Just got the first loop of my layout running today. I hooked up DCS and was running my tinplate 255E because thats the only MTH engine I have at the moment. I was focusing on connection issues with the track when I noticed that the engine stopped smoking. It could not have stopped for long because the last time it made a lap it was smoking like a champ. My layout is only 28 feet by 9 feet, so at most the engine went just that far out of smoke fluid. As I stated, the last time it passed me, it was smoking full power.
I added smoke fluid and then noticed it would not smoke again. After troubleshooting for close to an hour I noticed some fluid on the rails which ment that I overfilled. I then took the shell off and saw that the wick was burned. Any part of the wick that was touching the resistor is now black.
I took the wicks out and pulled them apart a little, and put them back in. I will order some new wick to replace these. For now, I put the unit back together and it smokes ok, not as good as before, I am assuming this is because of the burnt areas on the wick.
My question is how could this have happened so fast? It is a brand new engine that has just seen limited running time under the Christmas tree. The DCS smoke output level is set to medium. The smoke control under the tender is set completely clockwise, or full on. I was running the voltage on a variable DCS channel between 10 and 12 volts.
I have since decided to run all 4 of my DCS channels as fixed.
Considering that often people have massive layouts, I am assuming that you have to run an engine dry for a decent amount of time to actually burn the wick.
Any thoughts?
