I have a number of bottles of Lionel Premium and MegaSteam smoke fluid. I am contemplating alternating between the two in the same engine just to use them up before buying more. Is there any experience in the forum with doing that??
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Done it... the Lionel stuff stinks bad. The wife says real bad. I used it at the club and even people complained there. I tossed it.
I agree with Doug. Let your nose decide!!
Laidoffsick posted:Done it... the Lionel stuff stinks bad. The wife says real bad. I used it at the club and even people complained there. I tossed it.
Thanks for the reply!
So, alternating between the 2 will not damage the smoke unit??
The variety of scents offered by MEGASTEAM is interesting and fun. I have a smoking diner accessory, so I ordered the "coffee scent" for it. I also have a MTH Car Wash, and I ordered an appropriate scent for it. This company also makes a cleansing fluid, which is helpful for occasional use for keeping the smoke generator clean.
Mike
(ritrainguy)
Won't cause any damage but you'll wish you stuck with Mega-Steam.
If you want to use both, use one completely....then move on to the other. The smell of each lingers a bit, if that makes any sense.
However, I'd just go with the Mega Steam....personally.
Gentlemen, thanks for the advice!!
You can also use the JT's MegaSteam Eliminator to kill off the bad order of the other smoke fluid. 
I've swapped back and forth with no issue, other than one scent lingering into the other for a while.
I like the volume of smoke produced with the Lionel Premium but the smell does get to me after a while.
They are supposed to have their new scented premium smoke fluid on shelves soon as well. Not sure how they'll compare to the equiv. Megasteam offerings.
No problem at all. I have done it for ages
Concur with Gunrunnerjohn on the use of the Eliminator.
I have used it numerous times on different locos and it works great
Well, at one point around the time the VLBB arrived, Lionel (in the person of Mike Reagan, no less) said that using Megasteam would result in more residue building up in the smoke unit wadding than with Lionel Premium fluid. Before that they said that the Premium fluid was specially formulated for the newer Legacy smoke units but without explaining in what particular respect it was different from any other product. The residue is the only explanation I have seen. By "residue" he meant the discoloration/compacting of the wadding after sustained use, which frankly I always thought was unavoidable heat scorching from contact with the resistor inside the unit.
Since smoke unit wadding inevitably needs to be changed whatever fluid you use I can't see that this is such a big deal. With one exception (see below) I have switched back and forth between Premium, Megasteam and MTH with no loss of smoke output.
However people here on the Forum have also said that there could be Lionel warranty issues if you don't use their smoke fluid when the engine manual says you should. I have no experience of that kind of issue but have endured the smell of the Premium stuff in the Big Boy because the smoke units are pretty finicky at the best of times and I sure don't want to have to ship this giant model to Lionel or anyone else for smoke unit servicing. The Big Boy manual only says this, which hardly suggests use of Premium is mandatory :
"For best performance, we recommend using only
6-37841 Lionel Premium Smoke Fluid"
Personally I think only having to use Lionel's premium fluid and designed to work with bla,bla,blah is a bunch of crap. Lionel reps get paid to push there own brand. I have been using only megasteam in my Legacy units and have had no problems whatsoever. Except for tha fact I've had 2 Lionel fan motors die on me which of course had nothing to do with the fluid. Megasteam is the best stuff on the market hands down!
Chris Lonero posted:Personally I think only having to use Lionel's premium fluid and designed to work with bla,bla,blah is a bunch of crap. Lionel reps get paid to push there own brand. I have been using only megasteam in my Legacy units and have had no problems whatsoever. Except for tha fact I've had 2 Lionel fan motors die on me which of course had nothing to do with the fluid. Megasteam is the best stuff on the market hands down!
Yeah, I thought the same. They've never said that their fluid won't clog up fan motors although I think that all the advice about not overfilling smoke units might have something to do with that. I mention it only because apart from Lionel having a big batch of faulty fan motors they seem susceptible to fluid getting into them and causing mosquito noise if not outright failure. I have seen that Premium fluid evaporates a lot faster once the bottle's been opened than any other brand, which has made me wonder exactly how it's formulated.
