Trouble with a smoke unit

Lionel has used a version of that smoke unit since 1967 or so. It used to be made out of metal in the post war era, the change to plastic seems to have made it rather delicate, and yes they still use it with a slightly different casing on Lionchief engines. Apart from the change from metal to plastic, the the only major changes I have found are the mounts for lights chuff switches, or sound of steam switches.

Mine kinda works and I used nothing but Lionel directions, which there are two versions for the same set, one printed on the bottle that came with the set, and one at part on the manual with the set for the engine ect. , which was down right odd.

Bicboy95 posted:

Running fine for a while with the new motor, smoke unit, chassis, e-unit and the smoke unit switch then again just shuts off.... it did run longer without a smoke unit but it still eventually just shut off. I’m beginning to loose hope here. And I’m using lionel smoke fluid in the smoke unit as well just for the record😂😂

So you did run the engine with out a smoke unit?...and it still shut down?........if that’s the case, your having another issue ...will it shut down with either transformer?...when you say it shuts down, what do you have to do to get it going again?....are both transformers tripping when you try them?....

harmonyards posted:

Bicboy95 posted:

Running fine for a while with the new motor, smoke unit, chassis, e-unit and the smoke unit switch then again just shuts off.... it did run longer without a smoke unit but it still eventually just shut off. I’m beginning to loose hope here. And I’m using lionel smoke fluid in the smoke unit as well just for the record😂😂

So you did run the engine with out a smoke unit?...and it still shut down?........if that’s the case, your having another issue ...will it shut down with either transformer?...when you say it shuts down, what do you have to do to get it going again?....are both transformers tripping when you try them?....

So to save time I’ll give you the short version of what I discovered. In a nutshell it’s working fine now. I think the new motor and E-unit just needed to do a few laps to get started. It’s working like new. So either the E-unit was giving too much power or taking too much or the old motor was acting up. It’s having no major issues anymore. Still a little smoke from the bottom but it’s not doing anything else. No excessive smoke anymore, no shutting down while turned on, no big issues. Now I say this but last time I changed the smoke unit I had the same relief then the next day it went goofy, so let’s cross our fingers and hope it really was the motor or e-unit.

Good, I’m glad you figured it out!......I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you too....let us know an update in the future how it’s going!............Pat

harmonyards posted:

Good, I’m glad you figured it out!......I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you too....let us know an update in the future how it’s going!............Pat

Pat thank you very much for all the help throughout my trying time😂. You genuinely were very helpful and I can’t thank you enough. Since being rebuilt it’s been running beautifully and the new on off switch for the smoke unit has been a great improvement. I’m still trying to determine where it all went wrong and I’m convinced my Mabuchi motor went bad. I hooked it up to a 12v power source to run it and it goes then stops and binds, then goes and stops and back and forth like that until it just doesn’t go anymore. It’s unfortunate that happened but it is pretty old so I can’t be too upset, and at least it’s good now! 

harmonyards posted:

Good, I’m glad you figured it out!......I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you too....let us know an update in the future how it’s going!............Pat

I got it this time my friend! It’s working beautifully since we last spoke no more issues. No matter how high the transformer is turned up it stays at a nice even chuff with a nice thick but consistent puff everytime. No more burning smell, and I put an old smoke unit in that I believed to be burnt and it worked. Tried my “concoction” and no issues same amount of smoke and no burning with that either. I’m convinced it was the E-unit that went bad and wasn’t properly distributing volts somewhere along the line. Both motors I have work when used with the new E-unit so that’s why I’ve come to this conclusion. It would also explain why when put in reverse the issues stopped. Pat I can’t thank you enough for your help and thank you to everyone for all the ideas and constructive criticism. For the record I am still using mega steam I just wanted to see if my fluid was really an issue😉

I too have a Lionel NY Central starter set, late 90s vintage, with the 8632 locomotive. After sitting some years I fired it up and the smoke unit worked fine, though faintly, and was even better and robust when I added 4-5 drops from a new bottle of Lionel’s premium unscented smoke fluid.  Like the thread originator’s (Bicboy95) my unit does not have an on off switch for the smoke unit. After running a few loops the smoke suddenly stopped. Wondering if there’s a quick fix, for example cleaning and removing any carbon buildup inside. There was no indication of running hot or burn smell. Mulling whether I should have a look myself before taking it in to a shop for repair and/or replacement of the smoke unit.

@Bicboy95 posted:

So in recent months I purchased a 4-4-2 New York central steam loco set no.8632 to be specific. I don’t know the 6- off hand but it’s from 95 and still used the old school lionel RTR track before fastrack was a thing. I have now changed out 2 smoke units. The first was the original from factory. Second was an exact replacement and the third is the same and is still in the loco as I write this. Problem is it begins to produce too much smoke and then smokes out the bottom of the loco when stopping. I read that the little air pump piston could be faulty but the last time this happened it burnt out and caused electrical issues. It’s being used on the original track with the set transformer. I have checked the unit and it’s not melted yet but I don’t know how to open these up to check the wicking to see if it’s burnt and I’m not sure what else could be the issue... any help I’d appreciate it!

Please see my recent reply to this thread. Thanks