Replace smoker in Lionel 6-34625 F3?

You don't need to replace the smoke unit, the most that it might need is a part or two.  It's more likely that the smoke voltage regulator module has died if you get absolutely no smoke, they are pretty fragile.

Before you do anything, you need to zero in on what the real issue is.

Does the fan run on the smoke unit?  A stupid question, but are you sure the smoke switch is on?

Yep he smoke switch is on. The fan spins, bud smoker will not get hot

Probably need to replace the resistor. I had a few that had a broken resistor wire. This is one of the cleaner ones from some 10 year old TMCC engines I rebuilt.

The most frequent failure is this smoke regulator.

That's followed by the actual smoke resistor.

With a meter you can check the smoke resistor, if you read anything from 5 to 7 ohms, it's most likely OK.  My money is on the smoke regulator, but either of these can cause the symptoms you see.

Thank you,

I will check this tonight!

Frank

Oops, I had it backwards. The smoke unit gets hot but the fan will not move. I noticed it ran slow for a moment when I gave it a spin. When I turn the smoke off AUX8 and turn back on AUX9 the fan looks like it try's to start, but no go.  

That's probably the cheaper option.   Sounds like you just need a new fan motor. 

Can I replace the fan motor or will the entire smoke unit be needed? What ever option is needed would you have part numbers and a place to order from?

Thanks!  

All you need is the smoke fan motor, I believe it's $$7.50 MSRP at Lionel.  You can probably find it with someone like BoxCar Bill on the forum here and save the rather expensive Lionel shipping charge.  Given the room for the smoke unit, I'd probably put the MTH smoke motor in it, they've worked very well for me, and I typically use them if they fit, they're about 1/8" longer than the Lionel motors.

I recently opened up my older Lionel UP dash8 because the smoke quit working.  I had the same symptoms in that the smoke fan turned very slowly or not at all.  I found out that the fan motor itself was filled with smoke fluid.  So what I did was remove the motor and sprayed it with canned air (like you use on your computer keyboard).  Sprayed the fan in both directions, turned it upside down and got as much of the smoke fluid out as I could.  Worked fine after that. 

This my not be your problem, but it's something to check on.

Also, after I did this I found that the fan motor was turning in the wrong direction (common Lionel problem) so I reversed the fan wires.  Smoked very well after that.

If you find the smoke motor inundated with smoke fluid, I recommend first something like CRC or contact cleaner to flush everything out, then some light oil on the two bearing ends.  That usually will revive them.

Thank you for the ideas. I will give this a try.

Frank

How did you make out?

Looks like my motor is either wore out or just loadded with smoke fluid. I sprayed it out with air and it starts with help. I will replace the motor and then see if the heat element needs replacing. 

will the MTH motor have the same fan shaft size?

As long as the body of the MTH motor fits into the space, it will work.  Both have 1mm shafts.

I pulled it apart and am ordering the motor, wadding and resistor that is burnt. Looks like I flooded the motor and soaked the wadding that stuck to the resistor and burnt. Whoops 

thanks everyone for the help!

Frank "Drawbar" Cruson

Actually, the resistor cooks when you run it dry.  Having too much fluid won't cook or burn the resistor.

Sorry bad explanation, the wadding was baked on to the resistor from oil that was not being used due to the fan not working. I tried to chip away at the burnt wadding but its really bad. I have the engine tore apart so replacement resistor is no big deal.

O My, the smoke regulator is $25. Any way to test my existing one before purchasing a replacement?

Measure the voltage on the smoke resistor and see if it matches the other unit.  You can also just swap the smoke units between the powered and unpowered units and see if the problem follows the smoke unit.

I don't think I ever saw a bare resistor not have some char.

But its exact operating controls in this situation? That is a mystery to me.

All mine are using elements direct from the track because that's what I had on hand already. If it was regulated at the element, it isn't now.

Something I didn't see mentioned and corresponds with Drawbars last post.

Smoke regulator? I assume you mean voltage, or current regulation for the fan, or the element, and not control of these by another board. (Johns swap should answer that control leg question).

Have you checked voltage at the motor plug with load and without?

The element?

 While regulators normally just quit outright, a low or high can happen too.

You may want to see that its delivery is ok.

The motor may be filled, and operating bad sure, but it may not be getting the full power it needs.

 Sitting upside down on a tissue for a long period might reveal more oil that the air cant draw out. And if it was 100% full, multiple positions.

I've had smoke regulators short, open, and just get flaky.  I have a flaky one now on my bench, I want to hook it up and use my heat gun to localize what is actually failing on them.  I've replaced a few triacs on them and returned them to service, cheaper than getting the new one from Lionel.

Thanks again for the ideas. I have some testing to do this weekend!