Smoke

[mudhen]

I would like to add smoke units to my K-27's. I run on battery power and will run the smoke unit on battery as well.
Does anyone have any suggestions on which smoke units to use and where to purchase them and cost ?
Has any one done this yet, and with any success with smoke looking realistic.
I have seen smoke on some steam engines in smaller gauges, but not in G or F scales and not very convincing.
Thanks in advance for all replies to fallow.

[Kevin Strong]

To get anything that resembles a prototypic plume of smoke, you'll want a fan-driven smoke unit. USA Trains makes one that seems to be popular with after-market smoke folks. Aristo also has a fan-driven smoke unit, but the USA board is preferred because you can control the heating element separate from the fan, meaning you can pulse the smoke in conjunction with the chuffs if you so desire. (You'll need a control board that has this capability.) I think Massoth or Zimo also makes a well-regarded smoke unit.

Note that some folks say the cooling fan in the K-27 pulls the smoke down into the boiler instead of letting it billow out the stack. You may have better results if you turn the cooling fan off. I pulled mine out when I first converted to battery power because the whine of the fan was clearly audible when getting full battery voltage and the motor wasn't turning. I've never had any issues with heat on the motor.

Later,

K