length of time of smoke output

[Rolo Tomasee]

 I have a new Lionel Berkshire train set (Union Pacific Fast  Freight) and I was wondering how long the smoke unit should put out smoke with the recommended 6 to 8 drops of fluid? The smoke that comes out of the stack is pretty sparse and after about 5 minutes I see no smoke at all. Is this a normal amount of running time before having to add more fluid? I have read through many of the past smoke discussions in the search engine but have not found anything on how long the smoke output should last with the recommended amount of fluid. I do not want to over fill or under fill for risk of damaging the unit. I have also read about some engines that have smoke fans and would like to know if my Berkshire has a fan or just a smoke element. Thanks.

[csxt30]

 Well, I never timed my smoke units yet, but I think I will try that !!  I do think your 5 minute run time of smoke sounds about right to me. I always watch & if I think the smoke is about to quit, I stop & add fluid & let it sit a few minutes before cranking it up again.

Now the newer engines have a tiny fan in them & MTH engines are tied with the chuff rate. I have one & it will blow smoke timed with the chuff rate, well, I can't explain it but it's really neat. There are after market fan driven smoke units available, also.

Thanks, John  

[USNRol]

Rolo,

I have the Lionel Polar Express which is also a Berkshire and very similar I think.  My smoke was very sparse too but did last more than five minutes.  However I was running in conventional mode where the voltage to the smoke unit was track voltageof about 12 volts on average.  I did find that if I parked in nuetral and cranked the voltage up near 18 volts I'd get a real thick, heavier than air smoke belching out and when I start out fwd or reverse it spills out from the chuffing action...Not a fan but a diaphram I think.  anyway after about 4 or 5 chuffs the thick smoke is purged and since I'm back down to 12 volts under-way, the thin smoke is back.  I'd be interested to see how a loco like this would do in a TMCC environment with full track voltage on all the time.  Probably the fan driven units are the way to go.

Roland

[ChiefEagles]

FYI: a few mods to the PE and it will really smoke.  I use a 1/3 Lionel and 2/3 JT's and find the smoke is great.  Straight JT Megasteam will burn up fast.  Lionel is thicker and will last but is not the best smoke producer.   I use more than 5 to 6 drops.

[Rolo Tomasee]

I am going to try some Grandpa's pipe and Forest and Stream Mega Steam and see if I can't get my engine to smoke a little better. I watched a video of Mega Steam in action and it looks like a steam engine should.