MTH wick

Why not use MTH wicks and save the trouble.  I know its probably cheaper but projected over time it can't be more than pennies.

 

The newest MTH wicks are braided and much easier to install.  They also work better and last longer.

 

Why waste your time, effort and money on a potentially troublesome replacement that is much harder to install without causing leaks?

 

Any MTH dealer or service center can get the wicks for you, or you could order them directly from MTH.

Although I still use a variety of wick materials, I agree the new MTH wicks are very nice, and I have them always in stock.  They are very nice and easy to stuff into the bowl.

Any chance you can show a picture of what they look like please?

The ones from MTH are braided and much easer to work with.

Here's the braided wick.

 

I'm with the consensus here. I've used Tiki Torch wick in the past when I've been out of the right stuff, but the MTH (and Lionel) wicks are inexpensive, more convenient to install, and according to people I trust, more resistant to scorching. 

John, I know where you got that picture.  Why use Tiki when you can use the great wick MTH is selling.   I want to do a job one time and not have to revisit.

 

Marty, I did a web search for MTH Smoke Wick and came up with it.  I did note that it was on OGR.

 

I'm starting to experiment with putting two resistors in Lionel smoke units, I'm tuning the values now to see if I can get better smoke than with one resistor. 

 

I do pretty well with one, but I like spreading the heat around a bit, I think that will help the smoke production.  Besides, as you illustrate, it makes it so easy to position the wick.

 

 

GRJ's Barn Burner Smoke Unit, guaranteed to set off not only your smoke detector but your neighbors also!

That's the plan!

 

John, I was joking, not a problem.  I have been using two resistors in Lionel single unit 8 ohm smoke units for many years and all works well.  I have done a great number of upgrades and people exist that want TMCC engines upgraded to DCS.  On the Lionel engines with fan driven smoke units it is a slam dunk to use two 16 ohm resistors wired together.

 

I thinl I know what you are going to do and would be interested in your outcome.  It is worth me buying you a cold beer at Ruby Tuesdays to get up to speed on the board you are doing. 

 

 

Do you wire those 16 ohm resistors in series?  In parallel, they'd dissipate over 10 watts and draw over 1.1 amps, I think that would be excessive for the task! That much current will really put a strain on the smoke triac.  If you press the boost, you get well over 2 amps through the triac.  A few seconds of that and the triac would be done with no heatsink!  I'm sure the smoke would be impressive, but not for long.  Even if you don't cook the triac, you'd have to refill every 30 seconds.

 

In series, the 16 ohm resistors only dissipate 2.5 watts and probably won't smoke much at all.

 

I'm shooting for around 5-6 watts of power in the smoke unit, which results in a very nice amount of smoke.  That results in over half an amp through the triac, and it manages it, but runs at around 70-75C, as hot as I want to risk.  Any more current and you'll be risking cooking the triac.

 

I'm currently thinking of a total resistance of 18-20 ohms across the smoke unit with two parallel resistors.  I have some samples on order to test what I get.

 

John, If he uses 2 16 ohm resistors in parallel in a lionel 8 ohm unit (uses ACREG) your back to 8 ohms.  Or if it is modified for use with MTH unit it would work.

 

I don't think he was using it for a Lionel TMCC unit.

 

The problem with modifying Lionel for Lionel use, is that it has to be a compromise.  Lionel has to balance the resistor for conventional full AC, or modified TMCC output.

 

I think they have gotten around all that with the new Legacy and the individual smoke board now.  

 

For Lionel pick the resistance you want to use (16-27 ohms) and double it and install 2 of those resistors.  In your case I believe you like 20 ohms, so I guess you are trying 2 40 ohm resistors?  G

If it's an 8 ohm unit, that's true.  I think, looking back at his message, that's what he was suggesting.  I was talking about standard TMCC smoke units.

 

I understand basic Ohms law, really.   Of equal importance to the resistance is the wattage rating of the resistors.  I find I get significantly different results, depending on the wattage rating of the resistors.  So, I have a few different sets that I'm going to evaluate to see if I can strike a happy medium. 

 

The AC regulator did solve a lot of compromise issues with the Lionel smoke, but it's a shame that the regulators are so fragile on many models.

 

One trick that I'm also evaluating is adding a diode in series with the smoke unit to eliminate the boost.  If I'm tuning the smoke unit for good performance with the standard half-wave drive, there's no real reason to allow double the power, that would help with maximizing the smoke at the nominal drive.

 

Hello gunrunner john • A Side Bar Question

     You say you have a lot of wicks in stock, how about traction tires. For a Lionel Challenger 3980. It looks like a complex procedure. What tools are needed for this procedure.

Thanks

The WIHA hex drivers are what I use to remove the rod screws. Most of the time, I just take off the rod screw on the wheel and slip the tire under it.

 

I haven't changed the tires on the scale Challenger, but sometimes you have to remove more stuff like the fake brake shoes, etc.  I recommend taking a picture before you start taking stuff off, helps if you get confused putting it back on.

Some times it is best to loosen all the nuts/screws and remove the one for the tire you are changing.  That gives more free play with the side rod.   Remember the orientation of the eccentric crank and only do one side at a time.

 

Using a dental pick, or similar tool can aid in wrapping the tire around the wheel.  Like using a tire iron.   G

You work in a service station in a former life?