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It will last for years if it's well maintained, meaning not running it dry to the point of burning the batting. It will lose some performance, but it will still smoke. As long as it smokes to your satisfaction, just keep running it. When the performance (smoke volume) drops below your satisfaction, take it apart and see what's going on in there.

To prolong the life of the smoke unit, many of our customers report great results from using our "Eliminator". see www.megasteam.com. Not only does it eliminate any bad smells coming from the smoke unit, it does help to cleanse the batting material. We suggest using "Eliminator" once a month as a smoke unit maintenance. Use it just like smoke fluid and it will the make a big difference! 

Bingo player,

 

"Eliminator"is used by itself...in place of your regular smoke fluid while you are running your trains. It is a special formula smoke fluid that cleans the internal parts of the smoke unit. Results usually occur after 5-7 filling cycles. When you smell the lemon/lime smell you know it is working. Then go back to your regular smoke fluid. Thanks for asking.

Can you explain a little more?  What does it do to "cleanse" the batting?  What other parts does in clean and how?  Sounds interesting to say the least.
 
Originally Posted by Mega-Steam:

To prolong the life of the smoke unit, many of our customers report great results from using our "Eliminator". see www.megasteam.com. Not only does it eliminate any bad smells coming from the smoke unit, it does help to cleanse the batting material. We suggest using "Eliminator" once a month as a smoke unit maintenance. Use it just like smoke fluid and it will the make a big difference! 

 

I recently ordered my first locomotive with smoke (2 rail MTH N&W J 611) in decades and  have a few questions.  I expect most of the time the smoke unit will be turned off.

 

Does smoke liquid dry up when not used for several weeks?

 

How many minutes of run time do you get out of a fill?

 

When filling the resevoir how do you know when it is full?

 

Will smoke fluid run out of the reservoir if the locomotive is upside down for wheel cleaning?

 

What do you do to clean up any residue on the boiler?

 

I've heard that the fluid can mess up paint used to weather the locomotive - are there paints that are not effected by the fluid?

 

Ed Rappe

 

Originally Posted by Mega-Steam:

To prolong the life of the smoke unit, many of our customers report great results from using our "Eliminator". see www.megasteam.com. Not only does it eliminate any bad smells coming from the smoke unit, it does help to cleanse the batting material. We suggest using "Eliminator" once a month as a smoke unit maintenance. Use it just like smoke fluid and it will the make a big difference! 

I've got some here and use it although not monthly, but I'm not sure exactly what it does.  Could you explain.  I assumed it evaporating all the old stuff out of the unit and was, frankly concerned with running it dry and overheating it with this stuff. 

LOL!  Lee I just asked the same question.  Inquiring minds need to know.
 
 
Originally Posted by Lee Willis:
Originally Posted by Mega-Steam:

To prolong the life of the smoke unit, many of our customers report great results from using our "Eliminator". see www.megasteam.com. Not only does it eliminate any bad smells coming from the smoke unit, it does help to cleanse the batting material. We suggest using "Eliminator" once a month as a smoke unit maintenance. Use it just like smoke fluid and it will the make a big difference! 

I've got some here and use it although not monthly, but I'm not sure exactly what it does.  Could you explain.  I assumed it evaporating all the old stuff out of the unit and was, frankly concerned with running it dry and overheating it with this stuff. 

 

Originally Posted by Keystoned Ed:

I recently ordered my first locomotive with smoke (2 rail MTH N&W J 611) in decades and  have a few questions.  I expect most of the time the smoke unit will be turned off.

 

Does smoke liquid dry up when not used for several weeks?

 

How many minutes of run time do you get out of a fill?

 

When filling the resevoir how do you know when it is full?

 

Will smoke fluid run out of the reservoir if the locomotive is upside down for wheel cleaning?

 

What do you do to clean up any residue on the boiler?

 

I've heard that the fluid can mess up paint used to weather the locomotive - are there paints that are not effected by the fluid?

