The question of making modle diesel locomotives produce black smoke has been floating around for some time. I think I may have found a solution. Cintronella oil makes black smoke when burned in tiki torches. However, cintronella is very flamable and there is the danger of it simply igniting in a smoke unit*. O-Guage Railroading* cautioned against using paraphin-based lamp oils for this very reason.
My advice for anybody looking for black diesel exhaust is to bench-test this one in a safe environment (ie smoke unit hooked up to a power supply with a fire extinguisher handy). Who knows, even if the smoke isn’t black, cintronella does smell nice and keeps bugs away. Hope this helps.
Do you think it could work on G scale battery-operated locomotives? It would be cool to have my cap-stacked “coal burner” produce some black smoke even though I like the regular, “white” smoke just fine.
It could work on a battery-powered locomotive similar to those made by New Bright or Echo Toys. However, as I said earlier it should be tested on the bench to make sure the stuff won’t ignite instead of vaporize.
I’ve long wanted black smoke coming out of my steam locos, but haven’t been brave enough to test anything to see if I can get black smoke.
I’ve been wondering about adding black food coloring to smoke fluid. Not sure if this would work or not, and it would likely gum things up pretty quickly. But it might be worth a test.
But I’m not sure if pigments or any form of tint would even work in smoke generators. My LGB smoke fluid is a clear blue, but burns white.
I’m sure if it were possible someone would have developed a product by now. But perhaps no manufacturer wants to offer the stuff since it would likely stain things and could fill a room with black smoke…probably not the best idea. They could put all the warning labels in the world not to use it indoors but you know someone would.
I’ve been using cintranella oil in the smoke units of all my locomotives OUTSIDE for years now and they have never started on fire . I have to admit I never thought about that possability . Anyhow I will continue to use it as it is far cheaper than the stuff they sell at the hobby stores and it seems to smoke the same . By the way the smoke color I am sorry to say is WHITE. I use it in MTH , USA and Aristocraft units . If it starts on fire I have a garden hose nearby to put it out . Wouldn’t want to use it indoors as you got me thinking about it now . I think it helps with the flying insects too .
The reason I suggested citronella is because it does make black smoke when burned in a lamp. However, smoke generators don’t burn it, the vaporize it. In addition the burning wick may very well be giving the cintronella smoke its color. As for citronella guming up the smoke generator, it appears to be fairly thin. That said, I wouldn’t try on a seuth smoke unit right away as they are the most suseptable to being gummed up.
What you all are failing to realize is that there are two distinctly different processes to produce white and black smoke using oil. White smoke is the result of oil vaporizing when it comes in contact with a hot surface. Black smoke is the result of oil being combusted. A smoke generator will always produce white smoke as it only vaporizes the oil.
Yes, that’s what I’ve thought all along. A smoke unit will always vaporize oil, thus produce white smoke. Perhaps if the heating coil inside the smoke unit was black or tainted, maybe it would produce black smoke. But I’m not sure. I sometimes use drops of water to clean the smoke unit resevoirs, though it has never damaged the unit, do you think this is a good idea?
If you never waste your time and money you will never know! I never look at it as a waste, but when it comes back up later down the road in 1-2 yrs you can say, Yes it does or No don’t do it! Under the heading of experance.
I don’t see the need to because it makes sense. The smoke unit will vaporize the oil or cintronella, not burn it. A previous poster explained how he used cintronella with his trains and the smoke kept coming out white, so…
I’ll wait till one of my units is beyond repair and then experiment with the smoke unit . I’m wondering if motor oil would produce black smoke and how long the smoke unit would work. Just a thought.
No matter what oil you use, it will come out white. The black colored smoke from a diesel engine is a result of soot and unburned fuel following the combustion process. The black smoke from a steam locomotive is the result of either poor combustion of coal or low quality coal.