2055 Liquid Smoke Element Question

[Jumijo]

I've decided against the conversion. I'll make sure the hole is reamed out good and let it go at that. Thanks all!

Jim 

[Steve 1055]

Some additional information for you on the subject of pill to liquid smoke conversion kits.  On page 26 of the Sept 2004 issue of CTT, there is a photo of the kit along with the address and telephone number of Charlie's trains.  In the July/August 1991 and Feb 2003 issues of CTT, there are articles on smoke unit conversion kits with step by step instructions.  Also, inquire about the kit when you take your train in for service.  I'm sure the repair technician will be familiar with the procedure and should be able to install one for you.  My locomotives smoke really well, even at low voltage.  Good luck.

[Steve 1055]

There's a company called Charlies Trains/Wireplex in Hubertus WI.  They advertise every month in CTT.  You can write them for a catalog.  They sell a smoke unit conversion kit (pill to liquid) for around $5.  Two years ago, I converted two Postwar Steamers, a Turbine and a Pacific.  These conversion kits work great.  The smoke volume is by far better than the pill unit, and after 2 years they're still working.        

 

[msacco]

I will chime in here and say to stay clear of the conversion. I gave up on them and went back to pill type on my converted engines. You can add 4 drops or so to these to get a nice smoke output. I usually use a mix of pill and a couple of drops of liquid.

 

Mike S.

[Anonymous]

Jim,

        I pry the cover off and clean the hole from the top, that is where most of the accumulation occurs.  I use a round toothpick to unclog the air hole.

[Jumijo]

Thanks, Bob. another great tip.

Jim 

[Jumijo]

Thanks, Jim. I was afraid you'd say that 18 ohms was a little to high to make the loco smoke well. I'll also look into opening up that puffer hole. Good advice. The smoke sort of pours out of the stack in one long stream as opposed to billowing out in puffs. Just unscrew the smoke unit from it's binding screw, tip it over and ream the hole?

I had a 671 pellet smoker put in my 2025 and it wouldn't smoke. It was meant to be put in a worm driven engine like the 671 or 736. Once I put a 675 element in it, it smoked fine.  

[lionelsoni]

Let me throw in another wrinkle that's been mentioned before:  You can effectively boost the voltage to the smoke generator by dropping the voltage to the motor (and the headlight if you want).  Just put a handy-dandy modified bridge-rectifier module or two in series with the motor--but not the smoke generator.  When the track voltage is high enough to get the speed you want, the smoke generator will be getting a volt or so more per module used, than it did before.

[Anonymous]

Jim,

          The higher resistance won't hurt anything, the heater just runs cooler and doesn't smoke as well.  Most original heaters I checked measure 15 to 16 ohms.  I have noticed that repro pellet heaters measure 17 to 20 ohms.  I always adjust repro heaters to 15 to 16 ohms.  Just don't take it below 15 ohms, because things can get very interesting ( you might get more than just smoke). 

       

[Frank53]

While it's there, I was contemplating having a liquid-type smoke element installed.

Jim 

why don't you just take this blasphemy all the way and put TM freakin' CC in it too?

     

[Anonymous]

I put a liquid smoker in my 2046. it smoked the same but didn't have that lionel  SP smell. I am going to put back the pill type. I did find that cleaning out the hole that makes the the puff helped alot. the hole is actually quite large, but over the years it gets clogged. I ran number drills with my fingers through the hole and wound up at  number 43 drill. that was about 4 times larger than a paper clip, which most people use. puffs alot better now.

[Jumijo]

Jim, Thanks! Ben was convincing, but having 2 people who'se technical knowledge I trust seals the deal. I'll stay with the pellet heater. As an aside, you mentioned that the resistance should be 15-16 ohms. I have another 2055 motor with a smoke unit that was read as having 18 ohms resistance. Is that high or average. Since it's only a motor, I don't run it with a load. It's kind of a back up.

Jim 

[Anonymous]

Jim,

      I completely agree with what Ben said.  Taking a trun or two off a pellet heater is much better than those liquid conversion kits.  The heater in the kit has an annoying tendency to crack and/or burn out.  I went thru 7 kits before I gave up and reverted back to the pellet-type heater.  Do you have a multimeter?  If so, check the resistance across the pellet heater (disconnect the heater lead to the E unit lug first).  Take enough turns off the heater so that the resistance is 15 or 16 ohms.  I wouldn't go below 15 though!   I adjusted all my pellet heaters this way and they all smoke great with fluid and pellets.  One more thing I found is that greater smoke output as well as more efficent consumption of pellets can be achieved by wrapping one MTH smoke unit wick around a pellet heater.  By the way, I hope you reconsider your decision about leaving the forum.  I would hate to see you go.  I have always enjoyed your posts, and I consider you a close friend as well. 

[Jumijo]

Thanks, Ben.

[ben10ben]

Jim, In my opinion, putting a liquid smoke unit in a postwar engine is one of the worst forms of mutilation you can do to a postwar engine.

You might open the smoke unit up and pull a turn of Nichrome wire off the element that's already in there. This will lower the resistance of the unit, thus causing it to get hotter and letting it work better. 

[Jumijo]

I have a 2055 Hudson that smokes ok (just ok, not great), but has to go into the shop for another problem. While it's there, I was contemplating having a liquid-type smoke element installed. But which one will produce a good amount of smoke? Olsen's lists one (671-225L) that will fit, but I would think that would require too high a voltage to produce enough smoke. Why do I think that? Someone recently put in a 671 pill-type element in my 2025 and it didn't produce any smoke unless the voltage was up around 18 volts. Way too high for a 2025. I replaced that one with a 675-225 pill-type element and it now smokes fine at 10 -13 volts.

I'm bringing the train to the shop on Friday, so any input would be greatly appreciated!

Jim