New MTH smoke unit resistor for Super Chuffer

Yes should work.  G

It will work as G says but a 22 ohm 2 watt resistor will get even hotter assuming this will hook up to a RxLC. Using a lower wattage resistor of the same resistance value puts a greater strain on the resistor vs putting a lower ohm value which puts a greater strain on the triac driver. Cheaper and easier to replace. I used to use the same 5 watt resistor you picture but have switched with even better results.

Try yours though, they are easy enough to swap out.

Pete

You only want ONE of the 22 ohm resistors, not two!  Two will give you 11 ohms, which will promptly incinerate the smoke triac on the RxLC as it's too much current for it to handle!

I put one 20 or 22 ohm resistor closest to the stack, and fill the other holes with solder.

Thank you everyone. Now just need to figure out how to engineer this stock metal into a bracket that will work 

For the K-Line stuff with the small puffer, I make these out of 1/16" fiberglass.  They mount the MTH steam smoke unit at just the right height using the existing puffer mounting posts.  I have to taper the posts on the smoke unit to clear the screw, but it works out perfectly.  Somewhere in the forum I posted a picture of the assembly, but I don't know where right now.

I guess I will have to find that post.  Not sure how that would work with the configuration of this k-line GS-4 mechanical puffer.

Looks like I came to the right post finally.  I need help with the smoke unit also.  My Railking 1996,  #5445 MTH Dreyfuss Hudson was smoking for the last 20 years and finally gave out.  I took it apart and found the the wick was embedded into the resistors.  This is a fan driven unit.  I checked the fan and the voltage is good as well as the resistance and there of course is power to the unit.  Other than that the good resistor in it reads 16 Ohms so I would think that the burned out one is the same????   So do I need a 16 Ohm but what wattage resistor?????  I plan on replacing both of them.   Also can it have the ceramic coating on it or do I need to break it off ??????  Here in Michigan all the train shops and the electrical shop I use are shut down right now so I am SOL.  Next questions are: Can I use pink insulation as wicking or do I need to use oil lamp wicks cut to size?????  Does the wick touch the resistors or stay tucked into the chamber away from the resistors??? 

Sorry lots of questions but I need to fix this unit, wife bought me the engine back in 95 for out 25th wedding anniversary and I want it fixed and running this year.

I deal a lot with Brasseur Trains up in Northern Michigan and looking at his parts list for this unit it appears he might have the parts in stock but I can't get to him right now with the virus visiting us here in Michigan.

Including a pic of the smoke unit.

I've used this one with good results, I use a wire wheel on my Dremel to remove the ceramic powder coating.  Light touch and go across the resistor in line with the windings.  Given the price, get a few extra in case you screw one up.

16 Ohm Resistor at Digikey

The wick should be FIRMLY in contact with the smoke resistors.  I use the braided wick for these, the pink insulation doesn't last long as a rule.

@Kboruss posted:

I guess I will have to find that post.  Not sure how that would work with the configuration of this k-line GS-4 mechanical puffer.

The one K-Line engine with a piston unit like that,  I placed the fan smoke unit in the shell. The smoke unit stack was modified for a snug fit in the shell stack and a spring was epoxied to the frame to help hold it in place when the shell was mounted.

Pete

@Norton posted:

The one K-Line engine with a piston unit like that,  I placed the fan smoke unit in the shell. The smoke unit stack was modified for a snug fit in the shell stack and a spring was epoxied to the frame to help hold it in place when the shell was mounted.

Pete

Thanks.  Yeah I made a bracket last night out of some stock metal to have it sit in the front shell to give me the correct height.  That’s a good idea with the springs.

Here's my "standard" mount for brass locomotives.  Since the boiler is round with no bottom opening, I stick the spring to the smoke unit.  The threaded funnel gets a brass stack extension added to extend it.  I put the smoke unit in, then screw the stack extension into it while in the locomotive, that keeps the smoke unit sitting there and also allows it to be removed for service.

Thanks for the pics. I might try that instead of the bracket.  But the bracket does get me to the right height and figured could just zip tie around this front rod. If need to service just cut the zip tie. 

I have installed an ERR large steam kit into a Lionel heavy mountain type steam engine. The ERR command control seems to work properly, but the smoke unit is not enabled. This engine has a fan driven smoke unit. How can I connect this fan driven smoke unit to work with ERR?

The ERR products have a smoke output (Feature) on the 7-pin connector, that is the smoke power. 

Of course, telling us what ERR product you used would help, not to mention the exact Lionel engine you're working with.

Thanks for the reply, John. I was afraid I had hijacked this thread and wouldn't get noticed. ERR kit installed is cruise commander plus large steam sound. The engine is a Lionel 6-18025 that has been previously modified with a large DC can motor and fan driven smoke unit and MTH PS2 electronics. That MTH system was dead, so I replaced it with ERR. This isn't my first ERR install, but it is the first time with a fan driven smoke unit involved. I have used the reed switch connected to pins 2 and 3 for chuff in and will connect the smoke unit to pin 7. But I don't know how to connect the fan motor.

Don't use the MTH smoke unit until you change it's resistors!  Currently, it has two 16 ohm resistors in parallel to make 8 ohms.  That will cook the R4LC triac in a flash.  You need to swap those out for one 20 or 22 ohm resistor for best results. 

The smoke fan control is the very reason I designed the Super-Chuffer II, and getting 4 chuffs/rev was the push to design the Chuff-Generator.  There are other schemes to get chuffing smoke, but I think mine is the most elegant solution.

Click on graphic to enlarge

Since we are on the topic of resistors I was wondering about the Resistor needed to switch the cab light to an LED.  I think I saw in super chuffer 2 instructions a 470 ohm resistor for LEDs, but if I am using a 3 v LED rated at 20ma i came up with 750ohm resistor when calculating.  Does Ohms law change with wiring DC LEDS with AC?  I think I read somewhere to also install a blocking diode as well for LEDs.  Would this be connected after the resistor? 

Ohms law does not change, but the effective voltage out of the triac is probably less then what you are using in the formula.  Lionel and atlas used about 1K ohm and diode when running items off track power.  You can try your resistor and see how you like the brightness.  Diode location in the circuit is not important.  Just proper orientation.  G

Since you're only seeing half the waveform, the average current is only half of the current that would flow using 18 volts RMS through a resistor.  The Super-Chuffer has a diode and a FET to control the cab light.  The 470 resistor is the correct value.  No need for a diode, I've already provided that on the Super-Chuffer output for the cab light.

I use incandescent bulbs for the cab light a lot of the time.  It's the one place that I feel the incandescent does a better job than the LED, it gives you a wide dispersal of the light.  For the incandescent bulb, you can use anything from 12V through 18V rated bulbs, again it's only receiving half-wave power.  The lighting circuits for the R2LC/R4LC also provide half-wave power in command mode, and Lionel used 12V rated bulbs for TMCC lighting for years.