After sitting on the shelf for over a year .... I put on the track and filled her with Premium Peppermint ...
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Looks great and thanks for the video.
I use Lionel Premium (pine scented) in my VLBB and although the stack output is similar to yours neither the whistle smoke nor the blowdown compare favorably with your results. You're particularly lucky to have a blowdown feature that works as I think it should. Mine never has and at some point I will have to open my 4023 up and see what adjustments are needed (probably to the thermistor according to what other people have said about this problem).
Thanks again.
WOW! That's what it's all about.
Thx 4 that.
NICE- It doesn't get ANY better than that! I always say if you have a ton of smoke and a good whistle You don't need anything else on these big steamers. Nick
Thanks, I really like my VL big boy and smoke is a big reason it is a show piece on my layout, Just wish my VL Hudson smoked 1/2 as well
Brent
Nice !!!!! Smoke em if ya got em!!!!!!
Interesting how the "smoke" alternates between the front stack and the read stack. Why does it do THAT? The real locomotives don't do that.
Really cool!
Hot Water posted:Interesting how the "smoke" alternates between the front stack and the read stack. Why does it do THAT? The real locomotives don't do that.
You can set it to work like shown (which you have stated was incorrect in the past when the VL Big Boy was announced) or synchronous. It's a user preference.
Great engine but I would want it set for smoke out of both stacks at the same time
MIKE
Mine has never smoked that well, even after Lionel serviced it and said it was good. What voltage do you have at the track?
Hot Water posted:Interesting how the "smoke" alternates between the front stack and the read stack. Why does it do THAT? The real locomotives don't do that.
Thats because Lionel said the front stack is for the front "engine" and the rear stack is for the rear "engine", just like the real one
RickO posted:Hot Water posted:Interesting how the "smoke" alternates between the front stack and the read stack. Why does it do THAT? The real locomotives don't do that.
Thats because Lionel said the front stack is for the front "engine" and the rear stack is for the rear "engine", just like the real one
Well, that IS true, but they STILL do NOT alternate like that.
I am very impressed with the amount of blow down smoke you are getting. I never was able to get that much smoke using premium smoke.
Looks awesome! Great video.
Looks great Rich.
Is filmed on the new layout or part of the old layout?
Maybe we can catch up at the March meet.
Charlie
Are there any solutions to getting better smoke from the whistle and blow down on this loco?
Haven't had mine on the tracks for 3 years but will get it there this year. Your video with the whistle and smoke really gets your pulse up. The blowdown on mine never worked well; would like to know if there is a solution that works. One suggestion was to remove the rear cover and turn the blowdown on and wait to smoke comes out the fill hole.
Hi all... thanks for all the nice comments on my video.. this engine smoked well when I got it right after they were released but whistle steam and blowdown were inconsistent at best. After watching all the videos and posts the one thing I took away was these needed a lot more smoke fluid than called for in the instructions...
The other night when I took it off the shelf to box it up I figured I'd take it for a quick run .. I filled the stacks with 20 drops each from the dropper in the bottle then whistle and blowdown with the plastic pipette included with the loco..about 15 drops each. I let it sit for about 25 minutes to soak in and you see the results. Frankly I was surprised it smoked that well after sitting on the shelf for at least 18 months.....
Sinclair...I run all command so 18 volts from a brick and the smoke was set on low!!
Charlie...that's still the old layout... I'm working on the room and boxing up all my stuff to make an inventory..
WOW!
Looking great, RD! 
Rich,
Big boy is a beast. Smoking well with all those extra features.
Hope to see you at the upcoming York. The AOL guys, you included, do the same wine dine routine for both days there.
Ted
Looks and sounds great!
RickM46 posted:Haven't had mine on the tracks for 3 years but will get it there this year. Your video with the whistle and smoke really gets your pulse up. The blowdown on mine never worked well; would like to know if there is a solution that works. One suggestion was to remove the rear cover and turn the blowdown on and wait to smoke comes out the fill hole.
I have tried that suggestion a number of times and although the blowdown unit produces smoke through the fill opening, it doesn’t come through the outlets on each side of the engine. Funny thing is that the smoke doesn’t appear anywhere else, as you’d expect it would if there was a detached connection between the smoke unit and the outlets, which consists of tubing and brass connectors. Also tried blowing compressed air through the outlets to clear any blockage but there does not appear to be one.
But as this has been an issue for many VLBBs I suspect some installation fault at the factory and some people have reported that the thermistor installed on these units is placed too close to the heater (resistor) which would cause the unit to run at less than the right temp. I’ve had that problem with 3rd Rail smoke units as well. In other Lionel smoke units equipped with thermistors the right spacing is indicated by a mark on the underside of the PCB, which I assume is the same on the VLBB. But to get at this you have to take the boiler shell off. Although this is reputed to be relatively easy I have not dared to try it yet.
BReece posted:Thanks, I really like my VL big boy and smoke is a big reason it is a show piece on my layout, Just wish my VL Hudson smoked 1/2 as well
Brent
Brent, my VL Hudson smokes like a banshee after I replaced the batting in the stack and whistle. Start at about the 1:05 minute mark
Ted Bertiger posted:Rich,
Big boy is a beast. Smoking well with all those extra features.
Hope to see you at the upcoming York. The AOL guys, you included, do the same wine dine routine for both days there.
Ted
Ted if it wasn't for you guiding me through my first York last October I would have been totally lost. It was such a treat to meet all the old AOL gang .. after all meeting the people I had been "talking" to for years was one of the main reasons I made the trip. You're such a "KRAFTY" old veteran you were able to guide me to all the right spots at the right times...I really owe you a big thank you for that!
....and to keep it on topic the Big Boy is a beast and it's one loco that has been on my want list since before anyone even thought of making one. With all the extra features and the way it runs, sounds and smokes I believe I own the best one available at this time.
I was reading the manual last night because Jack got me thinking about resetting the smoke units so they puffed together and the features built in to the unit just to protect itself are amazing... for instance when you put the smoke shroud on it automatically turns off the front unit to keep it from over heating....that's pretty cool!!
