Anyone have an idea of how to make smoke pellets that I could safely use in my postwar locos?
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You can safely use smoke fluid. At the reasonable price of the stuff it's not worth trying to make your own.
Aspirin works too...
At the rate and length of time I have trains smoking, I think asperin would be suicide......lol
As has already been posted, you can purchase smoke pellets for around $15 per bottle of fifty pellets. If you prefer, you can also use one of the several brands of smoke fluid that are currently on the market.
These products are generally considered safe.
There is no reason to use smoke pellets anymore. I only use Mega steam fluid now. It won't leave that residue mess inside the smoke unit that pellets do and smokes longer then pellets do. Pellets are obsolete now.
Rob
Well, the problem is that I have the smoke bulb setup and I don't want to convert it. Can I drip the smoke liquid onto the bulb and it not cause damage?
Originally Posted by wvtrigeek:
Anyone have an idea of how to make smoke pellets that I could safely use in my postwar locos?
In my experience, it doesn't matter what you try in your smoke bulb engine. It won't smoke well.
The smoke pellets used with smoke bulbs were made of a different material than the smoke pellets used in heater type smoke units. Those pellets were somewhat corrosive, and I beleive they may have been toxic as well.
Hi wvtrigeek; I have a 1946 2020 that uses a bulb. I put smoke wick on the bulb and use liquid smoke fluid. It works pretty good,although not like the wire element type.
eeks just convert that old bulb unit if you want real smoke. Otherwise, if you aren't willing to do that I wouldn't put anything on it- it won't smoke much anyway. As mentioned, the smoke pellet forumula we use now likely wasn't meant for the bulb. For a while on this forum the discussion of making your own smoke fluid/etc was strickly 'verboten'- cause for instant thread deletion. Heating a homemade potentially flammable liquid in a residential environment is not something you want to do. Buy them, convert it, or don't do anything.
I think I'm going to give the Trainz smoke pellets a try. I didn't realize they were making them with the old Lionel formula and they price isn't too bad. I'd rather not burn my house down.
Originally Posted by acid:
eeks just convert that old bulb unit if you want real smoke. Otherwise, if you aren't willing to do that I wouldn't put anything on it- it won't smoke much anyway. As mentioned, the smoke pellet forumula we use now likely wasn't meant for the bulb. For a while on this forum the discussion of making your own smoke fluid/etc was strickly 'verboten'- cause for instant thread deletion. Heating a homemade potentially flammable liquid in a residential environment is not something you want to do. Buy them, convert it, or don't do anything.
Thanks Harry. I actually have several items in my ebay cart ready to purchase from you so that will work well. On a related topic, what would be the difference between a 14 and and 18 volt smoke bulb for a Lionel 671 turbine? Is there a difference in brightness? Would a brighter bulb take more current from the motor and thus negatively effect its performance?
Originally Posted by hah3:
HI we sell new smoke pellets have them in stock.
Originally Posted by wvtrigeek:
I think I'm going to give the Trainz smoke pellets a try. I didn't realize they were making them with the old Lionel formula and they price isn't too bad. I'd rather not burn my house down.
Originally Posted by acid:
eeks just convert that old bulb unit if you want real smoke. Otherwise, if you aren't willing to do that I wouldn't put anything on it- it won't smoke much anyway. As mentioned, the smoke pellet forumula we use now likely wasn't meant for the bulb. For a while on this forum the discussion of making your own smoke fluid/etc was strickly 'verboten'- cause for instant thread deletion. Heating a homemade potentially flammable liquid in a residential environment is not something you want to do. Buy them, convert it, or don't do anything.
As others have told you, the smoke pellets will not work very well, if at all. The original pellets for the smoke bulb were very corrosive, so their use, even if they were still available, is not reccommended.
