# Bringing the Smoke Units back to life!



## llskis (Apr 11, 2013)

Thanks to Doug at Portlines on his "Smoking Units" Repair Clinic Tips; I have had some
luck. All the A/F engines I have tried work a lot better now. All where marginal or did
not work at all. Tip indicates to give the "Stack" 2/3 shots of Radio Shack "Tuner Cleaner" followed by 6-8 shots of Smoking Fluid and leave overnight. This tip in some cases will free
a wick that is hardened. So far I have tried it on a 303 and 326 with good results. I got a
nice 316 that got the treatment last night. Will try in a bit. Has anybody else on this
forum tried this?? Comments?? Thanks Larry

P.S. Better stock up on R/S Turner Cleaner as the News has indicated that Radio Shack
is on "Shaky Ground" now.FYI


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## llskis (Apr 11, 2013)

Update: If anybody really cares:

Tried 316 (That never did smoke) and guess what? It smokes now as good as any of
my other ones! This procedure is saving a lot of time and energy then rebuilding the
smoke box. Thanks; Larry


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## Nuttin But Flyer (Dec 19, 2011)

I read that tip on Doug's website, have not yet had the need to try it. But glad to hear it seems to work.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

When I open fan driven smoke units for rebuild, I don't see any way that any sort of chemical treatment is going to reverse the burnt wick, I just replace them.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Nice to know!!:appl:


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## llskis (Apr 11, 2013)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> When I open fan driven smoke units for rebuild, I don't see any way that any sort of chemical treatment is going to reverse the burnt wick, I just replace them.


gunrunnerjohn: Thanks for the input. I assume your working on Lionel O gauge and not
A/F S. I'm sure the wicks are a little different in the A/F then Lionel. BTW I working on the
older A/F not the newer Lionel A/F which are probably the same as your O gauge. Anyway
all I can say it is working for me. Thanks again; Larry


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I'm not familiar with the older AF S-gauge smoke units. I can say that the current generation Lionel S-gauge locomotives use the same wick material as O-gauge, and once it's burned, I can't imagine any chemical bringing it back to life. 

However, as long as the process works for you, keep using it!


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## Nuttin But Flyer (Dec 19, 2011)

GRJ - What he is referring to is the tip on Doug's AF Website which states that over a long period of time, the wicks have a tendancy to harden and dry. By adding a few shots of contact cleaner, then smoke fliud, it tends to renew the sponge-like characteristics to give it renewed life. The wicks that are hardened are not necessarily burned, just old. If the method fails, then replacement is recommended.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

That makes sense, I've never seen one get that old, they usually get charred long before they get old aged.


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## jackmack (Dec 12, 2012)

I picked up the same wick softening tip from Tom Barker's repair guide. This has made non-working smokers come back to life and has improved working smokers as well.
I just "shot up" my newly acquired 313 last night and can't wait to test it this evening.
I have also observed that the RS or D-5 cleaners work as smoke fluid by themselves, but of course that would be a far more expensive fuel in the long run. Ha!


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