Williams Berkshire smoke unit upgrade

Maybe someone can answer this, what is that black box for? The light and the smoke unit gets its power from this board, I bought a K-Line fan driven smoke unit, so I took the shell off my K-line Big Boy to see how it was wired, and it's pretty straight forward. I like to use that board for power, so what is the black component used for?  And will I need it since the K-Line big boy doesn't have one?  Plus, if i take it off I can make everything fit. Did an Edit went to Williams parts and it's a voltage regulator board.

Thanks Mark

Williams Berk with K-line fan driven smoke unit

@Sitka posted:

Maybe someone can answer this, what is that black box for? The light and the smoke unit gets its power from this board, I bought a K-Line fan driven smoke unit, so I took the shell off my K-line Big Boy to see how it was wired, and it's pretty straight forward. I like to use that board for power, so what is the black component used for?  And will I need it since the K-Line big boy doesn't have one?  Plus, if i take it off I can make everything fit. Did an Edit went to Williams parts and it's a voltage regulator board.

Thanks Mark

That's a heat sink for the output triac, Mark. You can always tell when the tab on the triac is bolted to it. BTW, I like that pen...

@Bill Swatos posted:

That's a heat sink for the output triac, Mark. You can always tell when the tab on the triac is bolted to it. BTW, I like that pen...

Thanks Bill, I'll send you a pen for Christmas

@Sitka posted:

Maybe someone can answer this, what is that black box for? The light and the smoke unit gets its power from this board, I bought a K-Line fan driven smoke unit, so I took the shell off my K-line Big Boy to see how it was wired, and it's pretty straight forward. I like to use that board for power, so what is the black component used for?  And will I need it since the K-Line big boy doesn't have one?  Plus, if i take it off I can make everything fit. Did an Edit went to Williams parts and it's a voltage regulator board.

That's a 6V linear power supply for the Seuthe smoke unit and a couple of lights.  It has a 6V regulator and it good for around 250 milliamps at 6V.  If you're installing a fan driven smoke unit, you can still use it to power the lights.

Thanks for the reply John after searching online came across some OGR old threads on Williams fan smoke units and yourself and G had mentioned that. Also a Black cylinder looking gadget had come off some years ago on that board. So I'm not using it for the light.  A fella on you tube has a Williams girl steamer that he added a fan driven smoke unit to the train so I pretty much did the same other than blowing the light out, so I added a new LED and ran it to the power source of the smoke unit. Works well.

Thanks Again

Mark

@Sitka posted:

Thanks for the reply John after searching online came across some OGR old threads on Williams fan smoke units and yourself and G had mentioned that. Also a Black cylinder looking gadget had come off some years ago on that board. So I'm not using it for the light.  A fella on you tube has a Williams girl steamer that he added a fan driven smoke unit to the train so I pretty much did the same other than blowing the light out, so I added a new LED and ran it to the power source of the smoke unit. Works well.

Thanks Again

Mark

Per GRJ above, the regulated feature of the power supply does keep from blowing the LEDs and the Seuthe unit. Don't try to remove the black heat sink, however, to get the unit to fit in a tight space as you will lose the triac and, thus, the power supply. Also, can you post your finished install? I'm intrigued by the idea of installing fan-driven smoke in some of my PW steamers that are not super-collectible. Where do you get the parts like the K-Line smoke unit and power supply?

@Bill Swatos posted:

Per GRJ above, the regulated feature of the power supply does keep from blowing the LEDs and the Seuthe unit. Don't try to remove the black heat sink, however, to get the unit to fit in a tight space as you will lose the triac and, thus, the power supply. Also, can you post your finished install? I'm intrigued by the idea of installing fan-driven smoke in some of my PW steamers that are not super-collectible. Where do you get the parts like the K-Line smoke unit and power supply?

Bill do a search online I found a guy that I watched adding a fan driven smoke unit in PW Lionel, I still have to make a bracket to hold in place but can provide a picture what I'm using for now.

@Bill Swatos posted:

Per GRJ above, the regulated feature of the power supply does keep from blowing the LEDs and the Seuthe unit. Don't try to remove the black heat sink, however, to get the unit to fit in a tight space as you will lose the triac and, thus, the power supply. Also, can you post your finished install? I'm intrigued by the idea of installing fan-driven smoke in some of my PW steamers that are not super-collectible. Where do you get the parts like the K-Line smoke unit and power supply?

I've added fan driven smoke to a ton of stuff, from old tinplate, Lionel semi-scale steam, and a lot of brass from Weaver, Williams, and 3rd Rail.  I've put them into a bunch of K-Line stuff as well.  I most often use the MTH steam smoke unit with the short posts.

Here's some shots of a typical K-Line steam installation replacing the mechanical puffer smoke unit.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

I've added fan driven smoke to a ton of stuff, from old tinplate, Lionel semi-scale steam, and a lot of brass from Weaver, Williams, and 3rd Rail.  I've put them into a bunch of K-Line stuff as well.  I most often use the MTH steam smoke unit with the short posts.

Here's some shots of a typical K-Line steam installation replacing the mechanical puffer smoke unit.

Looks great, John! Is NYK16344-1 the right cat # for this smoke unit on the MTH parts website? Also, does MTH make a power supply might I use for PW Lionel steamers? I've got a ca. 1960 Adriatic I'd like to upgrade as a first try.

@Bill Swatos posted:

Looks great, John! Is NYK16344-1 the right cat # for this smoke unit on the MTH parts website? Also, does MTH make a power supply might I use for PW Lionel steamers? I've got a ca. 1960 Adriatic I'd like to upgrade as a first try.

This is the smoke unit I typically use.

Most often, I use this brass cup.

Many times I have to solder a brass tubing to the cup for a stack extension.  I also depend on the fact that I can unscrew the brass cup from the stack for my brass upgrades.

@Bill Swatos posted:

Per GRJ above, the regulated feature of the power supply does keep from blowing the LEDs and the Seuthe unit. Don't try to remove the black heat sink, however, to get the unit to fit in a tight space as you will lose the triac and, thus, the power supply. Also, can you post your finished install? I'm intrigued by the idea of installing fan-driven smoke in some of my PW steamers that are not super-collectible. Where do you get the parts like the K-Line smoke unit and power supply?

Bill still have to make a brass bracket, till then had some packing material cut it to size and hot glued till I make something.