That value, (8 ohm) should let the resistor get a lot hotter than a 30 ohm resistor, right?
Mark
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15 drops in a dry wick won't get you much smoke anyway... low volume for a short time and it will be bone dry again
Check this out....
I would get a new repair guy. He does not know what he is doing. He is obviously not a certified Lionel Tech. I would open the unit up and put in the proper 8 ohm resistor. I would pull the fiberglass pad and replace it with rope wicking that you shread. I call it reaganizing the wicking. Part 691SMKP008. I hate to think how many locomotives he has screwed up on people.
BTW, that little smoke unit smokes big time with the right resistor and batting.
Lionel smoke units with regulators commonly have six or eight ohm resistors, putting a 30 ohm resistor in that would result in no smoke to speak of.
I'm with Marty, you need a new repair guy, because he has no idea what he's doing! 
And on the other hand, I received an MTH loco that was repaired with a burned up smoke unit and board. They must have measured the unit and read around 8 ohms and they installed 2 6 ohm Lionel resistors not recognizing it was a parallel circuit. I bet it smoke wonderfully for a few minutes at 3 ohms effective resistance. G
Probably like the Lionel when the smoke regulator fails and puts 18 VAC across the 6 ohm resistor! 
Imagine 50 watts in that smoke chamber, it's something to behold before the smoke units burns itself up!
I had one of those on a little 0-8-0 come in for repair. Opened up the smoke unit and the wadding was flat out hard charcoal!
Even after repairing you could still smell the burned smell in the engine.
In recently for repair a Proto3/2 board that is outputting track voltage to the smoke unit. Smokes a bit too good!
Jim
The only one I actually got to see happen was a Legacy ten-wheeler, it was spectacular! I've repaired several others that had the same failure, including one PS/2 that had a shorted smoke output.
On the ones I've repaired, I had to replace the smoke unit PCB as well, they were cooked beyond where they could be repaired.
When I have a dry smoke unit with new wick, I soak the wick while I have it open, typically it's close to a full dropper from the JB MegaSteam bottle to soak it. I can still turn it upside down and it doesn't drip, so it's not too much fluid.
Mark, I would suggest starting out with Lionel's recommendation of 20 drops. I have found smoke fan motors stalled out because they were filled with smoke fluid. There is a happy medium, more is not always better.
Pete
Mark, I am the same way. I want it to work as best as possible but then shut it off after about 30 seconds.
Pete
banjoflyer posted:Norton posted:Mark, I would suggest starting out with Lionel's recommendation of 20 drops.
Pete
Thanks Pete. My plan is to have the correct 8 ohm resistor installed. While the engine is open I'll see how wet the wicking is and add fluid accordingly. I've always had good luck with the 20 drop method in the past. If the wick is still dry I'll give it some more juice.
I'm sure it'll be working after the 8 ohm is installed.
Funny thing about smoke...When it doesn't work you can't wait to have it repaired. When it's working fine you tend to shut it down after a little while cause it overpowers the room. What's an engineer to do?
Mark
Install a ceiling fan or exhaust:-) G
