BEFORE AND AFTER SMOKE UNIT

Who needs the legacy version??? I sound like a broken record but...... Great work Alex!.... as always.

Wow, is right!! Thanks Alex, see you at York. 

This makes me want to get into the steamers....

Looks really good Alex!

Can you say........fixed? Nice job.

That looks like Zero to 60 in nuthin' flat!

 

I have a N&W No 611 J that Alex modified the same way and its a terrific locomotive now...

Wow! Great work Alex 

Alex Another great job! Alex also upgraded my PRR J1a. What a difference. JohnB

Thanks to all for the great comments,

 

RickO I love Legacy engine's but these older TMCC units when upgraded are awesome

 

Dave I'm glad you are happy with it

 

Mike try out a steamer or two, you will love them

 

Joe thanks very much

 

Sam thanks, glad you are enjoying the N&W J

 

Liam thanks, any update on that steam engine you added a smoke unit to

 

JohnB thanks very much

 

 

Here's a few photo's of what these smoke units look like from many year's of use,

and I also included two photo's of it upgraded.

 

Thanks to all

 

Alex

 

 

Great job Alex!!

I almost wish I had kept my 3751 and sent it to you for both upgrades instead of selling it and getting the Legacy version.

As you know I was thinking about it. Lol!

Mike R

Wow Alex! It is like night and day difference! Great Job! Dennis PRR2818

Nice job; what a difference.

Alex, there is no smoke screen with your work. Everything is on the table so to speak. Nice job.

I was sure the smoke was off for the first video, nice work!

Awesome work, Alex.  

Hi Alex,

 

Hope you are doing well.

 

You are a talented man. That engine now smokes like an MTH on high or even better.

 

I'm glad you only live 40 minutes away.

 

Erol Gurcan

Alex....you do a "smokin" deal my friend!!

 

Alan

looks great alex..My main complaint about lionels smoke unit  is the crap they put over the heater and no gasket thats goes threw the center of the board.. MTH does that to protect the board from the heat from destroying the board..Been working on smoke units all this week.. moding them to really throw out the smoke..I got a smart unit like yours that I got in a parts deal..To bad I dont have a a legancy train to put it into..

Cough, cough, nice, cough work, Alex

.....

Cough Dennis

Nice work Alex 

Wow!!Its smoke like the real one and sounds really cool.Great work!!!

Thanks to all of you for the nice words

 

Mike R The legacy version is totally awesome, I love mine

 

Dennis thanks very much

 

Spence thanks very much

 

Brian thanks very much

 

John I know it would hardly smoke, there was a faint view of smoke

 

Larry thanks very much

 

Erol thanks anytime you need help just let me know

 

Alan thanks buddy

 

Josey wales thanks, I would like to see how your units turn out

 

Dennis thanks very much

 

Jeff thanks pal

 

Sea board streak thank you very much

 

Alex

Your welcome Alex !!!!!

Another great upgrade, Alex.  I was just running the two older Lionel engines (ATSF 3751 and the Southern PS4 # 1396) that you  upgraded for me last year and appreciating the great improvement in sound and smoke.

 

With regard to the Legacy versions of the 3751, I purchased the Legacy 3759 and to me, there is no comparison in sounds - the TMCC unit sounds better!

 

Thanks again for making these older engines more fun to run.

 

Don

Alex, I had that engine and put 2 MTH 16 ohm heaters inside and got great smoke.

Another nice job ALEX.  What is the batting you used inside the unit?  Just wondering if it is standard Lionel batting or something else.  I heard that pink insulation works well too, any thoughts on this?

Keep up the good work,

laz57

I recommend against the pink insulation.  I tried it a couple of times, but it seems to char very quickly.  I've had much better luck with tiki torch wicks.

I had good luck with eyebrows from a Santa Claus suit

What do you do when Christmas rolls around?

I'll second the "no pink insulation" tried it as well, it was shot in 5 minutes and burned onto the resistor to the point I almost couldn't remove it.

 

I haven't used tiki torch wicking but Lionels batting works well. It has larger fibers that are more resistant to charring and therefore last longer.

 

Just be sure you order several, or find some other parts you need as Lionel charges a minimum flat rate of $9.00 shipping, shipping is very prompt, and you will however, have it within a few days.

I forgot to add that Alex also did the upgrades to my Lionel PRR M1a. The last time I was running stuff at my club (The Black Diamond, Behtlehem Pa) I had the M1a sitting on a siding. I must of turned on the toggle switch for the siding as someone said they thouht we had a fire on the other side of the layout, but it was the M1a smoking like crazy.

 

JohnB

Thanks again to all of you guys for the wonderful comments,input and info

it means a great deal too me

 

Thanks, Todd,Jeff, Don Jones,Marty, Laz, Gunrunner John, Ben, RickO and JohnB

 

Some might disagree but I find when upgrading these smoke units, the best output  is due to the batting I use,  because it holds a lot of fluid. Also another big factor is the drilling out of the intake air hole, there's also one more factor but that's my little secret. LOL LOL LOL

 

Thanks, Alex

 

OK Alex, give with the last tip!   No secrets here.

I'll take a stab at it:  Removing the insulation from around the resistor?

I'm not sure that's much of a secret, it's on Lionel's smoke unit improvement video.

Hi guys thanks for all the input, John K that is one of the secrets

but the other one is,the placement of the resistor in the batting must be just right not to shallow and not to deep. I get it just in the right place and it smoke like crazy.

 

I agree gunrunner John no secrets LOL LOL

 

Thanks to all, Alex

Alex,

 

Did you change the size of the resistor, ohm wise, or is it stock?

Alex, I have a great idea. Next time you happen by Maui, bring your tools and a few extra smoke units. I know someone that could use them on their K-line steamers. Don

Hi Joe I use the same ohm resistor all the time

 

Thanks, Alex

Don that sounds so so so tempting, do you have a guest room for my wife and I LOL LOL

 

Thanks, Alex