 

Ed Rappe

 

Ed,

Most of your questions can be answered here:

 

CLICK THIS LINK

 

If you want to skip the 'drama queens' in the thread, simply click on his youtube link.  The videos are posted there also.

Originally Posted by MartyE:
Can you explain a little more?  What does it do to "cleanse" the batting?  What other parts does in clean and how?  Sounds interesting to say the least.
 
Originally Posted by Mega-Steam:

To prolong the life of the smoke unit, many of our customers report great results from using our "Eliminator". see www.megasteam.com. Not only does it eliminate any bad smells coming from the smoke unit, it does help to cleanse the batting material. We suggest using "Eliminator" once a month as a smoke unit maintenance. Use it just like smoke fluid and it will the make a big difference! 

 

Our "Eliminator" has special chemical properties that help dissolve the old smoke fluid from the wicking material and heating element so that you can appreciate our scented line of smoke fluid. We had considered originally calling it "PURGE", but decided that from a marketing standpoint, "Eliminator" was the better choice. The wicking material/batting has a "memory" of sorts. Once it has the nasty burned smell, it is difficult to get it to smell any scent. This product neutralizes that memory. It purges!!!

 

We found that most manufacturers have their overseas factories prime the smoke units during the assembly process. This creates a problem in that the quality of that smoke oil is not the same as the smoke fluid produced here in the US. When you first fire up an engine that has been primed overseas, you experience a bad smelling smoke and many locos come with the smoke unit on as the default so it smells bad from the gitgo. We faced that frustration everytime we purchased a new locomotive. We found that we had to replace the wicking material in order to test our new smoke fluid scents.

We concluded that if we had that problem, others had that problem. 

 

That is the main reason we designed our product to eliminate that bad smell. During our R/D we took several charred wicks and placed them in containers with our test forumla. When the wicking material/batting became much cleaner and like new, we knew we were on the right track. In addition to cleaning the wicking, we also found that the heating elements were cleansed of any build up. Many of our testers found that "Eliminator" also quieted noisy smoke unit fans. So we tested that feature ourselves and found that it did indeed quiet the squeeky fans in our locos. We concluded that a very small,tiny amount of formula had found its way back into the fan area...just enough to lubricate the fan.

 

The lemon/lime scent was added as an indicator so that when you smell that scent you know that the product is working. Some individuals and clubs prefer to use the "eliminator" all of the time as it is a smoke fluid with special additives to help maintain their smoke units. This is fine and it will cause no problems.

 

The wicking material/batting will in time need to be replaced. Our "Eliminator" will help it to last a lot longer. We suggest using our product as a maintenance item about once a month just to keep everything clean.

 

Hope this is helpful.

 

JT's Mega-Steam

"World's Finest Smoke Fluid"

Lots of smoke; Quick dissipation; 

www.megasteam.com

 

 

 

 

Last edited by Mega-Steam

 

Our "SMOKE CLOUD" brand smoke fluid will not repair the batting but will help to keep it more soft and pliable which will make it produce more smoke than you ever thought possible.  When used in the old American Flyer smoke units it actually softens the old wicks from the 1950's and made them usable once again as long as the heating wire was not burned through.

Dave, LBR 

Last edited by CUSTOM "O" DECALS

I have had to replace a couple of smoke unit PCB boards when the smoke regulator runs away and burns the board, but I've never replaced a complete smoke unit yet.  You can fix almost anything on a smoke unit, normally the wick and perhaps a resistor is all that's needed.  Of course, there's the run of bad Lionel fans, but I've only replaced a few MTH smoke unit fans, they're normally pretty robust.  Occasionally, a gasket is bad, I notice many Lionel smoke units have dispensed with the gasket nowadays.  I suppose the new Lionel plastic smoke unit bodies might suffer in a thermal runaway, but that hasn't happened to me yet.

 

A smoke unit does require periodic maintenance, typically the wick.  Proper filling and not running it dry will go a long way to a long life before you have to replace the wick.  I'm also a big Megasteam user, my new favorite is Clove Sensation, and my wife likes that scent as well.

