My first Legacy Equipped steam loco!

Make sure that you didn't overfill either smoke unit.  Initially, add 20 drops to each smoke unit and 10-20 drops each time thereafter.  Let the resistors heat up for a minute before expecting to see anything.  Also, make sure you blow down each smoke unit to free up any clogs.

Congratulations! Warning though-- now you'll see a need for another and then still another! I've got over a dozen legacy engines and absolutely love them! To truly appreciate all the cool functions that are at you fingertips you have to purchase the CAB-2 to really unleash all that's there otherwise it's just a tease

I did exactly what the instructions say to do.  Is it possible that the operating voltage matters?  In conventional, I wouldn't be at 18 volts unless I was hi-balling it down the main.  But I seriously doubt this would matter because these things say they can be run in conventional and don't think you must sacrifice smoke features to do so??  Thanks.

Is there an ON/OFF switch for the smoke unit?

None of my command locos smoke well when running in conventional.  I don't think the smoke unit gets enough voltage to heat up properly when in conventional.

 

I'd try hooking up TMCC/Legacy and trying it in command.  If it doesn't smoke in command with a full 18v, then there may be an issue with the loco.

 

Andy

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing -voltage. Seems odd given its supposed to work in conventional and every kid (even a 90 year old kid) loves smoke effects.  Will hook up TMCC tomorrow on my day off and let you all know. Thanks for the advice! 

Back on the other subject - Till now my only high-end steamers have been MTH Premier, which I love.  Have read about how good Lionel's new engine sounds are. But was thinking "how much better can they possibly sound over MTH Premier??"  Have to tell you, YouTube videos don't do the Legacy sounds justice. This loco soundslike I'm standing in the yard next to the real thing!

Clearly my morning coffee has not kicked in yet! Just reread your original post and you did say the switch was in the "On" position.

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing -voltage. Seems odd given its supposed to work in conventional and every kid (even a 90 year old kid) loves smoke effects.  Will hook up TMCC tomorrow on my day off and let you all know. Thanks for the advice!  "

 

Did you leave it in neutral and set the voltage for 18 volts and leave it for awhile?  I'd be surprised if it didn't smoke at 18 volts.

 

What transformer are your using?

 

Andy is right.  Hook up the TMCC/Legacy and see what it does.

Andy, is correct.  I had same with Lionel, all excited, but running conventional.

smoke at a nil, unless, in Neutral, and will smoke the room.  I got a very nice,

! Very nice, Atlas , Nor/Sou. from this forum and was on the cloud waiting for it ,  go down stairs, same thing.  I had an out, as the next weekend I went to SMokey MTN CLub, and this thing will puff, puff puff, in remote running,  I am tickled to say the least,

OF course, none of this is pertinent to MTH,  THEY smoke all the time.

And they don't discriminate in the units they use between high end and low end (I think)  - my Railking N&W J smokes as much if not more than my Premier J.

We run command at 16V to save car lights & roofs, none of our Lionel units smoke

I actually have the same engine, and I encountered the same problem. It's at my nearest Lionel dealer getting it checked out. I've seen a few other people who had the same problem, so apparently this issue is a bit common.

Mike Reagans explanation of transformer waveform and how it effects Lionel smoke units " may" explain the lack of conventional smoke.

 

He mentioned that there are capacitors for the smoke unit that must be brought up to a full 18v charge in order for the unit to operate best.

 

If a smooth wave transformer can reduce smoke output in a command environment, I would think low conventional voltages would result in poor smoke performance.

 

I'm not expert, just a guess.

 

If it smokes well under TMCC no point in sending it in. The new legacy smoke units are thirsty, be sure to add fluid regularly.

Thanks very much for all the helpful posts!

 

As an update - I had initially brought locomotive to 18v with no smoke the night I got it in (before I posted here). But did it again, as I only did it for like 5-8 seconds the first time. I let it just sit there. Would say about 10-15 seconds in, the main stack started showing smoke in fact, both smoke units are functional. Not used to Lionel (other than Polar Express r-t-r) as my fleet of steamers is MTH. Curious - do all Lionel steamers produce like half (or less) the smoke of the MTH steamers? or do I need to get some special fluid? By the way, the whistle sounds are still incredible! Thanks again for all the help.

 

Peter