JT's mega smoke experience?

I just started using it yesterday.  I see that the smoke comes out rather heavy but I was having my UP ES44a train hauling!

Your lucky to get 10 minutes out of ANY BRAND of fluid. Thats just the way it is, especially if the smoke output is set to high.

 

JTs is good fluid, but I'm sure you'll find a problem with it. Just like evrything else you have related to toy trains

I've been putting 10 drops

I have used this product for a long time with great success. When you find a product that works for you, why change.

Great product.

 

Gerry

I've been completely happy with Mega-Steam and I use it more than any other brand. How long it lasts depends on how much fluid the reservoir holds, what kind of condition the wick is in, how much fluid you add, and how much the unit actually smokes (including the adjustment on those units that have an adjustment. I usually have to refill about every 15 minutes, adding 15-20 drops each time. Note that Lionel recommends you shut off the smoke unit and let it cool for a few minutes before adding fluid. According to Mike Reagan, adding fluid to a hot smoke unit can form a sort of glaze that inhibits smoke production. 

Great stuff! I Use nothing else.

Brad

I not only have had great performances from Mega-Steam, but I like the coal and diesel scented fluids.

Ralph

10 drops is insufficient if you are really low on fluid and smoke production has dropped way off.  With the Mega-Steam droppers, I fill it about half-way and shoot it in at that point.  It's never been an issue.

 

When I rebuild a smoke unit and have fresh wick, it takes a full dropper to soak the wick properly.

I have had no problem with JT, and like gunrunnerjohn, I fill it alot more.  

My experience has been the same as gunrunnerjohn.

 

JT's has served me well - I go through a half of a large bottle of the Hot Chocolate fluid every year just in my scale Polar Express during our holiday setups.

 

Andy

I put some in my engines last night.  Just a stupid question, how much is too much?  I read the mauls say only 20 drops other people state they put in 10-15 drops.  I put 20 drops in my engines and it took awhile for the smoke to get going and when it did start to smoke i had it coming out of parts of the engine that should not have smoke coming out of it.  

It really depends on the locomotive, but most fan driven smoke units that are fairly low on smoke fluid should have no issue accepting 20 drops of fluid.  If the unit is already saturated with smoke fluid, that's a different issue.

 

The mechanical smoke units are a different breed, most can't accept more than 8-10 drops at the most.

 

Great results with Mega-Steam. I seldom run my smoke units but when I do it's Diesel Power in the diesels and Hickory Wood in the cabooses.

 

Honestly, I've had equally good results with ProtoSmoke and Lionel, too.

Mega Steam works well for me!  I enjoy all the scents ( except beer - which sort of smells like stale beer or like a college bar smells like on a Monday morning after a hard weekend of drinking cheep beer :-). 

 

in my experience, the MTH fluid lasts longer than the Mega S.  The MTH seams to have a thicker density which permeates my entire house, even downstairs, as my layout is upstairs.  

Awesome stuff. Wouldn't use anything else.

Very good.

Andrew, is there ANYTHING about this hobby you enjoy? Almost every one of your posts here has a negative tone. You are always complaining about something, especially anything having to do with Lionel. It is getting tiresome and I have sent you several emails about it, which you have not responded to and have evidently ignored.

 

I feel sorry for people like you, for whom the glass is always half-empty. 

With my last tube of PW Lionel fluid finally gone I tried many new fluids. I think MS has some of the densest smoke, but seems to evaporate a bit quicker than some others do. I have a few, so find myself using certain brands on each loco depending on the burn rate and capacity. Being mostly a "looper", the longer the better for me.  

I want to thank 99 percent of you who posted and gave me information that was helpful    I will try to add a little more fluid then I normally do.  Just hope I don't over due it

I must be the 1% that was NOT helpful. 

 

I suggest you take note of what I said about your posts, Andrew. I get a LOT of complaints about your posts because you always seem to be trying to stir up trouble with complaints about Lionel and other players in the hobby.

 

I'm sorry to take you to task here on a public forum, but since you don't seem to want to communicate via a private email, I have no choice.

Megasteam is great! I won't use anything else! And their customer service is top notch too!

I've gotten to where I won't use anything but Megasteam. Some of the scents don't work for me, but now that I've sampled quite a few of them, I've found some favorites.

 

I use about 10 drops in my Williams 10 wheeler. It lasts about 10 minutes before needing a refill. Every smoke unit I have seems to have it's own preference for quantity.

If the Williams is the Seuthe unit, 10 drops is plenty, some would recommend 5-6 for those.

 

I am a newbie to running steamer and I love this product! I have several scents for the holidays and run "coal" on the layout. Love'em!

 

I use the pine scent and nada. pine at x mas and nada the rest of the time. If the house isn't foggy it's not working correctly. I have had Lionel, MTH, and mega smoke. Lionel's that came with the starter sets to me left a after smell hard to explain even with the trains not running I could smell it. so I went to mega steam that was cool no after smell and smoked really good. just ran out of it so I used the MTH starter set smoke and it does seem to make a little more smoke and last a little longer and there is no after smell.  but gonna stick with the mega steam might try some different scents tho here's a video of mega steam in a MTH proto 3.0 4-6-0.

Best smoke fluid on the planet! No other brand goes in my engines.

I put way more than 10 to 20 drops in my MTH units. It's usually more like a whole eyedropper full and dont have any problems

Gunrunner, thanks for not indicating 10-12 drops, a drop from a needle and from the Mega Steam dropper is a lot. lately I have been using  about 1/2 Mega Steam dropper and having good results, I do not add fluid when the engine is hot.

 

Brent

 

 

I tried several brands, Mega Steam is now the only brand I use.

Is there any scent that will match, or closely match, the American Flyer scent?

My dad ran S gauge, I remember the scent very well from the mid fifties to mid sixties.

 

Bob

Your trains running Mega-Steam..........

 

I am looking forward to stocking up at York. I like the idea of the new jumbo size being offered.

I thought the Ceder was the AF smell, maybe I am wrong

Bob, I can't remember the brand name but it's from a company called Bart's Pnematics in the Lancaster, PA area. It is a very close match.

Brad

I have to get more Hot Chocolate, Cinnamon Bun, and Candy Cane... "You have to respect the classics man!" 

 

 

I have used most of the available brands and like Mega Steam the best,they have ehough variety to satisfy everyone's tastes.

Mikey

I love hot chocolate and pumpkin pie!

 

Peter

You guys are making me hungry .

 

Brad

I can't use mega-steam, for some reason I am very allergic to It and that includes any flavor.

 

i use Bart's pneumatic's cedar scent, it works great. I'm not as allergic to it as I am with some others. Sounds weird but use whatever works.