Smoke unit wick replacement question?

I use the whole wick when I rework a smoke unit - either Lionel or MTH. Just pack it in so that it does not block the fan "blow hole". I soak the wick with smoke fluid and use a small flat screw drive to work it down in the corners. You will be amazed at the increase in smoke output from just this small action. The above video that GRJ posted also shows some other fairly easy upgrades.

That is all we use for replacement wicking.  Shred it as shown and you will be very happy with the smoke.  I call the shreding process Reaganizing.  He is the one who got us hooked on doing this.

Lionel half price sale coming up in November, time to stock up on wick!

Thank you GUYZ, you're the best.

That did the trick, smokes great now thanks again.

That's what we like to hear.

Laz57,

Glad to hear that things are smokin'!   

Just a quick related question - on this MTH unit, is the on/off switch for the smoke unit on the tender or the engine? I just got schooled by GRJ on another post. I didn't know that the switch was located on the tender and almost installed an on/off switch on the loco.   That would have been interesting - a three-way on/off switch for smoke!

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi DENNIS,

  Yes the smoke switch is in the tender opposite of the volumn control switch. 

From MTH site.

Priming the Smoke Unit When preparing to run this engine, add 15- 20 drops of smoke fluid through the smokestack. We recommend M.T.H. ProtoSmoke, Seuthe, LGB, or LVTS fluids. Do not overfill the unit or the fluid may leak out and coat the interior engine components. If you choose not to add the fluid (or have already added the fluid but choose to run smoke-free), turn off the smoke unit switch located on top of the tender (see Fig. 8). Failure either to add fluid to the unit or to turn it off may damage the smoke unit heating element and/or wicking material. Figure 8: Smoke Unit Switch Location

I also recommend quite a bit more smoke fluid in a dry smoke unit.  I typically prime a new unit with 2/3 of a MegaSteam dropper, that ends up being 40-45 drops. 

Hi, I saw on another post on this forum that some did not recommend the use of fiberglass as a smoke unit wick, and some recommended to use Tiki torch wick.

I just did a search on Amazon, and it looks like all the tiki torch wicks are made of fiberglass.  Is there another type of tiki torch wick to use???

Thanks,.

There's different fibers of fiberglass.  The fine stuff for insulation chars a bit quicker than wick material.  It actually does work OK, but you might be changing it sooner.

I found braided lantern wick on eBay a long time ago, and I'm still using it.  I posted some years ago about the comparison between my wick and the MTH braided wick, they were functionally identical.  Mine was around 20 cents for what MTH got $2 for.

What John said. Don't try pink insulation as some suggest. It burns onto the wick in short order. Don't ask me how I know.

In my post war 2026 I cut it in half, fluffed it up, and put it in the smoke unit.  The full wick would not have fit.  That's the old school smoke unit with the nichrome wire elementand mechanical piston under the bowl to puff out the smoke.

John

Inexpensive smoke wick

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Inexpensive smoke wick

I just ordered some.  The purchase offered the option of paying $1.99 for an extended warranty!  Are they nuts?

I wonder if they'd replace the wick if it gets cooked in your smoke unit.

Didn’t Lionel change the design of their wicking and couple of years ago.  The ones I got from them were squares not long ropes.

Lionel supplies squares in their smoke units, but they don't sell them, their wick is still long strands.

Here is what they sold me: Lionel Part # 691SMKPKG5

They had it available at one time but must have discontinued it.

@Mallard4468 posted:

I just ordered some.  The purchase offered the option of paying $1.99 for an extended warranty!  Are they nuts?

That reminds me about when I bought an extension cord off of Amazon.  They offered me a service to have it installed and an optional extended warranty.
Alan

@ajzend posted:

That reminds me about when I bought an extension cord off of Amazon.  They offered me a service to have it installed and an optional extended warranty.
Alan

I'll bet the installation was pretty steep!

@WaynePa posted:

Here is what they sold me: Lionel Part # 691SMKPKG5

It's been years since you could get those pads, now they sell some odd mesh thing.

They show the other stuff as unavailable, same as it's been for a long time.

This is the only other thing available currently.

Jeff at The Train Tender has:

That's cut for mechanical smoke units.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

That's cut for mechanical smoke units.

OK.  Didn't know that.

Thanks,

John

The round shape with the Packman mouth gives it away.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Lionel half price sale coming up in November, time to stock up on wick!

John, is there more than 1 part number for the wicking material?

Joe Gozzo

I posted all the current wick parts I could find, I'm currently using "alternative" sources for my smoke wick.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

It's been years since you could get those pads, now they sell some odd mesh thing.

Thats OEM TMCC equipment wicking.

Sometime at/during the introduction of Legacy, they switched to the precut pads.

After that, came the 8"long wicking made famous by Mike R's video.

I have an LionChief Plus L&N GP7, and the smoke unit does not work .  The fan operates but the heat element does not appear to heat. When i opened it up, the element was covered with what looks like burnt wick, and it appears that part of the heating coil come off with the wick. When i touch the unit during running it does not seem to get warm/hot.  My questions are,   if i touch the element directly, Should it be hot or warm, if it does not heat would it be better to try to replace the element or the whole unit, and if so where do i get a new smoke unit?  Keep in mind i am in Japan and dont' have access to a train shop here.

Thanks. 

Oh, forgot to mention, I did replace the wick with some tiki torch material.

Hi, any takers on my smoke unit questions ?  Thanks.

@bluedragon posted:

I have an LionChief Plus L&N GP7, and the smoke unit does not work .  The fan operates but the heat element does not appear to heat. When i opened it up, the element was covered with what looks like burnt wick, and it appears that part of the heating coil come off with the wick. When i touch the unit during running it does not seem to get warm/hot.  My questions are,   if i touch the element directly, Should it be hot or warm, if it does not heat would it be better to try to replace the element or the whole unit, and if so where do i get a new smoke unit?  Keep in mind i am in Japan and dont' have access to a train shop here.

Thanks.

Yes it should get hot.  I don't recommend touching a working smoke heating element (been there done that).

According to Lionel's parts site that unit should have a 16 Ohm element.  Use a meter and see if it reads 16 ohms (within 10%).  If it doesn't then you may need to replace the element - part number listed below.

The whole unit if your not comfortable working on it is available:

Jim

Jim,  thanks.