Finger prints and blemishes on S3 pilot tender and poor smoke

@Larry Clark posted:

Just received S3 Pilot and the tender has smudges that look like finger prints on the "clear coat" that I understand is applied to help protect the units.

Also a couple of areas that the clear coat was applied too thick and is cracking. I was wondering if anyone else has seen this and if some solvent could used.

Also, the smoke output is very poor; I understand that the engine was stored for a long time and the "wick" has most likely dried out so I added a few drops at a time to try to bring it back slowly. now, it will produce good smoke only after I puff some air into the stack. However, it will only smoke for a short time. I really don't want to add much more smoke fluid as I have already put in near 20 drops.

Any advice about these issues would be greatly appreciated.

20 drops on a new engine is just getting the wick damp.  You'll need to add at least another 20 to really get it wet.  I would add at least another 10 to start and see how that goes then add another 10.  I usually, on a new smoke unit, add 20 let it sit over night and then add another 20.

Thank you for your reply; I will try a little more fluid.

I was going by the advice in the manual; so as not to flood the unit and dampen the electronics.

@Larry Clark posted:

Thank you for your reply; I will try a little more fluid.

I was going by the advice in the manual; so as not to flood the unit and dampen the electronics.

The manual is fine but when these units are shipped there is a very minimal, if any, fluid in them.  It takes a bit to really get the wick saturated.  There have been folks that suggested more but I would hold at 40 drops at the most initially and see how that does.  I know it sounds like a lot but the reservoir and the wick will hold it.

Thank you again Marty.

Larry

You don’t say whether this engine is new in the box or not but these were issued over 9 years ago (late 2011), weren’t they? It might well have been opened/had some handling in the period of time since then, and depending on the care taken in handling it and storage conditions, I can see that there might be some blemishes in the clear coat. BTW, I don’t think that there were a lot of these pilot versions made - I have seen a couple of references to a total of 50 of the S3.

I’ll defer to the painting experts about sanding the imperfections out and what to spray over them but I’d be less daunted about that than trying to repaint color finishes.

The smoke performance is not surprising if the smoke unit started out bone dry. 20 drops won’t be enough whatever the manual says; I’d put 30 plus in to get the wicking more saturated (doing it slowly, say 15 drops 10 minutes apart to let it soak in). I think that this has one of the early Legacy dual chamber smoke units where both chambers fill from the main stack and you need to allow time for the fluid to migrate from one to the other. I think that this is the diagram showing the units components:

I did not find Legacy smoke units of this vintage to be great performers without absolutely saturating the wicking, which sometimes can only be done by taking the boiler shell off to get at the smoke unit itself.

Thank you for your reply.

It appeared to be brand new; or, if it was unpacked before, they did an excellent job re-packing the engine. Whenever I receive anything advertised as new I really examine the packaging. Too often stuff comes from sellers like that "big river name company" as new and is obviously something someone else has opened and it goes back.

The fingerprints really appear to be in the clear coat. It could be that finger prints can be slightly acidic and etched into the coat and could be the cause here but they seem to be something "under the surface"

Larry

Not the best photography but maybe it will show what is on the tender.