I own & operate several steam & diesel engines with operating smoke units. A few months back I purchased my first Atlas locomotive, an FM Erie-built , Milwaukee Road. Operating it for the first time I had several electrical problems-pushing bell button on Z-4000 caused whistle to blow, Whistle button would ring bell, try to throttle unit down, sound unit continued to rumble on forever, even with power turned off & power plug pulled from wall! (battery is installed). Also, smoke unit doesnt work-(yes, it has smoke fluid in it). All my other engines operate correctly. I sent unit back to Atlas for repair. A few weeks later I got engine back, electrical problems were corrected & paperwork indicates that smoke unit is ok, But I still have no smoke at all. Any Ideas? I really dont feel like boxing unit up & sending again to Atlas.
Is this a TMCC engine? I have had a couple delivered were the smoke unit was turned off. Need to use Aux 9 to turn it back on if TMCC equipped.
Send an e-mail to Atlas or call them.
Good luck.
Roy
Yeah my atlas engines were also delivered with the smoke units off.
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Originally posted by wrmcclellan
Is this a TMCC engine? I have had a couple delivered were the smoke unit was turned off. Need to use Aux 9 to turn it back on if TMCC equipped.
Send an e-mail to Atlas or call them.
Good luck.
Roy
Thanks for the tip-Yes , it is equipped with TMCC, but I only operate in conventional mode with the Z-4000, dont have command control set yet. Is there a way to “turn on” the smoke with conventional transformer -smoke setting on loco is set to “on”
What is your typical track voltage when you operate your loco? Most “smokers” need at least 12 volts…better @ 14 - 18 volts.
I have been running at many different voltages, as high as possible, for as long as possible. On my last test I ran it connected to a 6 car lighted K-line passenger set, 16 volts at 4.7 amps for better than 15 minutes, not a whiff of smoke. I really dont want to run much faster, even with 96 inch curves, as it’s a long drop to the floor!
Your smoke unit is turned off, do you have a friend or a dealer that has a command layout, if so, I would put the program switch on and do a program, eng #1 push reset button at the bottom of the command control and then push aux1 and push 9.
Then hold button 9 down for 10 seconds to make sure it is going to smoke.
Also before you try to get it to smoke blow down the exhaust stack to get rid of a bubble if it has one.
Also my atlas engines came from the factory with the smoke switch underneath the loco in the off position. Be sure you have put in smoke fluid, 15 drops if you haven;t.
Let us know after you check all these. Dave Roxin.
I pulled the shell off the loco to examine smoke unit, powered it up, & noticed nothing- no fan, sound, or smoke. Switch is to smoke position, & unit has fluid. I will take your advice and have my local dealer try to reset smoke. Thanks!