lionel burning switch tower does not smoke

[firsttimer]

I approached the Forum with this problem and have since tried everything recommended:  increasing the voltage, buying premium smoke, and actually replacing the smoke coil.  Still, very, very little smoke.  Looked on YouTube and see versions smoking like crazy; are there differences in the 445 model that I should know about?  

[Dave45681]

Which Burning Switch Tower do you have?

I always had decent results with the original 6-12768 models from the early 90's (there are 2 variations of this, but the smoke units I believe are the same.  Differences were light bulbs, string connecting the man to the solenoid arm, and possibly observable differences in the "smoke damage" decoration on the outside).

All the more recent ones made in the last 10 -15 years have a different smoke unit, maybe not quite as good as the originals, but still OK, as far as I recall.

[cwburfle]

Are you putting in the right amount of smoke fluid?

I am not familar with your item.
Old style smoke units will not smoke well if they are overfilled with smoke material. Sometimes they quit smoking altogether.

A common mistake is to add smoke stuff at the beginning of each operating session. Since the unconsumed old stuff is still in the smoke unit, the amount of material builds up, reducing the smoke volume. I've done this myself (but not recently).

[firsttimer]

Thanks for the reply, and I think that you're right. My unit is 6-82020, which must be the more recent version. Amongst other things, the little figure only comes partially out the door. I have actually taken the unit apart to see if there was a problem with the smoke unit, to no avail: the thing only provides a wisp of smoke. (Some other owners have experienced the same problem) I'm actually thinking of putting an MTH smoke unit in it to replace the nonfunctioning one. Thanks again for your help! Rick Cusack

[firsttimer]

Tried everything including dismantling the smoke unit, to no avail. Apparently, these later units don't smoke very well at all. Thanks for the suggestion!