LionChief Plus Camelback Unit Not Smoking Any Longer

How much fluid are you adding?

4 drops.

Dennis you need to add at least 15 to 20 drops!! 

Not enough in my opinion having owned a Lion Chief + Hudson.

Add 12 drops.

Dave

Thanks Chessie and Dave!    I decided to try the 12 drops first.  After running the engine for a couple of laps, it started smoking perfectly.  Interestingly, page 13 of the Owner's Manual for this locomotive says to only add about four drops of fluid into the locomotive's stack at one time.  On the same page, the manual recommends adding "about four drops" when smoke production decreases.

Since too little fluid can cause burning of the smoke unit batting, what is the downside to adding 12 - 15 drops of fluid to this loco's smoke unit when "smoke production decreases"?

Again, thanks much for the excellent advice!  I thought that I would be phoning Lionel for an RA and taking a road trio to UPS.

Your welcome!

Not to steal the thread but.... seems that too little is more of a problem than too much.  Have any of you seen a "too much" issue you can't solve by either turning the loco upside down or blowing down the stack? 

Too much is a problem if it runs over and gets inside, it's a messy job to clean it up.

I posted some pictures not long ago showing the difference between a LC+ fan driven smoke unit and a typical Legacy fan driven smoke unit.  The smoke bowl is pretty much the same size on the two units, so it stands to reason that 4 drops isn't nearly enough.  At least 20 drops is a good starting point.

Thanks John.  I had viewed the photos, and, the video that you posted, and they were very helpful.  I'm a bit confused by the explicit instructions in the Lionel operator's manual for this engine [discussed in my prior post] as to the amount of smoke fluid to put into the stack initially, and, when the smoke production decreases. 

Both Hokie71, myself, and, I'm sure others, are still trying to understand what harm can actually be caused by putting in too much smoke fluid.  Is there any long term damage to the engine or smoke unit, or, can the excess fluid be drained by turning the loco upside down as Hokie71 inquires?

I will, of course, continue to use more smoke fluid as you, and, several other posters suggest.

I can only imagine the Lionel recommendations are a carry-over from the LionChief (not plus) line for the puffer smoke units, they take a lot less fluid.  I do know that 4 drops isn't nearly enough for the LC+ fan driven smoke unit.

Thanks John.  This thread has definitely helped me avoid sending a loco back to Lionel for warranty repair, as the loco works great with the additional smoke fluid.

Thanks for the tip, guys. My LC+ NW2 was having the same issue when I only added four drops per stack, following the manual instructions. It stopped smoking on the club layout pretty quickly this afternoon, so I added four more drops. Still nothing. Then, after reading this forum info, I added 10 drops per stack. Now it's smoking fine.

Lionel really needs to correct the LC+ manuals!   I don't know where they come up with the 4 drops!

Since this issue can cause unnecessary returns for warranty repair, is it likely that someone from Lionel would be monitoring the threads concerning Lion Chief Plus smoke units?

No.

Thanks!

Guns,

   I do believe the 4 Drops was due to the Diesel Engines like the Legacy GP9's, no doubt the Camel Back engines Smoke Unit are different.

PCRR/Dave

Add what the book says, because damaging the unit is not the best thing you can do. Remember each eninge has different amounts of smoke added to the unit older units had 5-10 drops. But if the manual is telling you to do 4 drops they copied and pasted instructions from a different loco.  I would add half of a JT Mega Steam pipette to prime the smoke unit but I would count the drops you put into it.

Don't rely on what the book says. Adding too few drops and then running the engine without visible smoke output will shorten the life of the smoke unit. 

Regardless of whether the locomotive is a diesel or a steam engine, if you add only four drops, run the engine for roughly a minute or two and still notice no smoke (assuming you have the smoke switch set to "on"), try adding a few more drops. 

In my case, I added a total of 10 drops to each stack on my NW2 LC+ loco and it started smoking properly again.  

Lionel hasn't been reliable from a service department standpoint on the issue. One club member said he was told his smoke unit stopped outputting smoke because too much fluid was put in. But he had only added the four drops as suggested in the manual.

Pine Creek Railroad posted:

   I do believe the 4 Drops was due to the Diesel Engines like the Legacy GP9's, no doubt the Camel Back engines Smoke Unit are different.

Actually, any of the LC+ locomotives I've taken apart use the same smoke unit, and they need a lot more than four drops.  I can tell you for sure my Legacy GP-9 needs a lot more than four drops!