Lionel S-3 problems?

How much smoke fluid are you putting in?

>>>I hate the UPS handling of the engine, so wondering what opinions are out there. Have you had such problems? Thanks!<<<

If you want it fixed right, send it to Lionel.

Be happy its on their dime..

And don't forget about the warranty..  its void if you do it yourself...

Joe

I go easy on the liquid, somewhere around 8 drops, and use the funnel.

Your not using enough fluid.  Put in 25 drops.  Let it sit for an hour add another 10-15, blow down the stack to clear any meniscus.  Give that a try.

These newer smoke units require more fluid.

And the reservoir for the S-3 is pretty big and will hold a good deal of fluid.  Remember, that the smoke fluid enters the main stack chamber and you must get enough in get to the bottom to be drawn across to the steam chest reservoir as they are divided in half and the steam chest has to get the fluid from the stack side..

Your not using enough fluid.  Put in 25 drops.  Let it sit for an hour add another 10-15, blow down the stack to clear any meniscus.  Give that a try.

 

These newer smoke units require more fluid.

Does the instruction manual provided with this engine specify how many drops of smoke fluid to use and the proper method of adding it?

or do you have to learn this by experience with the various engines you acquire

The instruction manual does specify a number of drops to add.

I'm sorry, am I missing something here Jeff? What I'm reading here from you is that you can not get the S-3 operating correctly using a Cab-1. The S-3 is a Legacy engine and you need a Cab-2 to access all of the functions. Are you using a Cab-2?

Paul

You can access the steam effect by pressing 6 as Jeff as done.

The manual states to add 20 drops initially.  Then 10-20 after that when smoke starts to fall off.

All of the smoke functions will work with a Cab1.  Even the cylinder steam/smoke.

Cylinder Steam smoke effect

Also, when the auxiliary smoke unit switch is in the ON position, the CAB-2 or CAB-1 Remote Controller can be used to activate the steam effect during the three minutes between automatic operation. Press the 6 button on your CAB-1 Remote or press the cylinder steam/blow-down icon on your CAB-2 Remote's keypad display, shown here.

That is correct. The smoke effects on mine work with a CAB-1. The cylinder effect is weak, but it does work. I suspect the weak cylinder smoke is due to kinked hoses, as described in a thread here a couple of months ago, but I'm not going to tear it down due to Lionel's hard-core warranty policy. If I had a similar issue with MTH or Weaver, they would say OK, have a look at it and if you can't fix it, we will - but Lionel's policy is open it up, no warranty. 

Marty just saw your post... we must have posted on the Cab1 issue at the same time.

No big whoop.  The more folks that contribute the quicker a problem can be solved with suggestions!