This must be easy - how do I wire this smoke unit . . .

If this is Lionel I'm pretty sure pins 1 and 3 are tied together and pin 2 is hot.

Rod Miller

Actually, pins 1 and 3 are tied together and hot, and pin 2 is ground.  Red is hot, and black is ground.  Note that the center pin goes to all the screws, those will be grounded in the locomotive.

These run best on about 12 VAC, running them on 18 volts will fairly quickly burn up the wick and eventually the resistor.

Not to hijack this thread but if your only choice is to run the unit off of track power and your running more than 12 volts, how does one reduce the voltage to the unit so not to burn it up but remain as close to 12 volts as possible.

Paul

A series diode will drop the power in half.  Make sure the anode goes to track power and the cathode (stripe) goes to one of the outside leads, if you wire it backwards, the motor won't run.

The range is actually in the 9-12 volt range, 12V is a maximum, 9V is probably a bit better.

Thank you for the help John!

Paul

Thank You John, good info. I'm glad Paul asked the question because I was thinking the same thing. But when you mentioned the diode it was a forehead slapping moment for me. 

Serows1 posted:

Not to hijack this thread but if your only choice is to run the unit off of track power and your running more than 12 volts, how does one reduce the voltage to the unit so not to burn it up but remain as close to 12 volts as possible.

Paul

I understand that point. I should have made clear that the reason I mentioned using an ERR Mini Commander is that you can control the voltage on the relevant output by means of a software setting. I intend limiting it to 8 or 9 volts, which will produce enough smoke for my purposes as well as a means to switch it on and off from the CAB2 remote. 

I have seen different things about which wire (AC hot or ground) goes to which pin. If both pins 1 and 3 are AC hot, does it suffice to connect to only one? I have not found a wiring diagram for this particular smoke unit but looking at the unit, I can't see that pin 3 actually connects to any of the electronic components on underside of the PCB.

Well, if you look closely at the pictures, you'll see that pin 2 (center pin) is grounded by all four screws to the case of the smoke unit.  Clearly, that is intended to be the "ground" pin.  Pins 1 & 3 are usually jumpered in the copper, but there are versions of the smoke unit where they are not jumpered.  As you can see, one of the pins goes to the smoke resistor, the other one goes to the anode of the diode in the fan power supply.  By cutting that trace between them, you can control the heater and fan separately.

Almost all Lionel smoke units use the center pin for ground.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

A series diode will drop the power in half.  Make sure the anode goes to track power and the cathode (stripe) goes to one of the outside leads, if you wire it backwards, the motor won't run.

The range is actually in the 9-12 volt range, 12V is a maximum, 9V is probably a bit better.

John,

What kind of series diode am I looking for to achieve this?

Thanks,  Paul

A plain old 1 amp 1N400x, where X is from 1 to 7.  I buy them in bulk.  I just bought 1,000 for $9.70, less than a penny apiece.

Thanks again John, I just ordered a hundred of them so I string a bunch together and see how it works.

Paul

Gunner John is train America smoke unit wired the same as Lionel?..and where do I find the wire end connected to connect to the smoke unit female socket and also a female socket that fits into male socket.  ...picked up a 3rd prr Q1 shell I'm doing a what if with. Putting that on a Q2 chassis.  Cant find a Q1 chassis. So I'm doing a what if prr did the Q1 the right way.

@joseywales posted:

Gunner John is train America smoke unit wired the same as Lionel?

Nope, be careful wiring the TAS unit, you can cook it with the wrong connections.  Not all the smoke units have the jumpers they describe, but the connector wiring is the key facts here.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Nope, be careful wiring the TAS unit, you can cook it with the wrong connections.  Not all the smoke units have the jumpers they describe, but the connector wiring is the key facts here.

<click graphic to expand>

I've attached the complete TAS document as well.

TAS Smoke Unit Information.pdf

How do I tell if it has the jumper wire...plus I think awhile back id had another tas some unit and was hooked up like Lionel's was a three wire but only used two wires to make it worked...but can't remember which was which

@joseywales posted:

How do I tell if it has the jumper wire...plus I think awhile back id had another tas some unit and was hooked up like Lionel's was a three wire but only used two wires to make it worked...but can't remember which was which

That TAS smoke unit had to come from a diesel. It’s pre-jumpered with a soldered lead between the middle pin and the pin closest to the fan motor socket. To use that board in steam, you’d need to change the jumper position. Should be center pin, to pin closest to the smoke bowl……unless you’re using it in a diesel, then leave it alone…..

Pat