681 Turbine poor smoker

[msacco]

Chief,

I know pellets turn to liquid, but they don't leave the kind of residue on the track that mineral oil based fluid does. No doubt. I've tested both and have seen the difference.

 

Mike s.

[lionelsoni]

As Jim said, "The higher the voltage, the stronger it will smoke."  So turn up the voltage.

[Jumijo]

Just a FYI, I just took off a turn off my 2056 heating element's nichrome wire since it never smoked that well. Boom, I've just doubled the output using regular sp pellets. Now, it still can't compare to a good modern puffer, but it puffs way more than ever before. I've always wanted to try this but have been too lazy.

    I've pretty much abandoned fluid in my postwar locos because I'm gettin tired of the smell (even JT's) and the dirty track. When I run with pellets I do get less smoke but my track is much cleaner. Liquid smoke is really messy.

Mike s.

 

I have a spare 671 smoke element at the house. I'm going to try removing a turn on that. Someone had put it in my 2025 and it never smoked unless the voltage was in the 15-18v range. At that high, the 2025 would have been airborne! It now has the correct unit and smokes well. But I am going to try this just to see what happens.

Jim 

[lionelsoni]

The locomotive will not be airborne if you turn down its voltage.  That's the whole point of the bridge-rectifier thing.

[Jumijo]

The locomotive will not be airborne if you turn down its voltage.  That's the whole point of the bridge-rectifier thing.

I know, but I'd rather have the right smoke unit, functioning as intended, rather that start putting bridge-rectifiers in post war locos. And as I stated, I did just that. Found the right smoke element, installed it, and it smokes well at low voltages. My second choice would be to remove a winding or two of nichrome wire from the element.

Jim 

[ezmike]

Guys,

You're never going believe this. While working on the lever the other night like I said I would, it snapped at the bend where it starts to go up into the piston. Not a big deal since I was going to order a few things from Jeff Kane anyway, like the piston spring recommended by one of you, so now I'm waiting for the lever, the spring, a new element and a new gasket. That brings up another question, to replace the lever do I need to do anything besides remove the cover over what looks like a roller, lift that roller a little and insert the lever?

Mike

[Anonymous]

Mike,

        To remove the smoke lever, follow these steps:

          1.  Bend up the two tabs holding the fiber piece and lift the fiber piece out.

          2.  Pull the magnet straight up out of the frame ( this is the "roller" you referred to.).

          3.  The lever can now be removed.  Be sure you order the correct lever, because the 671 and 681 use different levers.  The lever for the 681 has a 681 part #.  Hope this helps.   

[ezmike]

Jim,

Thanks I kinda figured it was the magnet and Jeff did point out the difference between the two. All parts arrived today so I'll repair it tonight.

To eveyone, thanks for your suggestions and guidance. I'll let you know how it turns out. Even ordered a new element, just in case.

Mike

[ChiefEagles]

Jim, thanks for helping out with this.  I had stopped monitoring this thread because I thought Jim A and Bob N had been advising.  Mike, I apoligize.  You are in good hands. 

[ezmike]

Chief, no apology necessary. There's more than one way to skin a cat, so suggestions from more people are welcomed.

I did the repair last night and I must say it smokes better. Not like the 2046 or 2026 but much better than before and I didn't change the heating element. I figured that I'd wait and see how it worked out with the other changes and go from there. If the original fails I always have a spare.

 Thanks to everyone for their suggestions!

Mike