disappointed with jts megasteam

Maybe it is time to close this thread out!

Or get everybody some JB.

I have used JT's product for the past several years and love it, I see no reason to change. Also they are first class vendors to deal with.

Groundhog ,

I apologize to you for being a little course. For some reason i didnt see you asking for some help with a problem in the Original post.

 

I to need alot of help with different problems i come here for. I learned at the beginning you can ask for help without bashing the product . I ve been put back in line a few times myself , no biggy. 

When alot of people come forward and say yeah i had this problem also , then you can see theres a pattern of a poor product or design and how they fixed it.

But in this case I didnt agree.

 

 

 

       
       


I posted because I have never seen a complaint before. All I have ever heard is praise for megasteam. I was looking for help which is why I posted exactly what my problems were and exactlywhat I had tried. I am disapointed in the performance I got and I dont feel that all of my locomotives need smoke unit overhauls. I got some answers from megasteam. The frequent fill ups are normal. I am fine with the trade off for fast smoke dispertion. the mth fluid smokes much better in my locomotives. That is a fact, not an opinion. If one of my locos had poor smoke then I would agree with a possible burnt wick, but I tried it in several before I posted the origonal topic. I have since tried it in all of my equipment with the same results. I have added a full dropper full (about 25 drops) and I dont get "mega steam" in any of my locos. The smell is not chocolate either. Even in a new, untainted, smoke unit. Is the product bad? I dont know. It smells so good in the bottle I want to drink it. When it smokes it does not stink of burnt wick. It has a mildly sweet odor, but not of chocolate. I am in no way bashing the product. I have seen countless videos on youtube of it in action. Thats why I bought it. For whatever reason it doesnt work for me.

As for JT vs. MTH... I have a bottle of each, both make my trains smoke, and that makes me happy.

Well if you have tried all the suggestions and there has not been an improvement I am stumped.  Are you running the engines under DCS?  What is the smoke level set at?  I wouldn't completely give up on the product, I would try another scent and see what happens.  I saw in your video that the smoke wasn't bad but it did disappear very quickly.   My suggestions are...

 

check the smoke level setting (if your using DCS)

blow down the stack after filling

Let the engine sit after you fill it (which you stated you have done)

How much power do you have going to the track?

 

I missed the video when I first read this  thread, now I'm trying to figure out what the problem is? but if your not happy with the smoke production then switch back to MTH. 

 

       
       


I typicly run conventional but that was one of the suggestikns made in the email back from megasteam. I dont have the fancy dcs, just a remote commander. I have to control over smoke iutput with it but im told it is defaulted to max. I hooked it up and verified 18 volts at the rails. It made no difference in smoke on my ps2. As for my conventional locos I added more cars and upped the voltage as a test. It got maybe marginally better but still not like the videos. I plan to run this batch through since im going through it like crazy right now. I will buy a 2 oz bottle as a final try once my 8 oz jug runs out. I hope I just got a bad bottle.

       
       


I get nearly double the output and at least 10 minutes between refills running mth vanilla scented protosmoke compared to this video. 3-4 laps max on megasteam (abiut 45-50 seconds per lap).
The complaint was never "no smoke" it was that the output was considerably less then my mth fluid and the lack of chocolate scent followed by frequent fillups. The frequent fillups has been answered.

       
       


I have plenty of mth fluid but the smoke lingers forever and works it way upstairs...... when it goes upstairs the wife gets upset........ and when the wife gets upset...... well you get the idea.  I was drawn to megasteam because of the output matched with fast dispersion.

Well you know you'll require frequent fillups, JT's is a "lighter" fluid. MTH locos have always been the best smokers out of the box thats a given and on their own fluid. I think a good part of the "rave" over JTs is those Lionel operators such as myself where in the past Lionel units have been marginal performers with the "old" Lionel fluid being outperformed by JT's. Lionel smoke units are now on a par with MTH and I've not used it but some feel Lionels "new premium fluid" performs best in these units. Jt's produces good consistant smoke for me and its its a far better deal than Lionels tiny bottles pricewise. Maybe JTs isn't the best smoke producer for some like yourself and thats fine, as I said earler switch back to MTH if it provides the results your looking for. I've gotten good results from MTH fluid in my Lionel locos as well,ultimatley I choose JT's because it produces good smoke and with the vanilla scent its more pleasing to the rest of my family using the rest of our basement as a rec area.

....and by the video,it looks like JT's delivered.

I just watched the video for the second time, and I would have to agree with Rick.  Looks like it's performing pretty well--certainly more than adequate output to satisfy most folks, I imagine.  I guess I just don't see a significant problem there.

 

I can't speak to the chocolate smell because I've never used it, but I do use vanilla and a couple of other "flavors" from time to time.  Most often I just operate with the smoke turned off or set to a low level, and I always turn off that feature on the diesels I run.

Ok..well maybe it's just a bad batch.  But if you are getting better results with the MTH brand then I would say use what you are happy with for sure....Oh and get an exhaust fan for the wife... 

 

I had previously owned two railking locomotives and ran them convetionally via a Lionel TPC. Both locos hada smoke output adjustment  on the tender next to the volume adjustment so smoke output could be adjusted manually. Needless to say I never had it turned up more than half way. No manual adjustment on your loco?

No Disappointment here! Smoke em if you got em!  Happy Hanukah, Merry Christmas!

Alot of posts over negativity about smoke?? Seriously??

