'Puffing' smoke

Hello. What you describe is really old school. Thats all we had back in the fifties.  Today puffing smoke is done via fan driven smoke units triggered by electronics.

Rod Miller

Obviously, you haven't heard of the Super-Chuffer.

hlfritz posted:

I like the idea of smoke, especially puffing smoke.  Is Lionel the only manufacturer that does puffing smoke? 

No. MTH, Sunset/3rd Rail both have "puffing smoke".

I see inside they actually connect to the cylinders or driving rods to 'puff' the smoke out of the stack.

Don't think so. The "puffing" is all electronically synchronized with the 4-chuffs per revolution. 

I am not sure if this makes a difference compared to other manufacturers.

The "other manufacturers" all have "puffing smoke" but they may control it with different electronics.

Do other manufacturers do smoke this way? 

Yes.

Does the puffing smoke make a difference compared to smoke streaming out of the stack?

It sure are as heck does, to me anyway.

Yes, I am quite new to this stuff and have not owned a bunch of different stuff.  Looking for experience of those that have.  Thank you!

Did someone say superchuffer?

Super-Chuffer?  I remember those.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Super-Chuffer?  I remember those.

Hello There!!Maybe an A-HA !!! moment.Will the Super Chuffer make my K-Line Poor Man's Empire State Express smoke like a champ????---Optimistically awaiting an answer.

Huh.  I am confused then.  I have a Lionel Camelback 6-28746, not that old and certainly not from the 50's.  I have attached a pic of it (yes, I have the tender too but a pic of it is not relevant to the discussion) as well as pictures of the inside where a rod moves in conjunction with the side cylinders (not driven by them, but definitely mechanical) and opens and closes a cylinder that pushes up into the smoke unit.  The orange line is drawn along the visible portion of the metal rod and the round corner box is drawn around the moving cylinder.  The pics attached show it fully opened and fully closed.  Maybe I described this function incorrectly in my initial post?

I am intrigued by electronic control though.  How does that work to force more smoke out in conjunction with the cylinders opening/closing?

Huh, OK so does Lionel still do it in new stuff?  If not, when did they stop putting it into their locos?  Is there an advantage of one over the other?

Thanks.

what  about my k line empire state express???Can it be Super Chuffed?, or do I need a fan driven unit put in it???

kennyb posted:

what  about my k line empire state express???Can it be Super Chuffed?, or do I need a fan driven unit put in it???

If fan driven it can be super chuffed.  If mechanical smoke, no.  G

The Super-Chuffer requires a fan driven smoke unit as George states.  I have several locomotives waiting in the wings for their fan driven smoke unit and Super-Chuffer installation.

thank you guys.  can the mechanical smoke unit locos be retrofitted with fan driven units?  or is it case by case?  or maybe not at all?  the Camelback I have is TMCC equipped so I am surprised it has the older mechanical unit (although it is low end for scale and TMCC).

actually (I know - off this topic), since i do not have a TMCC controller is there any way to really confirm it has TMCC?

Actually the new LionChief Plus camel backs have fan-driven, puffing units.

Jon  

hlfritz posted:

thank you guys.  can the mechanical smoke unit locos be retrofitted with fan driven units?  or is it case by case?  or maybe not at all?  the Camelback I have is TMCC equipped so I am surprised it has the older mechanical unit (although it is low end for scale and TMCC).

actually (I know - off this topic), since i do not have a TMCC controller is there any way to really confirm it has TMCC?

The only way to confirm if it has TMCC is to use it on a layout you know has a TMCC system or have a repair tech look at it. On the box it will usually say TMCC equipped(has TMCC installed) or TMCC ready(can have TMCC installed later as it has a plug-in or two for TMCC).

Lee Fritz

Thx Lee.