So I managed to acquire a nice looking Lionel 675 for a decent price. My question is are smoke pellets available or must i search for original bottles ?
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I bought a few bottles about a year ago off eba y. Email me if you can't find any.
Reproduction pellets are manufactured now. The best price I've seen is $15 shipped for a bottle of 50 on eBay.
The reproduction pellets work fine, and smell like original pellets.
Jeff Kane "The Train Tender" sells them. Part number is SP-1R at $14.95 / 50
Is Toy Trains Unlimited still selling/making pellets? I know a few dealers/train shops looking to buy some wholesale to resell.
Is Toy Trains Unlimited still selling/making pellets? I know a few dealers/train shops looking to buy some wholesale to resell.
I thought that Trainz took over making the pellets some time ago.
Grampstrains posted:Unless you are bent on using pellets, Smoke fluid will also work.
Ah ha ! I do have plenty of that !
The mixing of the two tends to form a gunk out of pellet resedue.
Over time it migrates low, and saturates the packing. This has a large impact on how much fluid it can hold and the wicking speed, but the effect is more fluid related and new packing and just sticking with fluid use, the "problem" stops .
I was in a local train shop in NC yesterday and heard the original train pellets had a cancer causing ingredient.
Can anyone confirm this?
Here is an entertaining article on smoke pellets from CTT.
I think any particulate that can be inhaled might cause cancer. (not that I have any training on the subject)
Things that were thought to be safe last year might be declared a cause tomorrow.
Liquid smoke puts oil vapor in the air. Is that safer?
From Dr. Lechner's article:
Is this toy train pseudo-smoke harmful to your health?
Well, a jar of pure meta-terphenyl is labeled an "irritant," meaning that chronic exposure can irritate the eyes, skin, and mucous membranes. Some chemical substances in smoke fluid can also be moderate eye irritants and slight irritants to mucous membranes.
Common sense suggests that hobbyists provide themselves with at least some ventilation in their train rooms and that they find some fresh air if they experience headaches, sore throats, eye irritation, or itching skin after standing in a cloud of toy train "smoke."
From recollection: The earliest versions had something in them that "wasn't good for you". What? I don't know. The later SP pellets were a different formula from what I gather.
From recollection: The earliest versions had something in them that "wasn't good for you". What? I don't know. The later SP pellets were a different formula from what I gather.
Just got some repro bottles on the auction site for a PW 2055 steamer I picked up. Work fine.
Mega-Steam sells liquid smoke fluid in Smoke Pellet scent which you can use.
I just rebuilt a PW smoke unit last night and first thing I did was put smoke juice in it. Those elements never die its amazing
Matt Makens posted:I just rebuilt a PW smoke unit last night and first thing I did was put smoke juice in it. Those elements never die its amazing
Speaking of smoke units failing; Large scale smoke units are notorious for a short life. Whether they are of the seuthe type or even the fan driven variety. While in my experience with Lionel post war trains of years ago, those smoke units always seems d to work. Even when they were overfilled and smoke seemed impossible ever again, a run at high speed on a track or roller stand always seemed to bring them back from the dead zone.
Adriatic posted:From recollection: The earliest versions had something in them that "wasn't good for you". What? I don't know. The later SP pellets were a different formula from what I gather.
From what I read somewhere is that the first smoke pellets were made of ammonium nitrate which was toxic, corrosive and can be explosive when mixed with other chemicals. Those original pellets were used with a special smoke bulb and were marketed for a very short time. Lionel quickly changed over to the smoke pellets we are all familiar with which I have heard were made with meta-terphenyl, a waxy solid material. I have two full bottles of the original pellets which I have only used a few times. Now when I want my old Lionel 675 to smoke I just use a few drops of smoke fluid in that engine and it smokes great.
C W Burfle posted:Is Toy Trains Unlimited still selling/making pellets? I know a few dealers/train shops looking to buy some wholesale to resell.
I thought that Trainz took over making the pellets some time ago.
I believe you are yet correct on this, CW. At least they are the ones we (LHS) bought our last 12-packs from.
As I recall, Toy Trains Unlimited first duplicated/marketed the pellets in a bottle similar to the original Lionel version of postwar fame. Then, Trainz bought the business.....or something like that.
Anyhow, here's a link...
FWIW, always...
KD
Most of the postwar engines I have rebuilt I've added a liquid smoke unit. However, the last two I did I omitted the liquid smoke unit installation and retained the original. Wow, I used MTH smoke material and they work just great, didn't even replace the resister.
Bud
So when using fluid instead of pellets in the older smoke units, how much fluid should be used ?
usually 4 drops or so. I put 4-6 in most of my postwar units. It burns off pretty quickly but doesn't seem to be enough to overflow the unit.
The other nice thing about the liquid is that there is no white residue. When using the pellets, I'd see a lot of white residue inside of the stack and inside of the shell itself.
Thanks GRAZ.
My Generals can hold 4 drops from dry, and they don't have packing, just a wick.
8-18 drops on mine if dry; about 5-8 on refills if its wet but output is slowing.
From dry, 5 drops at a time, five minutes apart, till it leaks at the piston or lid; use less nextime.
Or you can tip it each time before adding drops and watch for leaks out of the stack or lid or piston.
That gets you your limit. You could fine tune by repeating, and doing the last 5 drops very slowly.
Sometimes overfilling can drown an element for a while too, keeping it too cool. It evaporates eventually. Mayby not that session though.
