Leave smoke fluid in engines/locomotives during storage?

Sam

I like to place a few drops in the engine before re-boxing them. One thing to be concious of is the engines should remain upright. Something we should focus on as most boxes have the engines on their side

Steve

I'd be more worry of leaving the old smoke pellets than liquid but as stated just make sure there stored upright

Almost impossible for me to store everything in an upright position.  And I'm thinking about how when you stroll through the aisles of big train meets/shows ,  how many boxed engines are stacked on their sides on the tabletops...primarily, I suppose, so you can easily read the description on the flap.

- Mike

I've always added fluid after running to supposedly help keep the wick moist but is there ever a problem with any of the fluids 'congealing' slightly and causing problems?

It depends how much smoke fluid you are OK with on your engines shells

Even if not dry, I always try to run down to the point where I don't see as much smoke as I do shortly after filling.  (I know, a very subjective and variant description, especially if you've followed the "20 drops" thread )

For steamers, I also have put a small twisted up end of a tissue into the stack to at least reduce fluid from leaking out right from the stack.  This of course does not help any internal leaking, it can still get all over the electronics and interior boiler surface and leak out elsewhere.

It's important to remember what Steve suggests.  Keep track of which direction is "up" on your engine boxes when storing.  (gee, wouldn't it be great if the manufacturers printed some sort of small indicator right on the box?)

While many fit in the box so that they may be on their sides when storing, lots of engines also mount upright if you have the largest side of the box parallel to the surface it is resting on(of course the worst case is it can be upside down also - 50/50 odds).  (more noticeable on steam engine/tender pairs or multi unit diesel boxes.  It can be hard to keep track for something like a simple diesel box that is nearly a square on the end)

It all comes down to how you store the box.

-Dave

Running till almost dry keeps the smoke fluid from getting all over the electronics if the engine is on its side. Some things don't take well to petroleum products. 

Thanks for this thread. My instructions all made a big point out of not running an engine with the smoke unit in the on position unless there's fluid in it. But none of my instructions said you should run out the smoke unit before storing.  Seemed to make sense to do so to me, so that's what I've done. But it made for a long XMAS day waiting for that darn thing to empty after my brother's hefty filling effort :-).  And I wondered how good it was for the smoke unit as the fluid got lower and lower to the point that it was barely visible and thus, dry. Thanks to you all for some general guidelines.

She who always reads the manual (probably because I write them :-). 

A/k/a Tomlinson Run RR

All due respect...but, apparently, this has not been a real problem up until about 9 hours ago when you posted the question.

As per forum SOP, we'll now get a zillion responses that contradict each other.

I store mine dry.  Never worry about fluid or the wicks.

Soak the wick prior to the next run.  This is key-unless you like replacing burnt batting.

If you haven't already, I suggest you read Laidoffsick's thread.  You can draw your own conclusion.

There is nothing quite like the smell of a sixty year old smoke pellet!

quote:

I'd be more worry of leaving the old smoke pellets than liquid but as stated just make sure there stored upright

Smoke pellets solidify when they cool. What is there to worry about?

As Daniel implied, you can start running an engine that was stored for years, and it will make smoke from the leftover stuff.
In fact, you should use up that leftover stuff before adding a fresh pellet.

That was the problem C.Sam, you read them papers 

You never ever read the destructions, Ahem, instructions...they confuse most men

Understand the Design of model locos,  use common sense and in most cases you will be fine

MTH recommends adding before storing, but I do find it interesting how the fluid can really get everywhere if over filled.  Like it wicks through the wire and spreads like the plague.  G

The fluid will dry up anyway so it doesn't matter whether you run it out or fill it up. If you fill it before storage it will last awhile, but as I showed in my smoke fluid videos, it dries up pretty quick. My engines sit on the shelves for months at a time between runs, sometimes a year or more. They are so dry that the pre cut batting will crumble in your fingers. The white rope style don't crumble, but it dries out completely as well.

Just make sure the next time you run them...... saturate it very well before using it...once it burns, you might as well take it apart and replace the wick. It's very hard to over fill these smoke units, but if you add it too fast, it will spread everywhere.

No disrespect to your experiments and videos (they were very informative and well done), but that can't be a globally correct statement.

I've definitely had a few cases where I've left a bit of fluid in while storing and some fluid has leaked out onto the shell or boiler.  If it were to 100% evaporate, this could never happen.

Also, if smoke fluid always evaporated, there would be no need for the new cleaning product Jeb is going to offer.  I don't doubt the wicks went dry as you demonstrated, but I believe the fluid may behave differently if it gets on a surface.

-Dave

Preferably read the instructions on storing them. MTH is what I sorta follow on storing engines for long periods.

I'll tell you what...... you fill an engine with smoke fluid, let it set on a shelf for 6 months without running it, and then take it apart and post some pictures of the wick after it sat there for 6 months. There should be no leaking fluid sitting on a shelf.

If the fluid leaks out into the boiler.... your key word is leaked.... it shouldn't leak out at all unless something is wrong. Did you over fill it? Does the gasket leak? Do the screw holes leak? If the fluid is contained in the bowl with the wick, it will dry out.... and it shouldn't be leaking out. Of course the fluid will act differently if sitting on the inside of the boiler and all over the electronics. If you tipped the engine on its side and dumped fluid into the boiler, then there is nothing to absorb it. It's oil, it will sit there. The wick absorbs the oil and dries out.

So let me clarify my statement posted above. The fluid will dry up anyway as long as you don't have a leak or spill fluid into the boiler or electronics. If you fill it up, leave it upright, and there's no leaks..... it will dry up completely.  

I only own MTH stuff and I clearly remember when I got my first PS2 steamer the directions said to add fluid before storing.  I've been doing that ever since.

I'll qualify things with these 2 tidbits:

1) my engines sit unused from January thru October, not for long, long periods.

2) I DO store them upright.

The wicks do not seem to dry out in that amount of time.  I know this for sure because I remember once my son hit the smoke button before I had a chance to top it off after getting it out of storage and smoke did come out.

I'm not saying what I do is best.  I'm merely reporting my results.

- walt

New engines come with some fluid in them. So when I store or figure they will sit awhile, a few drops goes down the smoke stack.

The question was whether to leave it during storage.

I figured that could cover the scenario of running it (lets say last run of a Christmas train for arguments sake) and then boxing it up soon thereafter (like the same day, maybe even a short time after the power to the engine is cut for the last time).

Leaving the train sit upright on a shelf for months is not normally in that equation for most people who are asking a question about boxing the item for storage.

In the scenario outlined above, if the engine is boxed and ends up in some orientation other than upright, leakage of any significant amount of remaining fluid is quite likely.  While the packaging is obviously not "airtight", there is obviously less circulation for a train wrapped in it's protective plastic sheet and replaced in the box than there is for an engine sitting in open air on a shelf.