My brand new Baldwin 4-6-0 has already stopped smoking with only around one hour run time. The stack still feels warm and the center pin is hot enough to burn me, and a very slight wisp of smoke will come out at start up and then no more. I had tried Mega Steam in it one time only to see what it would do. It stopped smoking shortly after. Can these be cleared if stopped up?
Rob
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If Williams is still using Sleuth smoke units, I think they are, they use a very thin smoke fluid. In fact Sleuth has their own brand of fluid and that is probably what is recommended.
Some folks have suggested the use of acetone to un-clog the Seuthe smoke unit. Make sure you do it with the smoke unit cold and powered off.
The danger is that any spilled acetone could damage the paint on the loco body if allowed to be in contact for too long.
It seems to me that, once the unit becomes clogged, it is past saving. At least that has been my experience.
I'd consider some sort hi-test solvent, but I think I'd remove it from the locomotive first. 
Truthfully, this is probably a good time to consider a fan driven retrofit. 
Does it get hot? The stack should get at least warm. Blow down the stack. Too much or not enough fluid?
If you are going to try soaking it in a solvent to open it up, it would be best to remove it from the locomotive first. I'm suspicious of acetone because it might affect the insulation. I don't know what the units are insulated with, but acetone is a powerful and indiscriminate solvent.
Play dumb and send it back to Williams by Bachmann. See what they do. At worst they will likely call you and tell you what the cost would be to fix it. At best, they might just replace it under warranty because it isn't smoking. Unless there are people there who are going to engage in some sort of forensic analysis of the smoke unit. But I wouldn't start soaking the locomotive or the unit in acetone or anything else until you at least try the warranty route first.
I have used Mega Steam mixed with Williams smoke fluid with no problems. It's surprising that your unit clogged so easily. I would run it for a while with Williams or Sleuthe fluid and see what happens.
I've only used Mega Steam in my Williams 4-6-0 and Berkshire. A member here (Liam) said the trick was 6-7 drops, more and it would spit or not smoke. I inadvertently put about 10-12 drops in my Williams Berkshire the other night and I swear it took 10-15 minutes at least of running before it began to smoke like normal again. During the wait it barely smoked a wisp here or there without spitting...I'm guessing until it burned enough off. I am considering the Box Car Bill smoke unit upgrade for the Berkshire.
Robert
I have a Williams S-2 Pennsy engine that will smoke only when filled up correctly. If you overfill it it don't smoke or you only put two drops of fluid in it won't smoke very well.
FYI, I have only used Williams smoke fluid in my engine.
If you overfill a Williams steam engine; take it to a place where you can turn it upside down and let the smoke fluid drain out for five minutes. Then refill according to Williams instructions(usually six or seven drops of fluid).
May have to leave in neutral for five minutes at two/thirds power from your transformer and wait until it starts smoking. You must be careful with this, as you can use up all the smoke fluid, so when it starts to smoke power down some and try to run the engine in forwards.
Lee Fritz
Although I had turned it upside down a few times and drained out the fluid, this time I let it sit for 10 minutes upside down. Next I used only 7 drops of fluid. That seems to have done the trick but it doesn't smoke as well as it did out of the box. Ok for now though. The instructions that came with it said to use 10-20 drops of fluid, and that is what I did at first.
Rob
The trouble is, there is no standard size for a drop. Two different droppers can drop a very different amount, depending on the size of the opening. I would recommend switching to Seuthe or Williams smoke fluid, which is thinner and made specifically for that type of unit. There are a couple of other brands as well; you might check with a G gauger since most G gauge locomotives use Seuthe smoke units.
Although I had turned it upside down a few times and drained out the fluid, this time I let it sit for 10 minutes upside down. Next I used only 7 drops of fluid. That seems to have done the trick but it doesn't smoke as well as it did out of the box. Ok for now though. The instructions that came with it said to use 10-20 drops of fluid, and that is what I did at first.
Rob
like gunner john said ditch out the sluth unit and put in a fan driven smoke unit..you'll be alot happyer with a fan drive unit...this is my 3rd rail s2 turbine..id did some mods to my mth smoke unit to make it really putout the smoke..also just got a 3rd rail Q2 and took out that sluth unit and put in a mth mod smoke unit..
Hi Rob,
This is what my Williams 4-6-0 looks when running Mega Steam. As I mentioned it's all I have used since the beginning, but maybe I need to give the Williams or seuthe specific fluid a try. I gather it's about as good as can be expected from a seuthe unit (sorry for poor lighting & video quality...but hopefully it gives you some idea):
The Baldwin ten wheeler does seem to make a better stream while running than my Williams Berk. I assumed that was because of the taller stack, but I don't know for sure. My C&O is real nice runner, and even though it can't compete with my fan driven mth smokers, it also won't overwhelm the room too quickly. Good luck with yours!
Robert
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