disappointed with jts megasteam

I always use 12 drops as soon as the smoke output begins to slack off when using the mth fluid. I have never had a problem. I only tried 5 drops of the jts briefly when I had noticed the dribbled fluid on the boiler. I dont run my unit low.

The stuff always worked for me...

 

 

Hi

 We sell the megasteam and it takes about 1/4 of a bottle run time befor you get

 the smell from what ever sent you use.

 It has to burn off the old sent that was in it some times it takes a while.

 Just keep using it. It will work.  

Same here.Never a problem in MTH,Lionel,3rd Rail and even Marklin HO!!

 

I'm with Walter on this one.I would love to have "Tennessee whiskey" scented smoke fluid.

 

Ricky

 

Jts Megasteam works great for me also,Dont use anything else my wife comes home and says you were running train's today whole upstairs smells like chocolate. never a problem.

 

Jeff

Well I hought an 8 oz bottle so you better believe im gonna use it......lol.

JT's works great with all my MTH locomotives but my Lionel engines smoke better with Lionel smoke fluid.

I could handle it!

 

Larry

the great mth smoke out lol. are we in china? lol

 

$oo

 I can understand how the MTH might work better. I have several engines that prefer a certain type? I mainly use the large bottle of MTH fluid in my MTH engines. I have four other brands as well. I think they're all a little different? Aristo, USA, Bachmann, I think they all sell them. I imagine they're refined to a little different viscosity? They each like a different temp to smoke the best??

 There's a guy using diesel fuel or Kerosene on Utube inside his house with customized heating elements.

I always have at least 8 x 8 oz bottles of MegaSteam in different flavors at all times. I refill the smaller bottles with them. I fitted the smaller bottles with plastic pipettes by cutting a small hole in rubber eye dropper top; remove eye dropper and insert plastic pipette. Gives great control. I love a ton of smoke. I use the JT's with ALL type smoke units. 

You are correct about the five drops...the MTH reservoir fully loaded with wick has a capacity of 1cc. A smoke oil dropper bottle held in the fully vertical position yields 1cc from 18 drops. I use a 10cc syringe calibrated at 0.1cc and drop a full cc into the reservoir when the smoke volume begins to tail-off. I blend my own smoke oil from aviation stock, and while my train room does not have the benefit of smelling like bacon and eggs, I do get excellent smoke production.

 

         --Bob Di Stefano

Not a problem here in Richmond, either.....

 

 

 

 

Peter

It never occured to me to use the Pabst 33:1, but believe I'll give it a try.

Mr. groundhogslayer,

It has been said many, many times before on this forum, here we go again. Before you exercise your right to slam a product or said products maker, it is wise to contact the maker BEFORE posting a complaint on a public forum. If you had contacted the maker I'm sure Jeb would have offered many suggestions to help resolve your problems.

There are many users of this product on this forum AND throughout the world  who enjoy this wonderful hobby and this smoke product. All I can offer you are these few suggestions. 1) Anytime you are not happy with a product reread your "user's guide" for each make of locomotive (no two are the same). 2) Contact the maker of the product you're having problems with. Lastly, post a request for help BEFORE you slam a product or the maker.

I've never used this product or any smoke product in my locomotives. My area of interest is the prewar era (1910-1932) no smoke.

I use nothing but Megasteam.  I consider it the best product and I do run trains.

Forget the smoke, I like your loads. Shermans and a war booty Stug, couldn't really tell the rest. Are those Tamiya or Bandai kits?

 

       
       


Im pretty sure that my origonal post made it clear that I was not bashing the product. As I said, I have never heard a bad thing about the product and I dont bash products. I read the tips and tricks section of megasteams page.

I simply posted what my exact problems were and exactly what I had done to try and alleviate those problems. I didnt say a single derrogatory thing about the product or company. I didnt tell anyine to not buy it. I simply posted my problem and asked for suggestions so I ask that before you come hereand slam me, get your facts straight.

       

I have used their stuff forever.  I can say that when I have switched scents all it took was about 3-5 minutes of running and I could smell the new scent pretty well.  I personally love their products.  I would suggest trying a different batch.

Oh Boy!!!!!!!!!!!   Its not even Dec 21 yet. The world isnt upside down already.JT Mega Steam IS  the best smoke fluid hands Down.  On top of that Jeb is one **** of a guy.Quite suprised you d  take a whack at him with a thread like this.

 

Fix your wicking so the fan dosnt blow fluid up through the stack.

 

Smoke em if you got em. Mega Steam Rocks.

 

I just add JB direct to my locs.  Does the trick.

 

To the point of this thread:  I agree with Marty...and I DO run trains, too! 

 

my wife don't like smoke  so i use NADA smoke fluid .   It helped some  so i don't smoke  the house up when she is here.

Chris

That is a good suggestion.