I used only the Lionel stuff in my VLBB, and had to send it back. From looking at it they said I used something else, so their own techs can't tell when only Lionel fluid is used. So after that, and the family complaining about the smell, I bought some MS from my LHS and mix it 50/50 with the Lionel stuff (I had a lot I want to use up.). So now I get the smell of the MS and don't see any lesser smoke output.
I use both without any trouble. But if I had that temperamental smoke fluid loader, I would be sure to use only the Lionel premium. If I recall correctly, it was established in previous threads that differences in the viscosity characteristics of the fluid played some role in the issues some experienced with the smoke fluid loader.
It is surprising that after all these years, that OGR or CTT hasn't performed some type of objective performance testing to compare fluids, and publish an article with their findings. As an engineer, I dislike speculation and all the individual opinions. Let's get facts. Unfortunately, this isn't Consumer Reports. I would well imagine most publishers are loathe to the prospect of pitting advertisers against each other, or to deal with the loser's wrath. Just tell me the last time you saw an unfavorable product review in a train magazine...
I am not sending my stuff to lionel for smoke units so i am gonna use what i want...Mega steam doesnt stink and i have to barly clean my track so they win...
Thanks a bunch for the responses. Since I have 4 bottles of Lionel Premium, I am going to begin alternating drops between them and MS. I am now confident that MS does no harm to the smoke units.
Lionel is coming out ( this month) with their Smoke Fluid on different flavor. Now you can have the best in both Worlds !!! LOL
Fredstrains
One thing that would make it tough to compare smoke fluids(besides ad $$) is the various smoke units and their condition. Too many variables.
According to the Charlie Ro website the new Lionel smoke fluid isn't coming until 2/10/17.
BradFish1 posted:According to the Charlie Ro website the new Lionel smoke fluid isn't coming until 2/10/17.
Just in time for Christmas!
BradFish1 posted:According to the Charlie Ro website the new Lionel smoke fluid isn't coming until 2/10/17.
that's because they're shipping it out at only ten drops a time! 
GregR posted:It is surprising that after all these years, that OGR or CTT hasn't performed an objective performance testing to compare fluids, and publish an article with their findings. As an engineer, I dislike speculation and all the individual opinions. Let's get facts. Unfortunately, this isn't Consumer Reports. I would well imagine most publishers are loathe to the prospect of pitting advertisers against each other, or to deal with the loser's wrath. Just tell me the last time you saw an unfavorable product review in a train magazine...
That is a good idea! I know that in running a publication like OGR or CTT, they must be absolutely DYING for new story ideas. There must be some reason they don't want to broach the issue of smoke fluids. You are likely right on their hesitance to anger either of their advertisers. Also, since there is apparently no one on the staff of either publication with engineering or the proper technical experience tthy don't want to make any proclamations that could land them in hot legal water if recommendations leads to some sort of safety issue.
The Lionel Reps at Trainfest back in November said their Scented smoke fluid would be out the end of November! They are bottling at their office in Charlotte. So much for that.
The best the magazines can and will do is run articles how to install and maintain your smoke units. That will do a lot for getting good smoke, more than what smoke fluid you use.
Well, folks, I didn't see this many posts coming when I asked my original post question on using Lionel vs MS smoke fluid. BUT, as always, the forum members just amaze me on the help you can get here. I think that a good start for figuring the qualities of each involves wiping away the mystery of how smoke units work with their wadding and that first step was taken by videos from Laid Off Sick some time ago - 2015?.
I checked the Lionel store and they listed the new unscented smoke fluid in stock so I ordered 5 bottles. According to the email I received this morning they shipped it out. So I guess it just isn't available to dealers yet?
Here's a brief review of the new Lionel premium unscented smoke fluid. That horrendous smell of regular Lionel premium is gone although I don' t seem to get the thick white plumes that the original creates.
BradFish1 posted:Here's a brief review of the new Lionel premium unscented smoke fluid. That horrendous smell of regular Lionel premium is gone although I don' t seem to get the thick white plumes that the original creates.
oh oh smells pretty but thick smoke gone! I wonder what changed in the formula?
as far as the scent how strong is it?
There is no perceivable scent to me which I like. My sinuses don't agree with strong smells.
Well, if you really like Pepe LePew smells, try the MS Marx smoke.
