MTH PS 1 Smoke Unit Question

How you wired the original the smoke board will tell us more,……if you just left that board hard wired to track power, I’m sure the resistors went to toasty burnt in short order……there’s no real point to run that old board with all that gadgetry, beings you have a Cruise Commander…….if you wish to keep the piston driven smoke unit, a simple fix would be to isolate the smoke resistor section of that board, install a single 20-27 ohm TMCC type smoke resistor, and wire that to the Cruise Commander, and frame ground……then you can control the smoke from your remote. Biggest thing to check & recheck is that you isolate the smoke resistor from the rest of that ancient board,…..it’s just matter of slicing through the traces to make an isolated section,…..very doable for small money ….

Pat

Pat,

Thanks for your response.  That is helpful. I do think I have it wired so the smoke unit was drawing track power.  Just for clarification, the R! and R2 on the board would be the resistors, correct?

Would you be able to tell me where I could pick up the type of resistor you are referring to.  I think I could isolate and by pass the resistors and replace with the TMCC resistor as you suggest.

Ralph

Ralph, R3 & R4 appear to be the resistor ports. You’d have to disassemble to confirm. You can get 27 ohm resistors for smoke from Lionel, or the various parts vendors…..just don’t go lower then 20 IMO, ……you’ll need to cut the traces to the rest of that board to isolate the resistor from the rest of that board……I’m guessing it does more than just the smoke unit??…

Pat

You can do yourself a favor if you're using the Cruise Commander.  Get rid of all the PCB components and install a single 27 ohm smoke resistor in the board and wire it directly to the Cruise Commander smoke output.

Pat and John,  I have several smoke resistors but I think they are for the MTH fan generating units so not sure if they are 27 ohms since there is no indication on the packaging. the packaging has a part no. of 600 -8141-055.  Would these be the correct smoke element resistor?

Ralph

SMOKE RESISTOR / 27 ohm 5% CA-4060 - 6008141055 (lionelsupport.com)

hi here is the 27-ohm resistor from Lionel!

Lionel part number600 -8141-055

Alan

Thanks Alan, that looks to be exactly what I have. Part no. is the same, my packaging did not say 27 ohm resistor but I think I can go with what I have.

@Ralph D posted:

Thanks Alan, that looks to be exactly what I have. Part no. is the same, my packaging did not say 27 ohm resistor but I think I can go with what I have.

Read the resistance with your meter to be sure, and then you’ll know with authority what you have, ….they don’t read perfect 27 ohms, the range can be anywhere from 25 & change, all the way to 29 & change ……I’ve seen a couple topple over 30,……

Pat

So just to close the loop.  Other than the smoke unit itself the existing board was not providing any other functional support, since the engine headlight is wired to the cruise commander.  I cut the board to remove the traces and replaced the two original smoke resistors which I tested out at about 15 ohms each with one 27 ohm resistor, grounding to the chasis and wired to the ERR pinout for the smoke unit.  Smokes like crazy now.  Thanks for all the good tips. I always appreciate the support from this group.

thanks

Thanks for closing the loop, you have no idea how many don't take the time.

Ain’t that the truth!…thanks for letting everyone know you were successful with the swap!…the next guy will now know what to do with authority!…

Pat