I’ve been told that you have to use sleuth smoke fluid or LGB smoke for Williams steamers. Is this true or is there another kind.
[C):-)]
In my opinion, seuthe smokefluid is no different than other brands. The seuthe unit works with a small tube in a heater through which the evaporated smoke oil is pushed out. You need a clean very fluid oil to evaporate, but any smokefluid should work.
LGB and seuthe and a very thin viscosity fluid and work fine in the seute unit. All others are too thick and will cause it to spit and just not work at all correct. Use ONLY LGB as it is for the seuthe that lgb uses and it is way cheaper than seuthe.
I have my oldest williams big boy 1993 and it is still smoking great but I do not let it run dry and use only lgb. These smoke units work on a different principle than the fan units or a wick system. Use the right stuff and they last indefinately . If you do not have good smoke output then it has been run dry too long and is burning out.
The cheapest place to get new ones if trainworld at 9.99 each vs walthers for 19.99.
You need the 6 volt one.
They leave zero smell and disapate by the end of the 1st or 2nd car behind the engine.
Fill them only half full. I have 6 williams or weaver engines with them in and they work great, but only with the right fluid. Wrong fluid and you are asking for trouble.
Dave
Gents,
Dave is absolutely correct. All mineral oil is not the same. I ruined the smoke unit in my MTH Santa Fe Northern (first run with Suethe smoke unit and QSI PS1) with one of the heavier viscosity smoke fluids (Supersmoke). There was an excellent editorial in the Feb 2004 OGR (pp 6-8) about appropriate smoke fluids.
Regards,
Roy
Seuthe/LGB smoke fluid is not mineral oil. It’s a much lighter petroleum distillate. If you look at the container you’ll note that it is the only smoke fluid that is labeled as both “combustible” and “harmful or fatal if swallowed.” As Dave Roxin has correctly pointed out, it is the only fluid that should be used in Seuthe-type smoke units as the mineral-oil based fluids are much too viscous and will gum it up in time. By the same token, this fluid should not be used in fan-type smoke units such as are found in modern Lionel and MTH locomotives as they operate at a much higher temperature and you will wind up with, at best, a burned wicking and, at worst, the possibility of ignition and a fire.
Ciao, Dave
Northern 1/Dave:
What is the best transformer for operating Williams Steamers? I have the 671 and recently purchased the 726 Berk (not even out of the box yet) and would like to know which is best for williams. I have a new ZW, it works OK but has some problems with the E-unit, the new CW80 is horrible with the 671 and my MTH750 works fairly well. Thanks, Ray F. BTW - I only use Seuthe fluid in my 671 and it works great, maybe to great, you really have to watch for when it runs dry.
Ray, I just received my Williams 2056. I also have a 671. It seems my 2056 will not produce smoke unless the throttle is at about 12 volts or more. At this setting the loco is running too fast for my small layout. The 671 will smoke at a much lower setting. I am wondering if Williams smoke units now operate at a voltage higher than 6 volts. Has anyone else experienced this with the new Willliams steamers? BTW the 2056 is a beauty. I was surprised to see it comes with nickel driver rims and a lot of other nice detailing not found on the originals.
Pete[:)]
Roscoe Conner , which Williams model are you running ? John
Willams also makes their own smoke, produced for the Deuthe Smoke unit. Comes in a 6 oz (approx) container. I sell them on my web site.
As all ready paointed out NEVER use anything else other then LGB, Seuthe, or WILLIAMS smoke fluid. You may think the product you currently have will work, but you are taking a chance of ruining the unit.