Non Smoking Stainz 2020

[LGB-Sid]

My Stainz 2020 which I picked up second hand has never smoked, If you flipped the little brass switch across on the bottom so it touches the end of the funnel, everything is dead no movement, lights or anything. The switch only touches the center pin of the funnel so somewhere there must be a dead short killing everything.

So thought I would open it up to look before I ordered a chip for it and check why the smoke unit doesn't work.

I assume the smoker was added later in it's life and the wiring below or the only wire it works from was installed correctly ? If it sounds like the Smoker is dead might just remove the wire and chip this one it without sound and smoke.

 

[ntpntpntp]

Put a meter across the smoke unit? I would expect a few ohms resistance, not a dead short.

 

[LGB-Sid]

Put a meter across the smoke unit? I would expect a few ohms resistance, not a dead short.

Nothing no resistance measured at all, meter works.

 

[stevedenver]

It has been my experience that some of these units separate from the shaft. The epoxy or whatever cracks and, there is no reservoir. I think heat and fluid and time do this. For me, that has happened with my tightening older units, sometimes the little end "protruberence" ie contact point for the swivel shoe, will retract a touch with tightening. I have messed up a couple of older stacks this way.

The install, the copper shaft contact should make contact with a clean shaft. The bottom contact is wired to a block contact, and then, the wire to the screw and swivel. These take at least 10- 12 volts to smoke

And too, smokers will burn out. The element gets brittle, or the outside shaft gets deformed, or, the tiny hole at the base of the element tube gets plugged, etc.

I have tried to repair with a new epoxy, and well, its not that easy.
Short and sweet, buy a new one. I run analog and therefore prefer the ancient 18v versions as opposed to the 24v...lower voltage threshold for smoke output.

Btw, dont run these units dry.

Simple check...alligator clip on the shaft, touch opposite polarity wire to protruberence, with a drop or five of fluid. That will tell you if theres a broken heat element.

 

[LGB-Sid]

Thanks when I got the Stainz it had been fitted with a new Smoker I was told, packet from it was in the box it came in, which is why I asked if it was just wired straight off the front of the motor block. Sounds like it's duff for what ever reason will chip it without the smoke unit not really worth buying another one . Can't get 10 to 12 volts to it dead short in it somewhere once you swivel the tab onto it, wire to the tab is clear of the tube the swivel bit only contacts the small brass pin in the bottom of the stack,

 

[stevedenver]

Hard to describe, but that bottom pin has a plastic insulator collar from the stack shaft. Im guessing this is the issue. If it sparks when you contact the shaft with one electrical lead and that bottom bit, well, bob is your aunt....no thats not how you say it...betty is your....never mind

Replace it if you want it to smoke. Thet are a pita to tinker and success can be elusive.

 

[Hutch]

Hard to describe, but that bottom pin has a plastic insulator collar from the stack shaft. Im guessing this is the issue. If it sparks when you contact the shaft with one electrical lead and that bottom bit, well, bob is your aunt....no thats not how you say it...betty is your....never mind

Replace it if you want it to smoke. Thet are a pita to tinker and success can be elusive.

this finally drove me to meter a couple of these stacks. Couldn't get any continuity on DVM, but got 16 to 18 ohms with an analogue meter. Just tourist information.

 

[Orville Fugitte]

Those LGB smoke stacks will drive you crazy! I had 2 Stainz, both have now eaten their gearing from excessive running, but I've had the same issues you describe about your Stainz Smoke Stack, and it's because when it was installed in the loco, something was shorting it across the power pickups to the metal rod that makes contact to the brass finger and to the bottom finger that's the switch. Bought a brand new one and still had the same issue, took it out and tried to wrap a wire around the metal road and then touch the bottom tip and my brand new unit was shorted, yet my multimeter, wouldn't tell me a thing, something strange about those units. So tried another unit and it worked, so installed that one.

Eventually I actually cut out and modified my Stainz with a fan driven smoke unit and had a machinist friend make me a metal smoke stack for it. Then it smoked a whole lot better than the standard LGB smoke unit ever could.

But it did take some doing to get that MTH fan driven smoke unit in there, in doing so I had to remove the original light and make a new L.E.D. headlight in the center of the front of the boiler. Worked for a few years, until the gearing got eaten up, been running the Stainz to death over most of my other loco's, so they were the first to really wear out on me. Also had to add some circuitry to make the smoke unit and L.E.D. headlamp work.