If you run these trains daily, whether in conventional mode or command, then the smoke unit wicks are going to get charred. If these are standard MTH smoke units part of the wick will be looped up through the resistors and it gets charred and stiff right at the point where the fluid needs to be heated enough to vaporize. Once once charred it will not conduct the fluid (or heat to the fluid) as well as it should.  I'd also think that if you are getting unvaporized smoke fluid out of the stack and on the boiler shell it's not getting heated properly and is being puffed out by the fan. In my experience this often happens when fluid has collected on the resistors or a charred wick and it gets blown out when you first start up.

 

If you're not prepared to service the wick then eventually you are going to see problems with smoke output whichever fluid you use. I have a feeling that MTH Protosmoke is a somewhat lower viscosity than Megasteam or the formula is different in some other respect that means it will flow more easily than other brands. That might account for the difference you see.

 

When I replace wicking in my engines I ensure that it is saturated by applying the fluid directly to it rather than dripping it through the stack. This takes about 25 drops.

 

I have no problem whatsoever using Megasteam with either Lionel TMCC/Legacy or MTH PS2 engines and the output is always great. I have to say that it's only with certain engines that Megasteam shows a substantial improvement over Protosmoke. Either one is definitely superior to Lionel's premium smoke fluid but that is not everyone's experience. I really cannot account for the difference in my case.

I have no argument that JT's is an excellent product. The best smoke for the buck is however Johnson & Johnson's baby oil.

I used their bacon scent in my Lionel Diner & it drove my Jack Russell terriers crazy! Had to stop to keep them off the Christmas layout on the floor.

       
       


I AM NOT TAKING A WHACK AT ANYONE. I AM HAVING A PROBLEM WITH THE PRODUCT AND POSTED MY PROBLEM, WHAT I TRIED TO DO TO FIX IT AND ASKED FOR HELP. BACK OFF.

My locos smoke fine on other fluid. The problem was immediate with the 1st use of the megasteam. I cant see the wicks on all of my locomotives being no good. Remember, I tried it on multiple locos with the same results. I checked their website, I tried many different approaches and after I was out of ideas I posted on this forum. Yes I blow down the stacks. Its not my 1st day. Im beginning to see why noone posts questiins on here when they have a problem with a product. You are automaticly bashing them and are subject to flak.

First of all, it's not at all true that people don't post here when they experience a problem.  It's fair to say that a good many come here because they are experiencing a problem and there most often is someone here willing and able to help.

 

But you are experiencing a problem that the vast majority here (myself included) simply have not had and with a product that has long received wide acclaim in the hobby.  Those who have been satisfied with the product are simply relating their own experience, so you'll need to wait until someone who has had this same problem comes along to tell you how he or she corrected it.

Here's another vote for JT's. Best fluid I've ever used and I too was in for surprise with how "authentic" the coal-fired steamer scent was. When I commented about this on the forum, they actually sent me a free bottle of NADA to flush the scent out. Now that's customer service.

 

A note on your problem. I had two Lionel TMCC steamers that smoked very poorly with or without JT's Megasteam. The solution was to drill a wider hole in the PCB board to allow more airflow through the unit. The results:

 

 

When I notice that I am having a problem nobody else (or almost nobody else) seems to have, my first inclination is to wonder if I am doing something wrong or just differently than they are.  Figuring out "what is different" is the first step in troubleshooting for me whether it is with trains or at work.

 

I put the megasteam in the trains, I add the JB directly to myself.

And again, I posted here because I HAVE NEVER HEARD ANYTHING BAD about megasteam. I am having an issue with it so I posted my problem.

I DID CONTACT MEGASTEAM DIRECTLY. the suggestions were to add more fluid, blow down the stack, and replace the wicks.

I HAVE NOW TRIED THIS PRODUCT IN ALL of my smoking locomotives. One of them is BRAND NEW.  None of my locomotives smoke like I see the pictures and videos online.

I cant beleive that every single locomotive I own needs a new wick, even the new ones. Im tired of the ignorant posts towards me. I will never come here for help again. For those who posted positive suggestions; Thank you. I appreciate them.

Then............don't use it

 Ok, take a wack at me. I tried it. It did not work as good as MTH's. period. Maybe it's great for you and god bless. maybe it didn't get hot enough for me? It's sitting here and I don't use it. The MTH worked better. Now I'm pretty sure that was in my G gauge Challenger which was the only steamer I owned at the time. I'm pretty sure that engine's smoke unit doesn't get real hot for whatever reason. I have not tried it since. I have not bought another batch. I did try venting the input of that smoke unit more and now it's worse. So I'm guessing the elements aren't as hot as others????

 I don't see how that's bashing it. It is what I found. I'm sure he's a great guy. I'm sure it works for you guys. It didn't work as good for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Maybe if you yell it will work better for me?????????????? Maybe we can't say anything less than perfect here anymore. I can understand when it's a bashing thread. I don't read that intent here. I miss a lot of guys who used to post on the forum who gave up trying to help here. Stay with the yes men cheerleaders that only side with your products then. Maybe we can't even buy MTH smoke fluid anymore and post that we do??????????