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.
