around this area... not that a dry smoke unit will do this as well?
No proof or data... just hear say.
Yes, I believe that Mike R said this. Felt that it was best to let the element cool for a bit before adding fresh fluid.
I'm pretty sure common sense dictates to turn off the unit, if nothing more to stop the fan from spinning and throwing fluid around and blowing it back out the stack. While I'm sure some folks will disagree with Mike Reagan's reasoning what does it hurt to be on the cautious side. If I have to go without smoke for a few minutes then I'm fine with that.
phillyreading posted:I was told, by the guys at Ready To Roll, that adding smoke fluid to an MTH steam engine while running can make it spit the fluid out of the stack and make a mess. So I try to add fluid when the engine is turned off.
Lee Fritz
All you have to do is simply turn OFF the smoke feature, after the units cools off a bit, then add fluid, wait a bit longer, and then turn the smoke feature back on. All while the model is running.
Quite often I add smoke fluid to a loco right after turning off the power while it is still hot. A few times I have not turned the power completely off (headlight on but motor stopped) and added smoke fluid. Nice big puffs of smoke when starting up again!
But that is in a vintage Marx smoker. They seem to be built a bit more robustly than modern units. 
right,,,my Marx 666 almost smokes as much as my MTH M1a.
phillyreading posted:I was told, by the guys at Ready To Roll, that adding smoke fluid to an MTH steam engine while running can make it spit the fluid out of the stack and make a mess. So I try to add fluid when the engine is turned off.
Lee Fritz
I've added fluid to my RK M1a on the go for years, and never any mess. My WBB N&W J with the Seuth unit slobbered all over the place no matter when I added fluid.
My experiences with smoke fluid contradict the hearsay.
For several years I have been adding smoke fluid to MTH engines while they are running with the smoke ON. Not once has there been any spit back of the fluid, and the life of the wicking has not been adversely affected.
