The son of Triangman Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 Top Tip. Repairing Tri-ang/Tri-ang-Hornby/Hornby Smoke Unit Elements. Well I guess someone had to bite the bullet and reveal they can be repaired!New X.549 elements are fetching mortgage money on the likes of Ebay now. A simple repair can be effected if your element winding fails. All you need to do is remove the old wire to avoid short circuits, this is then replaced with four turns of 5 amp fuse wire and each end of the wire soldered to the brass end caps. Resistance should read 33 ohms or there abouts (original Element had a 33ohm resistance). A simple but effective repair to get those smoke unit elements working again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulver Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 A worthwhile tip, SoT, thanks for sharing with usRod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The son of Triangman Posted December 26, 2016 Author Share Posted December 26, 2016 Glad to be able to pass this info on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DipStik Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 What about the stuff you pour into the smoke unit to get the smoke, is that still availble? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissaf Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 Smoke Oil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The son of Triangman Posted January 5, 2017 Author Share Posted January 5, 2017 Chrissaf is correct, Tri-ang, Seuthe or Hornby Smoke Oil is the one to use.Some people are told to use baby oil but impurities in it damages the smoke unit elements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruffnut Thorston Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 Seuthe supplied the Smoke Oil to Tri-ang Railways and Tri-ang Hornby for many years.... Seuthe was printed on the containers....Made in West Germany.../media/tinymce_upload/a5573124a4de74b7f754dfcc8fcf96ca.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redken60 Posted July 8, 2017 Share Posted July 8, 2017 Great tip.Thanks a lot.Will give it a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clouseau Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 Great tip, thanks. What would be a suitable material for the wadding? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The son of Triangman Posted July 29, 2017 Author Share Posted July 29, 2017 Fire retardent wadding from a gun shop or a natural fire retardent quilt wadding similar material. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum-1211528 Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 What about the stuff you pour into the smoke unit to get the smoke, is that still availble?MEGA STEAM smoke oil is an Americian smoke oi avalable from Peters Spares and works very well with SYNCROSMOKE and HORNBY smoke units! Dapol also now do a smoke oil that will work very well to get some go to www.dapol.co.uk and order your smoke oil right now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The son of Triangman Posted July 29, 2017 Author Share Posted July 29, 2017 I wouldn't recommend using anything other than Seuthe smoke oil or Hornby smoke oil for the smoke units Colin. The oil was made for the job.A lot of brand x smoke oil may contain impurities that eat into the smoke unit elements, so always use the proper stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trainlover23 Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 Smoke oil is smoke oil Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum-1211528 Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 MEGA STEAM and DAPOL would have to test their smoke oils on many locos as after all Hornby doesnt do any smoke oil anymore or make smoke units! Dapol now do an A4 with DCC digital sound and a working smoke unit this isnt a Tri-ang Syncrosmoke this is a Modern smoke unit so using Dapol smoke oil on a Tri-ang or Hornby smoke generator should be fine as using SEUTHE smoke oil! 🤔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum-1211528 Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 MEGA STEAM and DAPOL would have to test their smoke oils on many locos as after all Hornby doesnt do any smoke oil anymore or make smoke units! Dapol now do an A4 with DCC digital sound and a working smoke unit this isnt a Tri-ang Syncrosmoke this is a Modern smoke unit so using Dapol smoke oil on a Tri-ang or Hornby smoke generator should be fine as using SEUTHE smoke oil! 🤔OK ill do this too then you want MEGA STEAM smoke oil go to www.petersspares.com and order some now ok!OK so you wanna see how MEGA STEAM smoke oil works well go to www.megasteam.com you can see how it works but note you cant order from this website they wont supply you as you order it in the uk from Peters Spares so take a look ok! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The son of Triangman Posted July 30, 2017 Author Share Posted July 30, 2017 I'll stick to the proper stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum-1211528 Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 I'll stick to the proper stuff.OK you can get everything here direct from the manufactures go to www.seuthe-dampf.de its simply a case buy direct and get it so go ahead ok! 😎OK another smoke oil is made by MTH TRAINS so go to www.mthtrains.com and get some ok! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The son of Triangman Posted July 31, 2017 Author Share Posted July 31, 2017 I tend to be conservative with smoke oil and the old Seuthe and Sychrosmoke smoke units. Seen the damage caused by not using the right oil. People use all sorts of stuff, baby oil contains impurities that eat into the element wiring over time, some other smoke oils do the same. Worst example of wrong oil was a Tri-ang Britannia that came in. The owner had used car engine oil, apparently it smoked well for a while and then stopped working. The smokebox and boiler top were covered in a yellowy film and the wadding and element were wrecked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum-1211528 Posted August 1, 2017 Share Posted August 1, 2017 I tend to be conservative with smoke oil and the old Seuthe and Sychrosmoke smoke units. Seen the damage caused by not using the right oil. People use all sorts of stuff, baby oil contains impurities that eat into the element wiring over time, some other smoke oils do the same. Worst example of wrong oil was a Tri-ang Britannia that came in. The owner had used car engine oil, apparently it smoked well for a while and then stopped working. The smokebox and boiler top were covered in a yellowy film and the wadding and element were wrecked.Dapol, Mega Steam, MTH and Seuthe Smoke Oils are all tested with all smoke generators including Tri-ang Syncrosmoke Generators i admit i use Seuthe oil but i have a Tri-ang Davey Crockett this is a Wood Burning with Logs in the tender not coal so you get the MEGA STEAM Wood Burn smoke oil its smells right for that loco! Yes there are fools who put Engine oil into a smoke unit its best to get the smoke oil you are happy with so i put on here the contacts where you can get them from so here they all are www.dapol.co.uk www.mthtrains.com, www.seuthe-damf.de shop around get your best smoke oil as Hornby dont make Smoke units or Smoke oil anymore so you need to look to these sources to get the smoke oil you need! 😎 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The son of Triangman Posted August 2, 2017 Author Share Posted August 2, 2017 Good idea to put the links up. I'll stick with the proper Seuthe stuff, in my 50 years of railway modelling it hasn't ever let me down. You can test all sorts of "smoke oils" on smoke units but it doesn't mean they are right long term. Although I know how to repair smoke unit elements and are having a batch of elements made they are still expensive to replace for the average modeller in the street if you have to replace them. They fetch silly prices on ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncandonut Posted September 17, 2017 Share Posted September 17, 2017 Hi can I just clear this up about the fuse so just solder 4 lengths of fuse wire between the 2 copper caps and it's done 😎 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The son of Triangman Posted September 18, 2017 Author Share Posted September 18, 2017 You have to remove the old wire first, then wind four Turns not four lengths of 5 amp fuse around the unit making sure it reads 33ohms resistance, then solder each end of the wire to the end caps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crofty58 Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 Hello AllAfter perusing this forum for a few years I decided to join. This 5 amp fuse wire thing has got me bewildered ..I need to repair a couple of elements....is there special 5 amp wire...my cardboard spool of 5 amp wire only measures 3.4 ohms for a 2 inch length with a digital multi-meter ...so 4 turns won't be anywhere near the 30 ohms needed ?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The son of Triangman Posted September 29, 2020 Author Share Posted September 29, 2020 Don't forget there is some resistance in the end caps, it maybe the fuse wire I used has some resistance as well, in which case a fine resistance wire may well be an alternative. The elements read 33 ohms when new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete172 Posted September 29, 2020 Share Posted September 29, 2020 Why not try 3 amp fuse wire ? If this is still not suitable try to source 1 or 2 amp wire instead , Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now