Brand new, old stock PS2 diesel not smoking

@Mark V. Spadaro posted:

I have a NOS MTH RK GP9, just opened today, that doesn’t appear to be smoking. After adding a judicious amount (10 drops) of fluid, blowing down the stack several times, turning the transformer up to max, turning the smoke setting all the way up, and all the way down, several times, adding another 5 drops of fluid, all I get is some wisps from each stack when I completely power down. The engine is roughly 15 years old, and had its first use today. Can the batting reach a point of dryness/brittleness wherein it won’t respond to smoke fluid resuscitation? Thanx for reading.

Yes, I have had to repack or replace the wick under the exact same conditions.  MTH's web site has a great video on how to do so.  "New" PS2 and they don't smoke, yes.  I also found it's easy to overfill the smoke unit out of frustration.  When I do, I put the engine upside down in a cradle and let the smoke fluid drain out.  Just be careful and patient not to pinch any wires when you pull it apart and reassemble  because that can fry things  -- I know and it's expensive.

Thanks for your reply; will give fluid a day to soak in and reassess.

It takes at least 40 drops of smoke fluid to prime a "new" smoke unit.

Ron

That may also be a unit with a double funnel set up so fluid does not make it easily into the smoke unit.  Take shell off and prime directly.  Also agree that north of 20 drops needed.  G

Thank you both. It is a dbl. stack unit, and, I’ve put only 15 drops in.

Can you tell if the fan is working?

@Mallard4468 posted:

Can you tell if the fan is working?

Yes I can hear it turning off and on as I rotate the selector switch, and I can feel the smokeless air flow.

My experience has been you need WAY more than 10-15 drops of fluid for a truly dry smoke unit.  When I'm rebuilding them and replacing the wick, I typically fill the Megasteam dropper about 2/3 of the way to charge the dry unit.  That equates to around 40 drops of fluid, and believe me it's not too much!

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

My experience has been you need WAY more than 10-15 drops of fluid for a truly dry smoke unit.  When I'm rebuilding them and replacing the wick, I typically fill the Megasteam dropper about 2/3 of the way to charge the dry unit.  That equates to around 40 drops of fluid, and believe me it's not too much!

Interesting and good info, GRJ.  I frequently screw up the amount of drops--either too many or not enough.  The MTH manuals all say 15-20 drops for a new engine (above).  I guess the manufacturer has already wet the wick to test it?

I thought I read that you're not supposed to add fluid while the engine is moving and I do that frequently, especially because recently someone on the forum said Mike Wolf himself does it all the time.  I do find myself blowing into the smoke machine, though, to get the fluid to work.

It's best to add smoke fluid to a cold unit, but truthfully I add it all the time on the fly.  I know what the Lionel and MTH manuals say about smoke fluid, I can only say it's not very useful information.  They have a noble goal, they're trying to prevent people from inundating their engines with smoke fluid.  The problem is, people get frustrated with poor smoke and end up adding even more fluid!

OK Getting smoke out of both stacks after adding 10 more drops down each stack. A little on the weak side, not voluminous, and, if I dial back the output screw, it disappears. I hoping this is just growing pains. If it doesn’t improve, eh, I can live with it. Does Lionel smoke fluid differ in appearance from MTH smoke fluid, as in it puts out a weaker appearing volume? I’m using Lionel, currently.

You should get similar smoke from any smoke fluid.  I use JT's MegaSteam myself.

Mark,

If don't like taking your engine apart to fix the smoke unit, your local authorized MTH guy can fix it pretty easily and quickly for $25-50 I would guess.  Smoke units are cheap if you need a new one.

Otherwise I would open up the smoke unit and check the wick.

Mike

Mike - think I’ll live with what I’ve got now. “If it ain’t broke”…..etc.. When I order the BCR2, I’ll pull the shell for that, and inspect the wick same time. Thanks to all contributors. I expect it’s not too often one gets to open an untouched 15 year old engine. All else worked fine.