1. How hot do they get; did you need to use a heat shield?
2. What model/part number did you use?
3. What voltage does it use; is 18v AC possible?
4. Was it difficult to "plumb" to the caboose stack?
Thanks, Var
1. The 12v ones I saw were mounted in building chimneys made of hobby styrene, so Id say pretty cool.
2. I shopped for someone a long while, he dropped the project.
3. Various voltages, diameters, lengths, and well types.(bigger well = less filling)
4. Depends on the train & unit, but in general they are tiniest for what they do.
The "chimney one" was about 1/3 the length of a Bic pen, and about the same diameter. Found it for $14 at a show. They do have large well, cast version about the size of most O too. They don't really have a good rep., tend to burn out wire from what I heard.( must be true, heard it on the net)(uh oh...multiple times
)
They are a wet well, no wicking in the ones I saw. You can only use Seuthe fluid, no mixing of old Lionel type fluids either. Don't run them dry.
Personally, I like my solution, I can tune the smoke to get what I think is the right amount from the caboose. Another bonus is the sides of the fan driven unit don't get hot enough to warp the plastic sides, you could even stick it right against the shell. I am not a Seuthe smoke unit fan, I find them substandard in many ways. For the price of a crappy Seuthe smoke unit, I can have fan driven smoke, no contest here.
No contest in an engine, though I have seen some impressive Seuthe G trains, they were modified. Compared to the Super Chuffer mod....well, "no contest" again
It would take a half dozen, or more to get close
They are a very nice piece for static structure, and scenery use.
If you have no space in your project, its better than nothing I guess.