 

John, I had a guy with a NIB MLW Bi-Polar put two full droppers of fluid in the locomotive.  This was at a local club.  Another member told him he did not have enough in and filled it again.  You know where all that fluid went.  When I asked him why he put that amount of fluid in, he stated that is what he thought he should do.  I could not get an answer on why he thought that.  I pointed out the book that came with the locomotive and he said he did not read it.  Those people do exist and are a problem to anyone sharing rails.  Would anyone want to run their new locomotive on that oil soaked track?  That would require an instant tire change.

 

I agree with you on replacing a smoke unit.  They can all be repaired.

Last edited by Marty Fitzhenry

Gee, and I thought I was being excessive when I put about 2/3 of a dropper into a new dry unit! For refills, I use about 1/3 of a dropper.  My measurements were made after running one on the bench and testing how much it took to fill and overfill a smoke unit.

 

There are smaller smoke units in some locomotives, they require less.  The little MTH diesels come to mind with the single element smoke unit, it's pretty small.  You have to be more careful with those.

 

When I replace the wick, I saturate it before final assembly so I can control how much is in there.

 

Originally Posted by Keystoned Ed:

I recently ordered my first locomotive with smoke (2 rail MTH N&W J 611) in decades and  have a few questions.  I expect most of the time the smoke unit will be turned off.

Does smoke liquid dry up when not used for several weeks? Yes

 How many minutes of run time do you get out of a fill?varies 10min to hours

 When filling the resevoir how do you know when it is full? All the ones I have had apart have a raised weep hole, it leaks out of the bottom 

Will smoke fluid run out of the reservoir if the locomotive is upside down for wheel cleaning? If it is full yes..maybe

What do you do to clean up any residue on the boiler? Wipe with a rag or Q-tip. Any cotton with oil on it goes in a sealed metal container, just like a woodshops fireproof rag disposal. This is cautionary on my part, some oils and cotton don't play well.  

 I've heard that the fluid can mess up paint used to weather the locomotive - are there paints that are not effected by the fluid? I cant say for sure, but I think the powders are more likely the issue, but some will be effected some wont. Testing would be key; one fluid/paint combo may be safer than others.

 Ed Rappe

 

I find out the max from dry, on my (mostly PW) locos, by filling 5-10 drops at a time and waiting 10 min with the loco on a paper towel. Its full when a wet spot appears on the paper towel. I wait another good stretch 20m toa few hours, to allow the excess to drip off, a little to evaporate, and then apply power. But I don't run it for a few minutes, letting the heat cook a little off. Especially if its a piston unit as the suck/blow seems real good at drawing/blowing excesses, and making more of a "mess". 

 

Now I have a baseline to work from. If I ran it yesterday, I add a few drops 4-20 depending on the loco.

 My Grandfather wouldn't run a fluid engine without a fill, and 20 minutes on a towel. If you wanted to see a particular engine run, you needed to speak up at the beginning of a session, or you might be SOL.

Originally Posted by Adriatic:

Would the Mega-Steam Eliminator work to eventually eliminate the residue from the pellets used in PW smoke units? 

Two answers...yes and yes.  Mega-Steam's Eliminator works very well in doing just that. The special formula will clean the stack and that residue left from those pellets. We have several Post War locos on the tracks and it works to do just that. And, the by-product is that you get great amounts of smoke that dissipates quickly and doesn'fog up your train room all while you are cleaning the stack.

 

In addition, we have many Post War hobbyists who use our liquid Mega-Steam in their pellet-type locos with great results. (No conversion needed.)  We tell people to just remember that the pellet would be 2-3 drops so that is what we recommend. It works great. Expecially our "Smoke Pellet" scent; which smells just like the pellets.

Thanks for asking.

Last edited by Mega-Steam

 While I haven't used Eliminator yet, I regularly exceeded your rather understandably conservative recommendations already in most of my Post war units 

(And I melted 1.5-to-two pellets at a time most of my childhood too. Like drop numbers in modern locos, I feel it depends on the unit)

 

 While smaller, all my PW pellet reservoirs hold that much even with the packing full of "gunk" on a few. I.e. almost a solid block of gunk.

