Inexpensive smoke wick

Nice find, John.

At that price, you could include it with your SuperChuffer! 

BTW, any update on when your chuff tach reader boards will be available?

Bob

Bob, the chuff generator boards are in the hands of the assembly house, I don't have a build date yet. 

I was pleased how close the wick was in both construction and size to the MTH wick that I know to work great.  I have three of these with the eBay wick, so far they've performed every bit as good as the MTH wick equipped smoke units. 

Wick..ed cool

John, Have you had time to test if they hold up better to burning issues if run dry?

Thanks for the tip John !  

Dave

Thanks John!

Good fin, John. I had wondered about that when I had some TIki torches for the back yard.

Nice find John!!!

Alex

Dave Zucal posted:

John, Have you had time to test if they hold up better to burning issues if run dry?

I don't think any wick holds up that well when you run it dry.   Other than that, they seem to work great.

willygee posted:

Wick..ed cool

If they were "WICKED", they would be GREEN!

nice find. looks like the Tiki Torch Wick I find around here but cheaper.

I hadn't seen the skinny stuff before, and the braid is nicely done.  I think I have a good supply now.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

I hadn't seen the skinny stuff before, and the braid is nicely done.  I think I have a good supply now.

MTH and the low cost ones might have come from the same plant!

I'll have so much wick now, that I better order some Tiki torches to help use up the excess.

Go this USA made route and get the price down to .14 per ft. before shipping 

http://www.wickstore.com/Produ...-Yards__1284-50.aspx

Boy, 50 yards!   I could re-wick the whole fleet a couple of times!

Fiberglass material used to fiber glass boats works well and a boat repair shop will probably give you some scraps.  Fiber glass insulation from your attic or fiber glass insulation from old electrical wires from a kitchen oven or toaster oven will also work.

Charlie

Lowes sells tiki torch wicking and works quite well. About $3.00 for good size wicking package.

How long do you cut the piece of wick and once you cut it, do you unwind the braid or leave it braided before you put it into the smoke unit ?    

I cut them 4" long and use them as is for MTH smoke units.  As you can see, the MTH smoke wick looks pretty much the same as this stuff.  Here's a picture of the MTH smoke wick installation, I think Marty took this one.

John, I did take that.  I would love to see one of those new wicks.  Did you determine the material to be the same as MTH?

Marty, I'll send you a couple.  As near as I can determine, the material is the same or really close to the MTH material.  I had the two side by side, and didn't see any difference in the fibers.  So far they work well, obviously it'll take some time to see how they behave long term.

John,

received the Ebay wick today and compared it to MTH's wick over an open flame. They both take the same amount of time to begin showing signs of burning. I do however like the tighter weave pattern of the Ebay wick. Thank you so much for your money saving tip.

No problem.   I've tried a few alternatives, whenever I see one that looks like it might work, I give it a whorl.  So far it's still working as good as any other wick I've tried, so this may be the keeper.

John ,In the lionel smoke units i assume you would have to unwind it & pack it in there,am i right about that ?, i did order some it was buy 10',& get 5 ' free.   Thanks,   Jerry  M.

I haven't tried it in Lionel units, but I suspect your description is about right for the Lionel smoke units.  I know the Lionel wick I fluff it up and stuff it in, and that works just fine.

gunrunnerjohn:  Does the wick material have to be 1/8" for some reason?  Maybe to slip over the resistor? In my case I'm just using it to fill the square reservoir in the K-Line diner.

No, it's just if it's much larger, it doesn't fit between the two MTH resistors.  Also, it was the only braided stuff that seems to fit the bill I found.  For stuffing down inside, I'd pull it apart some as it will work better that way.

@gunrunnerjohn - I'm trying to look up these wicks now. Is the seller kbdesignsonline?

Gosh, I don't remember, that was 2016, those gray cells have died!

I found it again, apparently that is the seller.  Not quite as good a deal, but $1 a foot is still a pretty good deal: eBay: 392868954968

John, do you use them in single element Lionel smoke units?  Is so, how do you place the rope wick in the bowl?  Thanks much; Falcon70

Here's a true lifetime supply!

1284 Round Fiberglass Wick - 1/8 Inch, 50 yards!  item: 128450, $21.40, shipping $5.

The site is pepperell, since no links are allowed, you'll have to use Google search.

I use a different wick in single resistor units, it was 1/2" braided wick.  Not the stuff with the hard shell, but all braided.  It shreds nicely for packing the Lionel style smoke units.

Tiki Torch Fiberglass Wick Wine Bottle Patio Lighting Oil Lamp Lights (1/2X8 Ft), $17.95 shipping free.  I cut the little threads on the outside and I get a nice fiberglass wick to shred into the smoke fluid bowl.