In the quest to make the Hudson the best it can be …I had a Zimo unit with sound installed .
Sound is awsome but the TSA smoke unit is WIMMPY.
Has any one mounted a Zimo smoke unit in the hudson.
I am looking for tips and pics are better than words.
Thanks
Sean
I have not mounted one, but which “Zimo” unit do you mean?
I have never seen a “Zimo” smoke generator… was not aware they made one.
Can you post a link or a picture?
I basically have almost one of every one ever made, except the Massoth unit, and the Harbor Models ones…
Greg
Offered by Train-line (train -li )
http://www.train-li-usa.com/store/bprolineb-pulsed-smoke-generator-p-1258.html
Ahh… that is not a Zimo product.
It is a “Train-Line” product, and it is a gutted Aristo unit with wiring direct to the heater and fan only, no regulation, and the extra brass “wings” to help mounting. 4 wires, 2 to the fan motor, 2 to the heating element.
I’ve used Aristo units extensively, both with the stock electronics (wimpy) and directly driven with lots of juice (nice)
The amount of smoke really depends on how hard you drive the unit.
You DO know that the pulsing and heat control comes totally from the DCC decoder right?
You cannot use it without a decoder, and one made to drive this kind of “raw” smoke unit, which is QSI, Zimo, Massoth, ESU…
Regards, Greg
Dan has already installed that!
We wanted to see how well the TSA unit worked with the decoder.
We are going to impliment this unit next, hence the question if someone has installed it yet.
Dan has shown me what it is cappable, now I want!
so Greg have you mounted one in the Hudson?
Not my hudson, but several other locos.
Again, depending on how you “tune” the DCC parameters, it can make a lot of smoke.
I actually prefer the USAT and MTH units since they are made of metal and are sturdier, but the MTH is hard to get and the USAT has too small a capacity of fluid.
Just watch the heat and make sure you have lots of “fan” since the fan helps keep the unit cool.
Aristo units have a tendency to “weep” a bit, this is because there is no gasket between the lid and the body. There’s also some internal leakage issues some times, again, run and inspect.
If you want even more smoke, do what the MTH guys like Raymond Manley do, and put a second heating element in the unit, in parallel… will draw more current, but get more smoke.
The rest of the normal care and feeding of Aristo smoke units apply, as per my web site.
Regards, Greg
p.s. the TSA unit is a sturdier unit, I have never bypassed the electronics for “direct drive” since the TSA units have electronics for “chuffing” and they are scarce. I know the body and fan are better, not sure the heating element is as large.
I’ll buy your old TSA unit if you don’t want it… for my collection (I have about 30 smoke units)