American Flyer Smoke Unit Rebuild

[@aandrus7]

Excellent video and extremely helpful tips!

[@woodrowwoo6759]

Beautiful rebuild of the smoke unit chamber.

[@stevenpeaketrainsandstuff3682]

Brilliant demonstration mate. Much appreciated Can't believe you got those scissors to work left handed. Amazing.

[@fff1531]

Many years of practice! LOL Thanks

[@ronalddevine9587]

Modern stuff be damned. Nothing beats Flyer smoke and choo choo sound. Nice video

[@vmipiper]

I love the idea of using tiki torch wicks! Great idea!

[@DennisMurphey]

Great video I had seen it but wanted a refresher. I noticed more things this time too. You install the hair thru the holes in an arch across the cavity, that was cool, then the tool you made and 1/8 drilling all work for a much better rebuild experience. At that ohm rating yes lots of smoke. two things you did not show the soldering of the holes to lock in the nichrome wire and the you did not show low speed smoke to see if track power at low speed effected the volume of smoke very much. That was a lot of smoke if one wants to tone it down could he add a resistor across the two solder points like 10 ohms or so???? Are you left handed or just ambidextrous? Thanks for posting very informative. Dennis

[@timcoe6841]

Neil great video. I too use about 25-30 ohms and they smoke great and are long lasting.

[@fff1531]

Thanks Tim, same here

[@geoffreyfaltot1006]

What do you use to replace the stock resistor? What’s the material and name?

[@quad1000]

Great tutorial and tips...thanks!

[@alanlevine3984]

Excellent job. Wish I had the eyesight and steady hands to try it. Thanks for sharing.

[@willieevans718]

thanks neil.the video really helps those like myself that are wanting to keep our flyers going ,,tks

[@tableseven8133]

Thanks for the great information. I have several trains including AF but never fully repaired or rebuilt any smoke unit.

[@atroutguy6139]

Thanks... I’m going to try this on my 290.👍

[@joeosborn123]

Great AF repair videos Neil! Keep up the great work! 👍🚂😄

[@robertsouthrey3480]

very cool

[@daniellautenslager8359]

Thank you for making this great video! A+

[@fff1531]

You're welcome 👍

[@richardtabloff1773]

Great. Video Thank you

[@lac7zz157]

Great video Neil, appreciate the effort in making this....I certainly learned alot.

[@josephcarbisiero2041]

NICE VIDEO AND VERY INFORMATIVE WILL A SMOKE BOX THAT DOES NOT HAVE THE PROPER OHMS OR (NONE AT ALL) PREVENT THE ENGINE FROM RUNNING.??

[@geoffreyfaltot1006]

Great video. Rebuilding my 322 Hudson and ran into this exact issue. My problem is the filament broke and need a replacement. What can I use for an alternative to coil and act as a resistor to heat up the wicks?

[@ВалерийФилиппов-д8о]

Supervisor 💪

[@mpov147]

The ohm check is before connecting the black wires to get correct reading?

[@fff1531]

That's right.

[@AFTrainsND]

I just finished my first attempt at replacing the wick assembly using a kit like you refer to in the video. It works but there seems to be a little bit of smoke coming out around the top cover. Is there something I can use to seal that or do I need to replace the entire piece? It’s so little that it’s barely noticeable. Thanks for the video. It was a great help.

[@fff1531]

Loosen the screws a little and apply a small amount of caulking to the seam. Re-tighten the screws. This has worked for me.

[@H2SG]

Nice smoke unit repair tutorial! I used it on my 301 american flyer, and it smokes well, but i have a have a couple questions: what brand of smoke fluid do you use? The one that i use works, but it is not very thick. Also, is it normal for it to work better when the locomotive is going faster?

[@fff1531]

Unfortunately, the fluid I used in the video is no longer available. So right now I don't have one to recomend. They will smoke more the faster they go since there is more voltage ahd that makes the coil hotter.

[@H2SG]

@fff1531 thanks for the info👍

[@zdrummer72]

Very education video for us DIY train repair guys. What brand / type of smoke fluid do you recommend? Dave

[@fff1531]

Thank you! I had been using Anormal-1 but it is no longer available. I am going to have to try some out to figure out what I will use as a replacement when I run out.

[@garypersons9320]

Is there a way to shut off the smoke unit? I am rebuilding a Pacific from my youth. I seem to remember that if you ran the smoke unit dry, it would burn up the element. And how did you run the smoke unit without having the engine running in the video?

[@fff1531]

Engines with smoke in boiler cannot be shut off. The only way to stop them is to disconnect one wire to the smoke unit. Engines with the 5 wire harness can be 'turned off' by disconnecting the single wire but this will turn off the headlight too.

[@garypersons9320]

@@fff1531 So it could be possible to install a small toggle switch to disconnect the smoke unit. Kinda of have to wonder why Gilbert did not include this option.

[@fff1531]

@@garypersons9320 Yes. The lack of a switch was probably a production cost savings.

[@bassplayer336]

I have a smoke unit that need to rebuilt. This is a great video ,lots of info. The nicrome wire ( Not sure of the spelling but what gauge wire should be used . Thanks.

[@fff1531]

40g

[@bassplayer336]

@@fff1531 Thanks very much

[@jthamlin3205]

Where do I get the wire? And what gauge is it?

[@fff1531]

40ga nicrome, Search on line or e-bay to find it.

[@thephonoguy]

Do the tiki wicks work better then the wicks provided in the kit?

[@fff1531]

If you're doing a few smoke units it is less expensive and usually easy to find. The results are similar.

[@thephonoguy]

@@fff1531 Thanks for making this great tutorial! Very helpful.

[@garypersons9320]

Where do you get your parts? I need the insulator box and have not been able to find them.

[@fff1531]

Port Line Hobby has a great selection. There are others as well.

[@kennylahr4815]

Great video. Do you get your wire from one of the suppliers or is there another source?

[@fff1531]

I get it on e-bay

[@kennylahr4815]

@@fff1531 Thanks for your reply. Great learning video.

[@mooremation4676]

What gauge wire do you use?

[@ronrayba4733]

Neil...thanks..what was the name of the wick.

[@fff1531]

They are Tiki torch replacement wicks

[@adamserafini6945]

What gauge of wire do you use?

[@fff1531]

40 gauge

[@trademark2488]

I just shove a soldering iron in the model and when the model melts it looks like steam

[@aandrus7]

?????