PS1 AC-6 Smoke Unit Motor

I thought PS1 smoke units were wired directly to track power.  Hopefully GunrunnerJohn can chime in.

It does run directly on track power, but the smoke chamber and fan housing are mounted on and connected to a board.

@Knight007 posted:

It does run directly on track power, but the smoke chamber and fan housing are mounted on and connected to a board.

I’ve seen PS1 smoke units take a dump, ...first thing to do is verify track power is getting to the board....there’s a clearly marked plug on one side that has AC in marked on the board....black & red wire...

Pat

I know everything except the motor is in order.  Everything works fine when I use the motor from another model.  The problem is I can't get this new replacement motor to work when installed though.  It runs fine when I apply 3v DC power from a battery, but won't work when plugged into the smoke unit board.  I don't get why one motor works and the new one doesn't.

@Knight007 posted:

I know everything except the motor is in order.  Everything works fine when I use the motor from another model.  The problem is I can't get this new replacement motor to work when installed though.  It runs fine when I apply 3v DC power from a battery, but won't work when plugged into the smoke unit board.  I don't get why one motor works and the new one doesn't.

Your new motors must be exceeding the amp capabilities of the board....not all those motors are created equally...I think John has said what the mA is , but can’t remember what he said it is,...it’s stupid low amps .....anything to high, and it’ll strain the PS1 smoke motor driver....

Pat

Smoke motors are very low torque motors and only use 30-40ma of current.  Many similar sized motors for stuff like model cars may use several hundred milliamps of power.  These will not work in any model train smoke unit, you need motors with the low current consumption.

If someone could post the exact specs on the proper MTH smoke unit motor, I'd really appreciate it.  I've been ordering different motors to fix this engine for three months now and haven't found a match yet.  Either the dimensions are off, or like these new ones, they fit perfectly and then just don't work.  Starting to feel like MTH purposefully uses stupidly exact components so you give up and order directly from them.  Except soon that won't be an option.

Just use the MTH motor, why make a simple job difficult?  The motors are actually a standard sized motor.  However, if you look on eBay, you'll find zillions of motors that will fit, but they all draw far too much current for the application.

I can't use the MTH motor because I only have one and I have two engines that need motors.  Hence needing to replace one of them.  What are the specs on the motor I need?

Just get a small handful from Ms.Midge at MTH on Monday......she’s still shipping parts....get some traction tires, smoke motors, and stock up on a few perishables...this way the shipping charges won’t hurt your feelings....

Pat

What is the volt and amperage spec of the MTH smoke unit motor?

if the motor wont start on 2 volts dc you need to replace it. The motor is run by PWM signal! not direct dc, pulses the motor so it appears to Puff!

Alan

They're 5V motors and they draw between 30-40 milliamps.  I've never seen the "exact" specifications on those.

So ultimately I ended up buying smoke unit fan motors from Gunrunnerjohn... I think.  This was a few years ago.  You, for sure, can't just buy little motors that look similar off of eBay, because apparently MTH has a very specific voltage / wattage / electrostatic pulse rate etc.

Is Mrs Midge still working in the new parts department? If so that is so awesome she knows her stuff!!!!

@chefmarkt69 posted:

Is Mrs Midge still working in the new parts department? If so that is so awesome she knows her stuff!!!!

Midge retired 2 years ago.  Don is running the parts dept and knows his stuff.

I thought so, someone mentioned in a post above that she was still working the parts department. I had to check and yes Don is awesome!!!