BUT I also own a automotive repair shop Napa Auto Parts sales smoke fluild for what is know as a smoke machine evap tester … ( it heats up the minieral oil and makes smoke using a motor fan like our postwar and newer fan driven train units)
Anyways has any one else tried this it works GREAT! no differance in the way they both look the same… (lionel smoke fluild and this) nor the way it smells…
it cost @ 15.00 for 2 oz so it s not becuase of the price I bring this up…
I’ve heard of and seen videos of people using mineral oil as a smoke fluid. If it works for you and causes no problems, great. Personally though I’m a bit leery of using anything as a smoke fluid in toy trains not specifically made for the purpose.
Yeah, as you say the Lionel formula’s a secret so I have no idea what’s in it. I CAN say that JT’s Mega-Steam has water in it. How do I know? It freezes! Doesn’t bother me, I’m a happy user of JT’s. I like coffee flavor the best, it really smells like coffee!
And as far as I know mineral oil’s non-toxic, not that you’d want to drink a gallon of it or use it as part of a salad dressing.
There are smoke machines and smoke testers that all generate smoke. I believe that some work on a glycerin based liquid while others work on a light mineral oil similar to baby oil. For the small amount of smoke fluid I use the commercail mega steam seems OK.
On another forum someone posted a picture of his house that burned to the ground after he tried something else as smoke fluid, the engine caught on fire, the fire spread to the layout and the house. His insurance company denied the claim.
Your reply reminded me a a story of a litle boy did , he made a small steam engine to a wooden locomotive he had carved. The engine exploded, damaging his parents’ kitchen !!!
Does anyone remember the smell of the original Marx smoke fluid? Man, I loved it. The fluid had to be some type on mineral oil I know but they added something to it to make the most pleasant aroma. Many years back I purchased an original green bottle of Marx smoke fluid that had some in it … but of course it did not have that aroma. 8-( Sorry to digress… a little.
When temps are in the 20’s? Not trying to get into a whizzin’ contest here but with the exception of mineral oil, which I’ve never had any experience with, I’ve never seen any of the others freeze, and produce ice crystals as well. J-T’s comes in a clear plastic bottle and I can see the ice when it’s frozen.
The fluid had to be some type on mineral oil I know but they added something to it to make the most pleasant aroma. Many years back I purchased an original green bottle of Marx smoke fluid that had some in it … but of course it did not have that aroma. 8-( Sorry to digress… a little.