I recently acquired a NOS 1999 Lionel Amtrak TMCC Dash 9 with a fan driven smoke unit (6-18252- doesn’t show up on Lionel’s website except to register products, but that’s besides the point). It has a 27 ohm fan driven smoke unit.
Here’s the short of it(more background info is provided after the picture): Can I use the pictured MTH smoke unit batting instead of Lionel smoke batting. Picture below:
I watched Mike Reagan’s video(and many others) on TMCC fan driven smoke units and followed his advice. I removed the wick/sleeve around the electrical contact so it isn’t covered anymore. I also noticed the batting(the material that absorbs the smoke fluid) was discolored so I want to replace it. It looks like insulation or fiberglass. I went to a train store nearby and explained the aforementioned. I mentioned I removed the wick and the gentlemen assisting me said I should put the wick/sleeve back on until I said about Mike Reagan’s video to which he responded “ah, ok, yeah definitely go with what he says”. Hence why I am questioning if I should use this batting Which he provided:
He said that it’s the batting used in MTH smoke units but that it would also work w/ the TMCC Lionel smoke unit. As it was cheap, I just bought it. He said to take the old ballast out and just take as many strands I need to fit in to the smoke unit and I’d be good to go.
Some pictures of the smoke unit batting on Lionel’s website look like this material.
So, can I proceed with this material instead of Lionel’s?