Though fluid, they don't really hold much, in fact I know of no loco that takes less than the Generals and they even get 4 drops    

 

Originally Posted by Keystoned Ed:

I recently ordered my first locomotive with smoke (2 rail MTH N&W J 611) in decades and  have a few questions.  I expect most of the time the smoke unit will be turned off.

 

HI Ed,

As a major manufacturer for model train smoke fluid for over 12 years and having had first-hand experience with smoke units with 2 Rail MTH locos, we would like to address your questions. Not to take away anything that has already been mentioned, but we have experience withprecisely the items in your questions.

 

Does smoke liquid dry up when not used for several weeks?

Yes, many people add smoke fluid before storing just to keep the wicking material primed. It still can evaporate over time. Some people cap off the smoke stack.

We suggest priming the unit with smoke fluid the night before you are going to run your locomotive. This will saturate the wicking material and prevent any problems. Then before starting your session, add 6-8 drops. When the smoke diminishes, add about 15-20 drops.

 

How many minutes of run time do you get out of a fill?

Usually 10-15 minutes. When the smoke diminishes, it is time to add more.

Shut the locomotive down or at least turn off the smoke unit and add smoke fluid. Don't add the fluid while the engine is on. This prevents problems to the wicking material.

 

When filling the resevoir how do you know when it is full?

Follow the manufacturer's guidelines. With your engine the suggested filling is 20-25 drops. Over filling will cause the engine to burb smoke fluid on the boiler or it will leak out the bottom of the engine. Also, when filling the unit, we suggest slightly blowing into the stack to remove any air bubbles. This will also prevent any spillage or burps.

 

Will smoke fluid run out of the reservoir if the locomotive is upside down for wheel cleaning?

Yes. Depending on how much smoke fluid you have left in the unit. We usually place a folded paper tower or shop towel under the smoke stack when we are cleaning the wheels, etc.

We rarely have any smoke fluid coming out, but it is just a precaution. If you just filled the smoke unit, obviously, you will have more fluid coming out.

 

What do you do to clean up any residue on the boiler?

Any spillage or residue can be cleaned safely with our safe cleaner: "b-Gone" see www.megasteam.com. It is safe on all paint and finishes and will not harm decals, etc.

If probably filled and care given, you shouldn't notice any residue on the boiler. Our smoke fluid has just the right viscosity that it will vaporize quickly, provide lots of smoke, and then dissipate quickly into the air. None of that fogging up the train room and house. Very little, if any, residue is left. Not all smoke fluids are created equally. Those that are too thick will leave residue...that is not good.

 

I've heard that the fluid can mess up paint used to weather the locomotive - are there paints that are not effected by the fluid?

If the weathering is done with paint and properly dried and/or sealed, Mega-Steam will not harm the paint or the weathering. We have weathered locomotives and our smoke fluid has not harmed or effected the weathering. Some hobbyists weather using powders and chalks that are unsealed. Smoke fluid definately will effect that.

 

Congratulations on considering running the smoke for your grandson. He will love it as it adds a whole new dimension to model railroading. You should have no problems or issues to be concerned with. Thanks for letting us chime in.

 

JT's Mega-Steam

"World's Finest Smoke Fluid"

www.megasteam.com

 

Ed Rappe

 

 

Thanks for the point by point reply JT.  I look forward to "testing" the MTH N&W 611 on my PRR Middle and Pittsburgh Division.  In 1944/5 the PRR tested J 610 on Ft. Wayne - Chicago runs, but never between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, a region better suited for the J's characteristics (allegedly due to clearance issues). On my railroad I've addressed whatever the clearance there were and on special occasions the J will come out of a hidden staging track and show what it can do on a 13 car Broadway Limited up and around Horseshoe Curve - smoke on!

 

Ed

 

 

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