Williams smoke unit upgrade

Put an MTH fan driven smoke unit into it.  As an added bonus, you can rig it to have chuffs with a little work.

Thanks for your reply. Where would suggest the best place to buy one and which one? I tried MTH parts Dept. on a couple but they were no longer available.

I would imagine which smoke unit would depend on what engine you have, and how much room you have.

I have several Williams engines and I like them all except for the poor smoke. I would probably start with the 746 N&W. I have converted a spare bedroom into a train room so I have a fairly good space for a 9X5 layout

Thanks! 

Michael is right, you need to determine what will fit.  The MTH PS/1 smoke unit is the one to have, since it has the fan regulator on-board.  You can also use a Lionel fan driven smoke unit, it's a bit smaller than the MTH PS/1 unit, I just like the smoke volume from the MTH.

Have you checked to see how much space you have?  I've only put them into the Williams brass locomotives, there was space for the PS/1 unit in both of those.

Thanks again for your help. This explains a lot. I have not checked the room I have on the 746. I was just  trying to get some ideas up front before I proceed. Where can I get a Mth PS1 smoke unit? 

First step is to open it up and see what space you have for the smoke unit.  If you can get a sample of each type of smoke unit, that helps in determining if it'll fit.

I buy mine on the forum or on eBay.  I've gotten a couple from upgrades as well when I put a new smoke unit in.

Thanks again for your help!I'll check on ebay.

Box car bill on this forum sells kits for williams engines. He is an authorized dealer and repair center for Lionel and Mth. There was a very recent thread on this.

Rob.

I didn't know that Rob, but that's a perfect solution, and you know it'll fit!

I am curious about the ones Box car bill has. I'm thinking about a couple of applications I may use them for. How would I get in touch with him if I wanted one or two?

How about the address in his profile?

https://ogrforum.com/profile/2415514336262158

I have an O Gauge Williams J Class that smokes a lot better with Williams Smoke fluid. I also use a needle bottle to avoid the usual mess on the outside of the engine.

Sorry, Not for MTH.

Bill

I had posted this in another thread, but it might also be helpful here. Here's my Lionel 681 turbine with one of Boxcar Bill's units installed. 

I want to thank everyone for all their help. I will Get in touch with Box Car Bill and see what he has to solve my problem.

Can you add chuff capability for conventional with those upgrades?

Bill,  does that only smoke in neutral?  Seems like smoke stops when the engine is in motion?  G

Actually George, I think you'll see that the smoke only stops when track power is removed, it's running in neutral as long as track power is available.

It appears to be wired directly to track power.

Didn't look like it was smoking much when in reverse coming back into camera view. G

I agree that there wasn't much smoke, but there was some if you look close.  Since he was backing up slow in conventional mode, he also didn't have much track voltage on the smoke unit.

I still think it's just connected right to track power.  Look around 1:00 in the video, it's backing up and smoking.  When the smoke stops completely, the headlight is also out.

Don't think this conversion does not smoke well. My Williams 671 with this kit will fill a room with smoke in short order. Well worth doing and very affordable.

Rob

Robby, I want my 671 back!  

Boxcar Bill's website doesn't work very well for me. Can anyone tell me if the smoke unit will fit in a Williams 10-wheeler?

Yes this is true

The smoke unit is Wired hot from the pick up roller feed to the Micro On off Switch and then power is routed to the Smoke Unit.  I did this upgrade in a Williams Daylight GS-4 4-8-4 with out a load and just the engine running it does not smoke much but put a load on it and it can fill a room quite easily I put this engine in front of 4 15 inch Coca Cola Passenger Cars and it looked real good and smoked just right.  The more track power the more it smokes

Hi Beary,

This is from a year old post 6/2012:

I purchased an Aristocraft 29311 smoke unit and replaced the Sleuthe piece of junk in a Williams 746J. This was the first engine repair job my son and I did. We also added an on and off switch for the smoke unit. The die-cast shell already had an opening for it. Yes the Aristocraft unit is plastic, but it is doing way better than the dead Sleuthe unit ever did.

Since then this smoke unit has gone up to $40.00. I am replacing a unit in another engine with a Lionel unit (610-8057-200) from Modern Toy Train Parts (mttponline.com, tel 567-424-6604) that sells for $25.00. This unit will fit inside the 746J as well and there will be no grinding of plastic since the Lionel units has a circular smoke stack. Just get your hot melt glue gun out or JB weld to hold it in place.

-Ferromex

Thanks for the info. This sounds like a very good option. I will definitely look in to it. Thanks again! 

just a note here the MTTPonline smoke units from Boxcar Bill now sell for 40.00 shipped.  This is what mine cost me just last week

These are $30 on the Lionel site.

Let me clarify the pricing, we sell the 610-8057-200 at $28.00 shipped. Well sell the

610-8057-200 MODIFED Kit at $40.00 Shipped. I hope there is no misunderstanding.

Thanks,

Bill 

Let me clarify the pricing, we sell the 610-8057-200 at $28.00 shipped. Well sell the

610-8057-200 MODIFED Kit at $40.00 Shipped. I hope there is no misunderstanding.

Thanks,

Bill 

No but the question is, what's the modification difference? inquiring minds would like to know!

Seems like best place to ask ?

Can a Williams Diesel, be converted or fitted with a smoke unit?

Looking at  SD-90's!

thanks

Well, Bill's price for the smoke unit is certainly reasonable, especially considering shipping as well!  I'm also curious what the modification is.

Bill, is your modified unit one that has been modified as per Lionel's tech video, enlarging the exit hole and replacing and repacking the fibers?

So, you think we have to buy one to see what's modified?   I suspect he may include the connectors and wires in the kit for one thing.

I received mine today and the modified kit contains wiring, on and off switch, wiring instructions heat sink tubing and a plug-in from the unit to the switch. Well worth the extra $10.00. Thanks Bill!

Bearykleen

Anybody, know,  now that it looks like the kit is complete with everything

can I put one in a Williams, Diesel!!!

thanks

No reason I can imagine that you can't put it in a diesel, the only limitation would be if there's enough room to mount the smoke unit at the stack.