My locos only have volume adjustments on the tender. I am happy with the way it disapates quickly and its not that it doesnt produce smoke, it just doesnt smoke as much as it does in the pics and videos I see online. The chocolate smell isnt a deal breaker, it was just a perk. I will use it til its gone and try another bottle. Its only 15 bucks. Not like I bought a $1500 locomotive that isnt working....lol

I have bought many different "flavors" or scents of the stuff and not all of it smells good or what you would like once it comes out of the locomotive. I do have several favorites that do smell like I thought they should including the Grandpa's pipe, Popcorn, Black Licorice, and Grape. I was at a train show with a club and we were running trains with the Grape scent and we sort of smelled it, but not really. It does smell like grape soda when you do smell it and it is usually strong. I did notice that some people were making funny faces to the south of us in the aisleway. I went over there to see what was going on and I want "hit" by a giant wall of grape smell. It was so funny that we would run lots of smoke and then watch the visitors at the train show as they would make all sorts of faces. Grape is now my number 1 favorite. My friends call my flavor collections my wine cellar of smoke scents.

I was at MB Kleins this past Saturday and they were running a steam locomotive(conventional) and it was belching out a ton of smoke. When it went by me I wafted a bit of the smoke plume towards me to check out the scent. It nearly knocked me over, smelled like a cross between burning wires and a burning tire. I said something to the effect that I think the smoke units going up and he replied that was the JT's coal scent but there were others scents mixed in over the past few weeks. I guess you really don't want to mix "flavors". Still was an impressive smoke display, I just might go back next weekend and get me a bottle of Cedar.

 

Jerry

I was using their spring scent and my wifes comes down and commented on how it smelled like Downey dryer sheets...I thought she was nuts, so I went upstairs and came back down a while later and I'll be ding danged....it did smell like Downey.  It was pretty funny, but I like it and so does she......she thinks I'm doing laundry....maybe?.....

Chris, you may have just hit upon something that will benefit all train guys for generations!!!!

 

Jerry

Hey Jerry your right! I hadn't thought of that...gentleman spring scent it is....while the Mrs. is around anyway...

   I use JT's because it does dissipate quicker then the heavier MTH smoke, with my wife that is a must. I like the way it smokes heavy and certain scents do smell better then others. I recommend not mixing flavors of their product, you can come up with some different odors for sure. MY favorite is the grape scent, I asked JT"s to make a grape scent fluid one fall when the wife and daughter were making jelly, the whole house was filled with the Concord Grape scent and thought it would be a good scent for the trains.

   In watching the video I see an engine that is smoking really nice and heavy, so what's the problem? To me a lot of noise about nothing here.

I like JTs...it's all I use.

Has anyone considered the impact of light? My trains run in the loft and when the sun is shining through the loft window  - late afternoon here - the effect of it "catching" the megasteam smoke rally makes a difference.

 

If I run trains in the evening under artificial light the volume of smoke with the same engine always appears much less.

 

I also have to agree with Paul in his post - I dont think the engine in the video smokes to bad at all - but I bet it would improve with a change in lighting!

 

MIKE

I just watched your video for the first time and I watched it Twice. That amount of smoke would make me a happy camper. OMHO,but Good Luck to ya.

I had a brilliant idea...... I took one of the wife's liquid potpourri heater things and put some of the chocolate scented megasteam in it. The smell it gives off is exactly that of what comes from my loco, and its not anything near chocolate. After that test I think I may have a bad bottle of fluid. Is there any harm in finishing the bottle off? I dont think there is as it does produce a respectable amount of smoke. I will pick up another bottle of megasteam at the next show in February.

groundhogslayer another thing to keep in mind is you stated that when you use MTH smoke your wife complains when the smoke goes upstairs and she doesn't like it.  how does she react with the mega-steam?  if you get no complaints then you have a winner.

The odor is still an issue but at least the house isnt full of smoke. I will pick up another bottle and give it a try.

Ace, which fluid do you use?  I think you've implied that maybe you make your own fluid or use some alternative to train smoke fluid?

 

I use mega steam, and lionel premium mostly, because they seem to dissipate quickly and occasionally mth which smokes the thickest but hangs in the air, but would like to hear all options from forum members.

Originally posted by Ace: 

 

 

Oh, OK. 

Bo 

 

 

Visit my website Bo's Trains at http://www.bostrains.com

 

I am a big fan of MegaSteam. I think the stuff is great. I have been using it a long time and here is my take on the situation. First of all, you will go through MegaSteam a little faster than other smoke fluids. This is because it is lighter but the benefit of this is that the smoke will dissipate a lot quicker and not fog up the room.

 

I think what is being perceived as not as much smoke output could be because it's not hanging around the room as long. The smoke output in the video looked fine to me. Most MegaSteam users like the quick dissipating properties.  

 

As far as the scent of the Hot Chocolate, I will agree that particular scent is not overly strong and I have tried most of the MegaSteam scents over the years. But remember, it is hot chocolate not a chocolate candy bar, which would be lighter in scent anyway.

 

I would recommend you give MegaSteam another shot but try a different scent and see if that makes any difference.

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I have used it for along time and it smokes great but does not smell like it does in the bottle.  It smells like hot wire insulation burning with the exception of vanela.  All of fluid that has been sitting around for a year or more has changed to a dark orang color and still smokes and stincks the most. 

For what it is worth, lionel and mth smell the worst to my nose and have tossed it.

If they can work on the smell out of the stack being the same as in the bottle that would be the best improvement they could make.

I don't know if my sense of smell is bad or not but none of those scented smoke fluids smell much different than burning oil to me. So, I'm not sure your bottle of fluid is really bad or not. It won't hurt to try another one, I guess.

I’ve had excellent results with Megasteam over the years. I especially like their Candy Cane scent which I use in my Christmas tinplate steamer. And the Hot Chocolate works well for me. It’s not overpowering and is more like just a hint of the real thing.