# Smoke unit resistor?



## alaft61ri (Oct 11, 2019)

Has anyone rebuilt thets smoker on the steam engines one has to potline will do for 15. Or 20 just wondering is it hard or just send it out thanks al.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Could you be a bit clearer? What are you asking? What locomotives are you talking about? What's the 15, 20 all about?


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Rebuilding the smoke unit is not real hard. It is tedious because you are dealing with
very thin wire. I suggest you not rewind the wick yourself. Buy the prewound wick.
They are in the 4.00 to 5.00 range. I wound 2 wicks myself. One went up in a flash
of light and smoke in about 2 to 3 seconds. Not good. The other is still working but
not great smoke. I will not wind them myself again. I would say the more units you
rebuild the better they will work. Practice makes perfect. Watch the videos on rebuild
smoke units on the Portlines site. They have How To videos.


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## Sagas (Dec 13, 2013)

Go to  where there is an article by David Dewey on how to check and repair the different types and follow the one that applies to your particular engine. Pre-wound kits are available from Port Lines and The Train Tender. If you are inferring that it is beyond your skill and thinking of sending the unit out for repair, check with flyernut who may be able to help in that case.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

I want to know what a potline is.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

As stated, it is straightforward but tedious to rebuild the Gilbert smoke units. The good news is if you damage a wick or the nichrome wire you can just redo it. Rather than PortLines for this I would go to Ed Goldin, goldinhands.com. Take a look at his website.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

I watch videos on anything I repair anymore. Trains, autos, anything. I put a DCC decoder in a HO DC locomotive
after watching a few videos. It was like I had done it before.


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## Jwh2000 (Dec 4, 2017)

Why not use a Lionel resister, I have used them and had no failures.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

I use the 27 ohm Lionel resistor. Much easer to work with than the thin wire.

Here s a thread we did about the resistor. Ihttps://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=182586&highlight=lionel+ohm+resistorn the thread is a video I did.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Here is a thread we did on the resistor. Watch my video.

https://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=182586&highlight=lionel+ohm+resistor


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