I think you meant https://mthtrains.com/30-1840-1
I would not run the smoke unit dry with heat. Follow the instructions to turn it off when not refilling it. You will char the wick and the worst possible situation is right when the wick is still damp with fluid, but nearly out. This is what really causes that nasty crud on the wick- the last of the smoke fluid charring on the wick fibers.
That said, I highly, highly, highly doubt dry smoke wick is causing the jerking.
More likely than not- always check the drawbar connections. Because this is a 2 control board system and DEPENDS heavily on that drawbar being 100% connected, it will not run and will jerk if that becomes intermittent. Worse, it's BOTH ends of the drawbar you need to be concerned with. I've seen it too many times- the factory when bundling up the wire harness- pulls them far too tight before zipties are applied leaving no slack or flex room in the wiring harness. This puts tension on the connectors causing them to potentially unplug with usage and time.
This topic gets discussed so often, no sense in repeating the basics: https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...0#179228632055990340
Imagine that, it was the same exact engine........
