Help with battery powdered smokestack

BakerJohn

BakerJohn

Baker, Modeler, future husband
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United-States
Hi all.
I hve had my #10 SRRL Forney re-wired with battery power for some time now. Nearly 6 years, I think. But, the smokestack has never really worked since I've made the switch. Lately I've been thinking that I should try to wire it to a separate battery. Or maybe only use it when constant track power is available? I was warned it would drain the battery, which is why I have a seperate switch for it so it's only pulling power when I want to use it. I can add photos to this post later, but, for now here is my wiring schematic.
> Could it be the resistor? I'm sure that was recommended to me, but the thing does have it's own regulator. So, maybe its not needed?
Scheme-it-export--10-Forney-2025-04-10-11-41.png
 
What color are the wires on your smoker? - Need to work out what voltage you have.

I would guess it is possibly a 5V unit, in which case a 'buck' converter would be better than a resistor.

PhilP.
 
BakerJohn said:
orange and ... white? I'll have to verify that. But the orange is right for sure. The four going to the smokebox are white, orange, grey, and black.
Click to expand...
LGB smoke unit wiring colours are:

1. Black and white wires = 5 volts
2. Grey and black wires = 18 volts
3. Yellow and brown wires = 18 volt
4. 2 white wires = 24 volts.

You need to check close to the actual unit, as wires extending through the loco could have been added.

As you have Lithium batteries, you don't really need to worry about the drain of the smoke unit. At least, not to any great extent..

If you have an 18V unit, get rid of the resistor, and you will be fine.
If you have a 5V unit, then a buck converter is your friend.

PhilP.
 
BakerJohn said:
Hi all.
I hve had my #10 SRRL Forney re-wired with battery power for some time now. Nearly 6 years, I think. But, the smokestack has never really worked since I've made the switch. Lately I've been thinking that I should try to wire it to a separate battery. Or maybe only use it when constant track power is available? I was warned it would drain the battery, which is why I have a seperate switch for it so it's only pulling power when I want to use it. I can add photos to this post later, but, for now here is my wiring schematic.
> Could it be the resistor? I'm sure that was recommended to me, but the thing does have it's own regulator. So, maybe its not needed?
View attachment 340975
Click to expand...
Somewhat off topic, but I've been looking at the misters from eBay to provide "Smoke" on my battery operated locos. Water-Based Smoke for Steam Locomotives
 
It is a 5v, I was wrong. So I should remove the resistor and get a buck converter. I believe this loco came with a voltage regulator. So, maybe I don't need the converter? I should just never have put the resistor inline?
 
Water 'misters' :

Jury is out on mixing water and electronics..

I know they work, but many are DIY, and I am not sure everybody who is using them has considered the problem.

PhilP.
 
BakerJohn said:
It is a 5v, I was wrong. So I should remove the resistor and get a buck converter. I believe this loco came with a voltage regulator. So, maybe I don't need the converter? I should just never have put the resistor inline?
Click to expand...
But is the original electronics still in the loco? - From your diagram, no is the answer.

Also, a buck converter means you can adjust the voltage to the smoke unit a little, to 'tune' the output.

PhilP.
 
FatherMcD said:
Somewhat off topic, but I've been looking at the misters from eBay to provide "Smoke" on my battery operated locos. Water-Based Smoke for Steam Locomotives
Click to expand...
Yes, Phil's comment was my first thought. Though, I love the idea of this, especially for indoor shows. I'd only be comfortable with it if I could get the entire water system isolated from any electronics. Which, obviously, is doable. Thanks for sharing this!
 
PhilP said:
But is the original electronics still in the loco? - From your diagram, no is the answer.

Also, a buck converter means you can adjust the voltage to the smoke unit a little, to 'tune' the output.

PhilP.
Click to expand...
While not in the diagram, the voltage regulator does live in the smokebox still.

Ahh, that is good to know! Adjusting the output would be nice.
 
LGB uses 6.2 volts to run the smoke units. 5 volts will work but not as much as 6.2 volts. These as far as I can tell are Seuthe units, and Seuthe units will work just fine. Also note that the 1000 ohm (1K) resistor is way to large and could not work. You needed a much lower resistance (lower than 50 ohms).
 
But you don't really want to be putting a resistor in series with a resistive heating element, as it will also heat up!

It is just not very efficient.

PhilP.
 
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