Update: Lionel 6-28323 Vision Genset ongoing woes

I did all the units in my Vis Genset. I worked on mine after one of the resistor leads to the smoke unit shell was apparently shorted and melted much of the smoke unit wiring. I had the no smoke but fans ran, etc and some vapor. I think they just get a little crusted in the batting and/or the smoke resistors are not getting perfect contact where the screws tighten to the resistor leads. This engine may be somewhat maintenance prone. Is that "screw the lead down" common now instead of solder? 

If you're touching the resistor itself and you don't get an immediate burn, something is wrong with either the regulator or the wiring.  First stop is to make SURE the screws holding the smoke resistors are TIGHT and the wiring harnesses to the smoke control board are all intact.  This board controls all the smoke unit functions, and I've had to replace one of these when I had non-working smoke units once.

Question, are the fans sequencing properly?  It might be useful to know what is not working.

If all 3 smoke units quit at the same time, that points to the controller. As John suggested, order a new SFC2.

That's kinda' my top suspect, but I like to check all the wiring and screws first.

Guys,

The motors were replaced and work fine as well as in sync, so it's not the pcb. The element COULD burn me if I was careless. I will get my temperature probes and measure the temperature later.

So it smoked ok after the rebuild and now, not so well? All three?

The PCB also controls the heater, so don't be so quick to jump to that conclusion.  As I previously said, first stop is to check ALL the wiring and connectors.

John and dave does the pcb controll the smoke fans also. I assume this pcb is what controls the ramdom off and on of the three smoke units. Reason i ask is I have one where the heaters are all ok but with the rpms all the way up not all my fans are comming on. Thous no smoke seen out the hole stacks. All three units produce smoke out them at  random restarts though with the cab 2.

Yep, notice that the smoke unit cable goes to the connectors on the smoke control PCB, it does the whole job.  In your case, have you tried a full feature reset as described in the User's Manual?

Yes

I would think that's the smoke controller, I'm presuming they're detecting the RPM from the command stream.  Are you running with a Legacy CAB2 or the CAB1?

Ussing legacy cab 

My engines smoke units behave like this. Always have since day one.

When 1st primemover starts up the 1st smoke unit comes alive with a stream of smoke. Not for long though. When the other two primemovers come on. There is no smoke from those two units. When I had the shell off during testing to examine what was up here I felt all smoke unit bowls they were very hot to the touch. Then noticed that not all the fans were going. This was with the cab2 smoke on high and the rpms ramped up to full. Even applyed full train brake and still no smoke comming out of any stack. I do however get smoke for about a brief second out of each smoke unit when the engine is first started up and each smoke unit is randomly told via the legacy electronics  to be selected as the first unit to come to life. After the brief second or two as a smoke unit comes to life and puts out smoke. They all three put out nothing. I can feel heat and air comming out the smoke stack holes in the body above certain smoke units but no smoke. 

Not sure when but one time and on time only I was able to restart the engine. Ramp up the rpms and get all three smoke units working. They almost set off the smoke alarm. They were working well. I only use jt megasteam btw. Inspected each unit for chared wicks and tight screws on the resistors. All was ok. I think maybe it just needs the pcd board you have shown to get the smoke units back to normal operation.

If the fans are good, and the wiring is good, you're left with the board.  Since the smoke elements are getting hot, it seems like the fan control isn't working properly.  I suspect you really do need that board.

Thats what I kinda suspected. Just needed conformation. Thanks john. Another on my to do list. Hope I did not hijack the original posters thread. These engines are realy nice. Especially when working properly. They put on a real show. So glad to have gotten one.

Wiring and screws look good and tight. Temperature of resistor is approx. 230 degrees F. Is this about right?

I will try different orentiations of the wick to get it around the resistor better

230F is way too cool to vaporize mineral oil, so you will get little to no smoke.  I start to get smoke at around 150C (302F), and it's pretty good smoke at 195C (383F).  This was first checking the smoke unit on the bench and then a direct measurement of the resistor in open air at the same voltage settings.

New resistors ordered. Will install when they get here and report back.

Hard to imagine three resistors are bad, my bet is still the control board.

Dave, I am not a fan of that engine.  You are correct it is the fan control board.  We had one last year and it took three boards to get a good one.   I have worked on many.  Guys, it is without a doubt the board when all three smoke units take a hike.  I love Lionel Legacy diesel locomotives and have a great many.  None of these are on my roster.  Yes, the smoke flow on the MTH is not like the real one but it smokes and smokes very well.  I have a handful of the MTH version.  

The Lionel Genset is not bad to work on the smoke units.   Don't get hung up on resistors if they ohm out correctly.  If you see 8 ohm, move on.  You asked for help and I feel very strongly everyone made the case for the smoke fan control board.  I am a Lionel Tech and fully agree with everyone on this post what your issue is.   If I asked a question and guys like Dave Olsen, GRJ, and Roger answered it, I would take the information to the bank.  

Update: All smoke units repaired, however, one of the antenna handrails seemingly broke (photo below.) It is not a clean cut like I would expect. I have a few questions:

Does lionel sell only the handrail wire?

Should I try to solder it back together?

If not, how then can I repair it?

Thanks.

Ok, I repaired the handrail, but I cannot remember exactly how the antenna wires are mounted atop the shell near the motor. Does anyone have a photo of that that could help me? Also, any tips to get the shell back on safely? Thanks,

Nickstrains.