Improving Triang smoke generator (for use with DCC)

[Trains1707822545]

I just bought a Triang smoke generator from eBay, I believe it was taken out of a princess royal. I plan to improve it because they are known to be pretty ineffective, what I plan to do is replace the heating element inside with a better one and connect it to the one Aux output wires of an ESU DCC decoder, I want to ask if this is doable and if so, what heating element should I use, also how easy would wiring it to the decoder be.

I know it's pretty a silly thing to do but I want to do it because I have nothing better to do anyways plus the loco I plan to fit it in has the space.

PS: I'm not doing it to an expensive model, it's a Railroad range model which a friend fitted an ESU 21 pin decoder too.

Mod note - this discussion moved to the DCC as you intend operating it from a decoder.

[Jupiter 1707822591]

Yes doable but ensure the output of the decoder can handle the current either directly to the smoke unit or to it's driver device .

[Topcat2018]

I'm not a DCC expert but the main question is, what is the output voltage (V) and current rating (I) of the AUX outputs on your DCC decoder? This will determine the minimum resistance of your heating element (R = V/I). If that produces too much smoke you can always try one with a higher resistance.

[Trains1707822545]

Thanks for the advice, now I just need to find a heating element small enough.

That may be a challenge.

[Jupiter 1707822591]

A seuthe 11 or 12 has a low enough current draw to fit a decoder aux output and with a little to spare .

Do you know which esu is fitted ?

[Topcat2018]

@Jupiter

@Trains

The current consumption of a Seuthe 11 is nominally 140 mA.

As I said I'm no expert in DCC but the first thing you need to get right is what decoder you will need to use. The AUX outputs of many decoders will supply only a few milliamps, suitable only for driving LEDs for lighting, firebox effects etc and totally incapable of driving a smoke generator element. If you want to drive a Seuthe element in a smoke generator you should look for a decoder that has a dedicated Seuthe output.

[Jupiter 1707822591]

@topcat

Guagemaster rate them at 70 ma .and as I asked which 21 esu decoder is used and as I know some esu decoders can handle up to 250 ma .hence when trains can reply I might be able to recommend an alternative .If that is alright ?

[Topcat2018]

Sorry! the website I was looking at must have had the wrong information. I'm surprised the current consumption is so low, that means that the power consumption at 12 V would only be 840 mW. I guess smoke generators have moved on from the old Triang ones.

From what I read the Seuthe 11 can be used with the ESU Loksound 5L. If you cut and paste this link into your browser you should find the manual.

http://www.southwestdigital.co.uk/PDF/LokSound/51989_LokSound_5_ESUKG_EN_InstructionManual_Edition-10_eBook_01.pdf

[96RAF]

There doesn’t seem much point in buying a Triang smoke generator then chopping it about to fit a better element. You may as well have bought a more suitable modern smoke generator in the first place likely for the same price.

You also say they are pretty ineffective. In my opinion they are totally unrealistic, messy and a waste of effort fitting one.

[ColinB]

I fitted some of the 1980s smoke generators, the ones from Stowe etc. into a couple of tender driven Duchess locos. I worked on the assumption that the chassis of the Duchess was diecast so very little chance of warping the body as it did on Stowe. I ran it off DCC using a Zimo decoder. The current for the smoke generator was just below 100 milliamps so it might have just worked with Hornby TTS but I didn't want to chance it. They work a lot better on DCC than DC, as the voltage is constant. In the end though I converted the 3 Duchess locos they were in to loco driven (the old 1980s bodies fit the new chassis), so I disposed of the smoke generators. As 96RAF says they are awfully messy, my bigger concern was the heat distorting the body.