Lionel Legacy Scale Polar Berkshire

Is this the one you are referring to?  6-11203?

http://www.lionel.com/Products...203&CategoryID=0

You'll clearly need to open it up to see where the smoke came from, it doesn't sound good.  There is no such Lionel product as 6-11213, are you sure you're not referring to the one that Volphin pointed to?

The first thing I would check is the alignment of the IR sensors on the drawbar and the tender.  The drawbar has some flex to it and if it is bent much, then there is a communication breakdown between the two.  I'd also check the PGM-RUN switch.  Is it set to RUN?  Do your lights come on when you power it up?

How much smoke fluid was left in the engine when it was stored?  

The IR tender wouldn't have this effect, the locomotive will run with no tender.  Smoke coming out is probably not a good sign since it stopped.

If you replaced the smoke unit, and it is not seated or sealed well against the shell the unit may be leaking.  If there is a lot of smoke, I don't think it is the circuit board and the engine would not be working.

Always check the last thing you worked on. 

Also, the smoke fans are available, you just need to search for them separately.  Depending on whether the holes are straight or diagonal.   G

John, I have tried to run mine without the tender.  No dice.  IDK why.  I agree that the smoke issue is a bad sign... but was hoping it was from an over filled smoke unit or something of that nature.  If it smelled electrical, I'd be looking at those boards and motor assy. for sure.

EDIT:  The loco only was tried under conventional operation.  I'm unsure if it would work with the Legacy enabled.  Never tried it once I got my 990.  

Any of the Lionel stuff with the IR link have no logic in the tender, only the sound.  The IR link is a one-way link, it can't affect how the locomotive runs.

I'm not sure what happened when you tried to run it, but I've run countless IR equipped TMCC and Legacy locomotives with no tender, it's never been a problem.

George, I think he said the engine stopped pouring out smoke, that's a very bad sign.

I'll defer to your experience John.  

It was probably operator error on my part.  LOL

I wonder how much boards are for that loco?

Hard to say what happened yet.  My top suspect for the smoke is that a wire was pinched reassembling and the six month sleep allowed it to work through the insulation.  This could be very simple or it could be a $110 board.  That's an older Legacy, so it has the R4LC & DCDS.

Doesn't have to be the circuit board.  The other issue is when the hot side of the smoke element shorts to the smoke chamber and the hi current knocks out the Control board temporarily causing the engine to stop.  Lots of smoke would indicate wire insulation melting to me. Usually CB flash some smoke than it is over.  So the pinched wire John mentioned, or the shorted smoke element overloading a wire.  G

Not to hijack this thread at all, but since you folks are in know, here goes:

If I have the first Lionel Legacy NKP Berk (6-11212), what are my options, if any, if I want to improve/upgrade its smoke output....and what would they cost?

Just pondering this Friday a.m.

You really shouldn't have to. The first generation legacy berks smoke plenty good.

I have the same locomotive as the thread starter, I've never felt the need to set the smoke higher than the lowest setting.

If it has some run time on it, and isn't smoking well, new wicking should increase the output . Wicking is only a couple of bucks if your comfortable removing the shell and opening the smoke unit to change the wicking. If you shine a flashlight down the stack and the wicking is black/charred thats the culprit.

The good news is, these older berks have a chassis mounted smoke unit that is MUCH easier to work on than the " under boiler" mounted units on the newer legacy stuff.

RickO:  I do indeed currently smoke just fine.  My primary train of thought was to potentially order a replacement part from Lionel just in case my smoke unit fails down the road....presumably while they're still in stock/available.

Yes...it's Friday and that's where my mind is today. 

Currently they're "out of stock" go figure.  FWIW the entire unit is $35 from Lionel. 

Having said that, Its typically not necessary the replace the entire unit anyway.

Lionel DOES have the resistor and AC regulator listed, these "could fail". Usually the AC regulator goes and takes the resisitor with it. I don't think this problem is common enough to warrant spending money on a spare" just in case". The regulator is $30

http://www.lionel.com/Customer...ae-9998-88a7a57e0281

The fan motor is not listed but I believe its the same across the entire line. They are out of those, no surprise there.

You could try Boxcar Bills website, he's much cheaper than Lionels flat rate shipping:   http://www.mttponline.com/

I've never had a "total failure" of a smoke unit. Worst thing was a n AC regulator on a Lionmaster loco many years ago.

Other than that, I've oiled a few fan motors and replaced the defective one in my Legacy k4 and never had a problem.

I've yet to put new wicking in, a few are fairly dark brown, but still smoke fine. It ain't broke so I 'm not fixin them.

I run mine on the lowest setting that gives me good smoke( thats low on all but one loco, set at medium) and add fluid almost every operating session. The "flashlight down the stack" helps to see if the wicking is wet too.

The closest I've had to a total failure is a couple of times the AC regulator shorts, that puts about 50 watts into the smoke unit.  Spectacular results for about 30 seconds and then it's dead.  That usually destroys the smoke PCB, resistor, and wick.  Of course, you have to replace the AC regulator as well.  I've never had to replace the smoke unit itself, just those mentioned parts and of course fan motors, and an occasional impeller that gets loose on the shaft.

We hope for the best.

6108057220 Horizontal fan.  Lionel web has pictures.  I have the diagonal and MTH version if you need them.  G

FWIW, the MTH motor will frequently fit in place of the diagonal motor.  I've used them in a couple of places and no problem mounting it.  The biggest issue is the MTH motor is longer, the for Legacy Northern smoke unit, it got very close to the shell, I put a couple of layers of Kapton tape in the shell.

Thanks, folks, for all of the helpful responses.  Very much appreciated.

Quick question as I attempt to educate myself:  are these parts specific to the first NKP Legacy Berk or will they work on most of the Legacy steamers?