Smoke not working while moving

[MrMus]

So when I set my train in place the smoke starts going but when I make the train move the smoke doesnt start or anything.

[TrainLarry]

You need to give more information, such as what engine you have, and how many cars are you pulling.

An engine pulling only a few cars may not be getting enough voltage to get the smoke unit to put out a lot of smoke. You may need to add cars to load down the engine and turn up the power to get the engine to smoke more.

 

Larry

 

[Flintlock76]

TrainLarry

You need to give more information, such as what engine you have, and how many cars are you pulling.

An engine pulling only a few cars may not be getting enough voltage to get the smoke unit to put out a lot of smoke. You may need to add cars to load down the engine and turn up the power to get the engine to smoke more.

 

Larry

 

 

Dittos to what Larry said.  Make, model, age, can all be factors.  Also, many current production low-end Lionels tend to be weak smokers unless there's a load on the engine.  Not a flaw, just typical for the type.

[BigAl 956]

This problem is usually a stuck puffer piston under the hood. Adding a small spring inside the piston can fix this. However, please post back with specifics on the model number of the engin and, even better, a link to an on-line video of the engine in action.

[lionelsoni]

If the problem turns out to be insufficient track voltage when moving, there is an alternative to increasing the load on the locomotive.  That is, ironically, to decrease the motor voltage relative to the track voltage.  This forces the operator to use a higher track voltage to get the same motor voltage as before.

This can be done by connecting two rectifier diodes in anti-parallel, that is, with each one's anode connected to the other's cathode.  Then connect a string of these anti-parallel pairs in series with the motor (but not in series with the smoke generator.  You'll get roughly a half-volt difference from each pair that you use.  Use as long a string as needed to get the smoke that you want at the speed that you like to run.

You can also make two of these anti-parallel pairs from a bridge rectifier by connecting the + and - terminals together.  One pair is between ~ and +-, and the other pair is between +- and the other ~.