Large Scale Central

Smoke unit problems and possible kitbash

General Discussion
#1

I am very dissatisfied with the smoke unit in my LGB Mikado. Otherwise I think the engine is great. The Mikado has the sound unit and decoder on board. A DPDT switch was placed between the track pickups and the circuit board input for batteryRC or Track power use.
Most of the time, the smoke unit doesn’t work at all. The last time it did work, the smoke was sparce. LGB [to its credit], sent a replacement smoke unit. The new one doesn’t work any better.

I am considering installing another [brand/kitbash] smoke unit, hooking it up directly to the track power input point to the circuit board [or in my case, the DPDT switch output] in a parallel connection, where it runs independant of the circuit board.

  1. Does anyone have a suggestion on troubleshooting the exhisting LGB smoke unit?
  2. What other smoke units would be feasible to install in lieu of th LGB unit, ie., Aristo Pacific? Aristo u-45? USA F3? Other[could be from other scales like N, HO, O, ON30, etc.], or other “G-scale” products?
  3. The smoke unit would need to operate in the 3-24v. range and need to be fairly compact.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! I have a short deadline since I have an Open House in four weeks, with a club meeting, and out-of-town guests coming even sooner.
Thanks,
JimC.

#2

Jim ,
Alas , I get the same problem . It was cured to some extent by using different liquid down the chimney , but even then was not quite what you’d want . So , I confess I gave up trying the smoke altogether .
I would be interested to see if there is a cure .
Mike

#3

Mike,
Thanks for the sympathy and comiseration. At least I now know it’s not just me.

Maybe one of the Guru’s like Dave G, Tony, or others can help us in our distress.

JimC.

#4

The smoke unit on those is driven from a 5v regulator on the board.
Follow the wires back, prop it up (or, reach underneath and unplug one wire to the motor), apply power and see what it says on the meter.
TOC

#5

LGB smoke units rated for 5 volts have up to 6 volts on them in some engines. Even the lights get 6 volts on their older engines.

Do check the voltage with the smoke unit plugged in as not having a load on the circuit could give you a higher reading.