Smoke questions from a newbie

[SeattleSUP]

Bit the bullet this year and bought a Lionel set for the kids (OK, it was also for me). We wound up getting a Santa's Flyer set from a friend whose kids had no interest in trains. The locomotive has a smoke function and this being my first Lionel locomotive I'm curious about how well it should work. The previous owner never used the smoke function and I carefully added 4 drops into the stack and made sure the smoke switch was on. It took several minutes of the train running at full speed for any smoke to show and even then it was pretty light.. At lower speeds (50%) hardly any smoke comes out. Is that normal? Also how long should 4 drops last? I don't want to damage the unit by running it too long dry or over filling but being new I don't know what "normal" is for these. Thanks!

[phillyreading]

Try adding another two drops of smoke fluid and run the train again as it was sitting for a while and four drops may not be enuff. Until you know more about smoke fluid, use only Lionel smoke fluid.

[Firelock76]

I've got a Lionel Strasburg RR 0-8-0 locomotive and it works exactly the same as yours.  I've found it only smokes well when it has a "load" on it, say a long 8-plus car freight consist or a long passenger consist.  I suppose it need the extra voltage it gets starting an moving a long train for the smoke unit to function.  Once it's smoking it's OK, not the massive output I get from my MTH locomotives ( a little TOO massive at times!)  but good enough considering the price. 

And I'd follow the manufacturers recommendation concerning adding smoke fluid.  If they say 4 drops, put in 4 drops.  They've got their reasons for telling you what to do.

[KRM]

If you want to help it smoke use some of this. http://megasteam.com/ Great stuff. 10 drops will not hurt you but not enough will. But don't over do it and never run it dry. Turn it off if you are not sure.

 Also a lot of the time if there is not enough fluid in the unit it will burn the wicking and it will not hold the fluid to the element. I have had good luck repacking elements with Quartz wool that can take 2,000 degrees without burning.

 Hope this helps.

[Firelock76]

Dittos on the MegaSteam smoke fluid, it's excellent stuff.  Also, I'd advise putting the locomotive away with the smoke unit wet, the last thing you want is for the wick to dry out, that's if a wick system is what your particular locomotive has, Lionel uses various types of smoke units. Putting any of them away wet won't hurt them.

When I'm finished running one of my steamers I "top off" the smoke unit before the engine goes back on the shelf, that way I know it's been done.

[SeattleSUP]

Thanks all. I put a little more oil in and ran it full speed for a good 10 minutes which seemed to do the trick. My 6 year old daughter is sufficiently impressed and loving her early X-Mas present. I've already started playing with SCARM software trying to create a fun layout that will fit on a 6x9 sheet that I can fold up along the wall when it's not in use like a Murphy bed. Fun getting back into trains after a 25 year break!