Hi Everyone,
I've read a lot (and asked some questions) about adding smoke fluid to the Lionel Vision Big Boy. Methods and "amount of drops to add" vary by person.
The owners manual simply states to "Add 20 drops . . . to each smoke unit". That bottle has a flip-top dispensing hole. No eye dropper. Since it comes with a pipette, that must mean 20 drops from the pipette. The owners manual quotes smoke fluid 6-37841.
The Lionel "Vision Big Boy" Video, at time mark 23:00 says, "add 1 line on the pipette to each smoke unit . . . 1 line equals 15-20 drops . . . add 22 drops max per refill." The pipette is marked. Each line equals .5 ml of fluid. .5 ml was the number I was looking for. So, Lionel recommends adding .5 ml of fluid per fill or refill (adjust as required pending smoke usage, etc.).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...RdntYQew&t=1511s
Many people state to use an aftermarket dispensing bottle with a metal tip. The smaller tip makes it easier to get the fluid in the smoke unit than the larger diameter pipette, or the eyedropper.
Even Lionel says they use a metal tip dispenser when they service units at the factory. Lionel mentions that in this video at time mark 7:00. Later on in the video: He says they also do this for the fan driven smoke units.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-DEZ6CErz0
So, I got out my metal tip bottle, put smoke fluid in it, and added my first 5 drops per unit. I came back a few hours later and added another 5 drops per unit. It seemed like I wasn't adding hardly any fluid at all. Then I thought about: A drop is not a drop. "A drop" from an eye dropper will produce a lot less water than "a drop" from a garden hose! So I decided to do some measuring.
The old Lionel Premium Smoke Fluid p/n has been replaced. It had no eye dropper. The new Premium SF bottles do.
I will preface all this with: I pulled fluid into the eye dropper, and turned it upside down. I wanted to get a fresh coating of fluid all over the inside of the bottle (top, bottom, sides, rubber). Then, I simply squeezed it out, and kept squeezing for a few seconds to get any bulk amount out.
.5 ml in the Premium SF eye dropper results in 18 "drops" of fluid. I repeated this many times.
Again, .5 ml in the Premium SF eye dropper results in 18 "drops" of fluid. I repeated this many times.
I emptied the eye dropper, turned it upside down, and added 18 drops of fluid using my metal tip dispensing bottle. I made sure I got full drops. I did not let the needle touch the side of the dropper. I watched each drop form, and drop. I also made sure I left an air gap so I didn't have anything affected by vacuum or pressure.
18 drops from my metal tip dispenser resulted in only (approximately) .125 ml. Nowhere near .5 ml. I repeated this many times.
It took 70 drops from my metal tip bottle to equal the required (stated/suggested) .5 ml!
So, "a drop" is not always "a drop."
How many drops we add depends entirely on what we are using to add the fluid. Lionel recommends .5 ml per fill or refill. The only way to know that you are getting .5 ml is if you use a dispenser that has the fluid amount markings on it.
Then, to add to the degree of differences: My bottle came with 3 different diameter metal tips. I used the middle size. Using the smaller tip, or the larger tip, will change the amount of fluid per drop again.
My owners manual "Contents of your locomotive box" says it includes a funnel. Mine did not have a funnel. So, from now on: I will be using the tiny funnel that came with my 1956 American Flyer S-Gauge train set. It works perfectly.
I hope this helps others.
