smoke fan motor

and grab a fin

"cross your fingers", and pull straight out.

Thanks Vernon ,i thought so but i wasn't sure i will be doing it shortly .

When you put it back in, make sure it's slightly below the plane of the top of the smoke unit fan chamber, but is NOT binding on the bottom.

Better if you have room to pry it up from the bottom. Less chance of breaking off a blade. Depends on the unit.

Pete

@Norton posted:

Better if you have room to pry it up from the bottom. Less chance of breaking off a blade. Depends on the unit.

Pete

I've been looking for 4 years for a unit like that, haven't ever seen one in any brand or model. Hope springs eternal.

I've pulled several hundred (at least) impellers off, I've only had one break, and it looked to be compromised before I worked on it.  I keep all the impellers I could find on Lionel and MTH in stock, occasionally I get them that slip on the shaft, those I just replace.

@Vernon Barry posted:

I've been looking for 4 years for a unit like that, haven't ever seen one in any brand or model. Hope springs eternal.

The newer Lionchief/Legacy units have room to use a pry tool. I just did one a few days ago.

Pete

Well i had no problem getting the impeller off ,i then went to my parts box to get the new motor little did i notice that the new motor was shorter than the old one ,so i connected the wires to new motor when i put it in the smoke unit it wouldn't sit flush with the smoke box ,no matter how i tried it wouldn't sit right so i ground down enough on the new motor & it did fit flush ,i did not realize that i had all small motors ,would it matter if the motor is shorter than the old one ?,anyway i put everything back together went to test the engine & no smoke ,the fan did spin then it stopped & now no smoke & the fan doesn't spin ,not sure if it's because it's the wrong motor ,or i may have done something to the board when i replaced the resister ,any idea what i did wrong ,should i get the longer motor ?,i have had these for several years bought them when lionel had there 50% off sale .

Well, I'd start with the right motor.  For the longer Lionel motor, I use the MTH motors, they seem to be better quality.

What exact model is this engine?

Lionel has used three types of motors in their fan smoke units. The shortest ones are N10s, the longer ones are N20s and have two different mounting hole locations, horizontal and diagonal. Seems like all the short N10s have horizontal mounting holes.

You may have a smoke unit that had a motor with a diagonal N20 and thats why the N10 doesn’t fit. Other than length the motors have the same cross section. A short N10 would fit in a place for a horizontal N20 as would the longer still N30s.

Before installing a new motor or new smoke unit for that matter, remove the impeller and oil the shaft. The new ones seem to be dry and will be very noisy and wear out sooner. You shouldn't have to do that if they had actual oilite bearings.
Pete

John ,the engine is a gp 30 # 6-28855 ,so as for the shorter motor i assume it still should work ? ,just for my own information i am going to have to get some of the longer motors ,you say that the mth motors last longer do you have the part # for them ?, i have never ordered anything from mth ,as i said before i don"t know if i did something to the board when i replaced the resister ,if that is the problem then i think that would be beyond my ability i would think .

MTH sells them individually or 5 pack

My search was "smoke" and then refined with "motor"

https://www.mthpartsandsales.c...h/?type=serviceparts

That said, the Lionel parts sale is this month too. I personally think the MTH motor is better, but if you need other parts, boards, well now is the time to build that list.

What value resistor did you use?  That engine has a regulator and needs an 8 ohm resistor.

Here's the motor I use for Lionel longer motors, MTH Parts & Sales.

Gerald, before ordering another motor, check your old motor for the style of mounting holes. An MTH motor may not fit any better than the short motor does if the mounting holes are not the same.

Pete

Pete, I can assure you the MTH motor will fit the smoke unit in question.  It's got the standard longer Lionel motor with the horizontal holes.

Well i decided to go down to the layout & try again ,so first i checked the on ,off switch why i did this i have no idea i didn't even touch the switch before ,so i shut the switch off & then back on ,put the engine back on the track started it up pressed smoke & she started smoking ,i shut it off & on several times & it worked every time .i can't figure it out ,but it's working now i will try again in the morning & see what happens ,but i should still get the longer motors to have on hand .

John the resister is an 8 ohm .

Well i went down to the layout today & i had to do the same thing as yesterday ,turn the smoke switch off & then back on to get it to work ,is it hard to put a new switch in ? ,i also ordered the MTH motors this morning & i already received an E-mail saying the order has shipped ,first time i have ever ordered anything from them ,QUICK SERVICE !!!!!!!

The switch is the bog standard 5 cent slide switch that Lionel uses everywhere.  The only hard part at times is mechanical, depending on how easy it is to get to the switch.  Unless the switch is physically defective, a shot of contact cleaner is likely to fix it.  Also, if the crimps on the back are getting loose, just pressing them back down will fix that.

John ,The switch is very easy to reach it is just underneath the shell ,there is also the run, program switch next to it ,these switches have solder connections ,i don't think it would be hard to change if i had to do that ,but for now it is working & if it keeps giving me problems then i will see if i can change it.