TO SMOKE OR NOT TO SMOKE

MTH is well known for copious amounts of smoke. No need to doctor the units. Occasionally, replace the wicks for best results. Older Lionel smoke units weren't so exciting...Mike Reagan posted a video on how to "spruce" those up. Newer Legacy Units are on par with MTH. 

I've never seen an MTH smoke unit that needed to be doctored in any way to make it produce enough smoke to fill a room in short order.  They are profuse smokers.  I use steam locomotive smoke units when visitors are around, but turn them off otherwise.  And I turn diesel unit smoke units off the first time I take them out of the box for their initial running session.

I'll have to agree with the previous posts.  I've never felt the need to doctor an MTH smoke unit for any reason!  I try to get the Lionel ones to smoke as well as an MTH, if I'm anywhere close, I'm done.

MTH has the corner on smoke production, all I've ever seen have been prodigious smokers!

Thanx, guys for the information.  I never heard of "doctoring" a smoke unit either but thought someone out there might have tried this out.  

My next question is does MTH sell replacement wicks?  I'm sure they do but never seen them at my LHS.

If you need more smoke from a MTH engine you might as well set the house on fire!

The only upgrade for me is the smoke fluid. A few drops of Megasteam and your good to go!

Yep, you can buy replacement wick for any smoke unit, it's one of the "consumable" parts of the unit.   I believe their part number is DE-0000001.

Yes, MTH engines have no trouble smoking.  My grandsons can attest to that when Dad left the room for a few minutes and put Grandad in charge.  Darn kids!

What I use when opening any smoke unit up for some reason is ordinary house insulation. You know, the pink stuff in your attic.

I have determined over the years that it is easier to work with and never ever has me come back to fix again.

When packing the unit, saturate the insulation, keep adding more and saturating till unit is full and insulation is saturated. Using a tool, pack it nicely so it does not block the fan flow but is high enough to snuggle in around the resistors. Screw down the top of the unit and forget it.

I also have a habit of adding fluid to any engine before I take it out of use for any extended period. Also I store them on shelves upright.

Works for me!

Not DE, but AA-0000001 for wick.  Standard resistors are AI-0000018.  G

Oops, thanks for the correction.

Smoking is cool. All of the cool kids smoke! 

Don't MTH smoke units use two resistors?

John and Hugh - great information - thanx for the help!  

Smokem if ya gotem! Still waiting for prototypical Alco smoke; blowing through the louvers on the side covers.

I didn't think that they used any. Isn't the MTH credo 'Resistance is futile!', or am I thinking of somebody else? 

We have a serious lack of ventilation problem in the train room.  The only air exchange is when I fire up the bathroom exhaust fan ... pretty weak.

And a fire alarm detector above the false ceiling ... when a cloud of smoke gets up there it's a problem getting it to clear and shut off.

"When packing the unit, saturate the insulation, keep adding more and saturating till unit is full and insulation is saturated. Using a tool, pack it nicely so it does not block the fan flow but is high enough to snuggle in around the resistors."

Hugh - I opened up my SD70 diesel and found that the wick was slightly burnt in 2 areas. I placed the middle of the wick in between the 2 resistors and repacked the oil well then saturated it - WOW what a difference - lots of smoke!

My question is:  "should I have placed the wick in between the 2 resistors or should I have just let the resistors sit on top of the wick material?" 

Paul

Yes, two resistors.

Paul,

Two things!

1) my experience that wicks trough the resistors tends to make them burn dry and eventually have to be replaced. Best not to put them through but have the resistors sit on top.

2) That being said, I have found that every different kind of wick I tried always had a limited life and inability to get soft enough to absorb after becoming scorched. When you open up another one, try the attic insulation and install as I described.

Thanx, Hugh - the only reason I placed the wick between the 2 resistors is because that's the way I found it when I opened it up - I'll take your advice and use the insulation and rest them on top next time I change it out -

Much thanx!

Paul

Thinking of STEK TREK's Borg?

Now MARX 333 and 666 units smoke well.  Now that fluid in the WICKED green bottle made Pepe LePew smell nice.  BTW, MegaSteam Marx is very close to the original smell!

But the MTH smoke units spit so much fluid I have a time cleaning up the bodies after a run.  Some members who do weathering cut the units off because of it.

Paul,

Resistors need to press the insulation down when screwing the top down and if you shaped the saturated insulation correctly, when it gets pressed down it will not interfere with the air flow coming from the fan into the chimney. Wicks are hard to manage this way.

Another tip is anytime you are inside a unit for some reason, lift out the fan (pull up with a long nose plier) and put a drop of oil on the bronze bushing on shaft coming up from the motor. When this gets dry, it causes squealing. If the motor runs and squeals too long the bronze bushing is worn quickly and then the fan wobbles slightly and scrapes the edges of the chamber and the motor and fan needs to be replaced.

Another thing to watch for is wire management around the smoke unit. As long as you are in there, place a piece of electrical tape over the top of the smoke unit resistor connections, land pattern and hold down screws. Tape back or use ties to keep wires down around the base of the unit. Wires lying over the top can melt, ground out and kill the electronics. typically by design, the two sections of the unit top land pattern plate are insulated from each other. Each insulated side has screws to hold down the resistor plate. This next problem is not a problem on diesels but is on steamers. If the screws are very close to the boiler top casting and are allowed to touch it, they will short across it bridging the insulated section and bingo another board goes south. Been there seen that.

Tape across top prevents all of that. I like a strip of duct tape which is nice and thick and sticks to anything well. Cover the land pattern and the screws and keep all wires out of the way when putting the cab back on.

Dom,

What happens is this. If you try loading in fluid while smoke unit is on, you may be fighting the fan effort and create an air bubble. Air bubble also can happen by dropping too much fluid into the output. Visualize that the fluid must glide in slowly letting air out as it enters in.

Some tips to mitigate this problem are:

1) two good tools to have. One s a tiny funnel with the funnel tip being smaller than either the smoke stack or wider than the diesel smoke slots. I have one and it is really useful. Wish I could remember where I got it. The other is an eyedropper which came with one of the bottles of smoke fluid.

2) Never load fluid in with the unit on.

3) Load fluid slowly using the funnel if you have one, or one at a time the drops out of the smoke fluid bottle. I find 10 drops is a good start but I am a believer in keeping saturating the entire amount of wick/insulation. So I may do 10 more after running it a while or before I shut it down.

4) After the drops are in, take the empty eye dropper, stick it in as best you can and work it dry puffing air in and out hopefully clearing out any air bubbles.

5) If after turning it on and smoke is not gleefully puffing, use your personal air power with a swift blow down the stack or the diesel smoke vents. If there was still an air bubble there, you may get some fluid back out the top. Usually the eye dropper motion has cleared it.

THANX AGAIN, HUGH - YOUR "WORDS OF WISDOM" ARE CONSIDERED INVALUABLE!

PAUL

Hugh - I used your "insulation method" today on 3 engines and placed a drop of oil on the brass bushing on each - had to open windows to clear out the smoke!

Thanx for your help

Paul

 I would not recommend pink insulation if your using it on any modern smoke unit. The last time I tried it it burned directly onto the resistor in short order and I was barely able to remove it. I can't see it lasting longer than a few sessions before it chars and no longer absorbs the fluid well.

I now use the pre cut stuff from Lionel as it is made with larger fibers that don't burn as easily and last far longer.  Attic insulation is attic insulation, not wicking.

Or Cats.

I've reached the point where I seldom turn on the smoke units after the initial test runs unless someone absolutely wants to see smoke. It gets to be a hassle re-filling them, plus sometimes they spit onto your weathered paint.