Hello,

I was trying to search for a new smoke generator suitable on my rc tank. I've just the old smoke generator by heng long with a loud motor inside and not too much smoke.
I saw for new proportional smoke generator but I didn't think it was much better so I decided to build a selfmade smoke generator using something I've at home.



First I realised a new box made of plasticard and then I changed heng long motor with a very silent 40mm pc fan.
I used it to push off the smoke produced by a long filament obtain to an old electronic component (I don't know his english name, in italian I call it simply valve)



I can chage fan speed linking it with the 2 tank motor. In this way I can obtain a sort of proportional smoke unit.

Here you can see my video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl7W27RO2vs

Sir Francis -

I watched the video & it looks pretty good! I'd presume you are using standard smoke fluid oil - did you use any of the HL components or is this totally scratch? Am making smoke generators at the moment for some ironclad warships I'm building & would be interested to see more on how you did your set up. Thanks.

Chuck

Hi Chuck,

for this unit I used standard heng long threads (something like abaca's fiber) soaked of heng long smoke oil.
I rebuilt plastic box, motor system and smoke filament, because the original one was broken out.

I'll show you some pic of various parts.

Thanks. The compact size is what I'm seeking since I have only 40mm of height clearance to work with.

I just noticed you're from Milano - enjoy the risotto for me! I've had the pleasure of visiting while on business on a few occasions & need to get back one day.

wow sir francis..!!! very nice job...
that is the smokiest smoker i've seen so far...! i too have been messing with the hl smoker and also binned the noisy motor..i used a 20mm fan which all works ok but am using the original hl filament which is gauranteed to blow v.soon. i'd be very interestaed to see/ hear more about the filament you've used...did you need to take into account the power it uses for a bigger filament..? i know nothing about electrinics so this is whats holding me back..!
p.s.would a hl proportional board work with this homemade setup..?
good stuff mate...
rgds stuart

Has anyone tried using nichrome wire for the element? I've built one using fog fluid, but it wouldn't suitable for use in the 1/16 tanks, at least in the present configuration, due to the size. Also, the plastic housing would need to have a heat shield to protect it.

hi herrmill..i know some people have used nichrome wire to patch up broken filaments or 5amp fuse wire but i think its dependant on the length of wire you use as to results..? also a very fiddly (and for me) unreliable method.. wish i could just purchase a straight forward replacement filament..[]
rgds stu

Sir Francis nice work. I am interested in how you used parts from the vacuum tube for your filament. I cant seem to find fuse wire... not sure if that is because we don't carry it in the States. Once I find a filament to use is there anything I need to consider when hooking up the + and - leads (heat sink/isolation from the filament)? My HL smoke unit only works when it wants to and I think I am going to attempt making my own. Any and all help is greatly appriciated.

Thanks,

Pat

Glad you like it.

I took the filament from an old tv component called vavuum tubes.
This new filament is so longer of heng long one so it may work with a higher voltage.

It works usually with 6.2 v (depending of his lenght) so I linked it directly to tank battery adding a switch and a 1 ohm resistance to decrease voltage (I used two battery, one just for smoke unit and one for tank functions).

This proportional smoke unit works with all heng long tanks, also non smoke & sound one because i did not connect it with hl board but directly to battery (using a potentiometer to decrease fan voltage at minimum and then linking it directly with the two motor; smoke filmament also is linked directly to the battery).

I notice heat rapresents a problem for plasticard. It slightly deformed my transparent smoke unit cover during my tests but with running fan it has no more problem.
Consider this part is less thick than the other one but I used it to see better smoke flow.

@ Pat

Smoke filament has not +/- polarity, it's enought current pass to heat it.
You can use also heng long original filament if you want adding just the fan instead of the noise motor.

In vacuum tubes filament is linked to the fourth and fifth pin from right. You can't see it without breaking the glass. It's into a metal heatsink but if you feed the 2 alimentations pin you can see in the lower part of the tube a sort of glow.

Thanks Chuck, I very like risotto expecially with mushrooms. However I eat more pasta with tomato and pizza.

3 thou piano wire will work for a filiment as well just heat it before you try to wind it around a wick as you need to remove the temper from it to soften the wire and make it long enough to get warm not red hot or you wont have to worry about smoke you will have a bonfire instead the wire will need to be 6 inches long

Filament has not standard lenght. Just condiser if it's longer you need higer voltage.

Very cunning stuff. By the way, although the component you retrieved the filament from is called a vacuum tube in US English, it is (as you correctly guessed the first time) called a valve in British English.

Thanks for clarifying.

Hi, I'm from Brescia!

Writing in english so that everyone can read.

First of all, very nice job with your smoke generator!

I'm building one for my HL Tger... and here's my question: wouldn't the smoke come out from the fan when the fan is not running?

I connected the fan to the motor outs, but when I release the lever and the tank stops, the fan stops too and the smoke comes out from it (among the blades).

I'm thinking about using the old HL smoke gen electronic board (some diodes and a triac) to modulate fan speed according to motor out, but without having it to stop. What do you think about this?

Thank you!

Ciao

Fabio

I dont use my smoker too much the fumes are, should we say, not healthy.

I connected the fan directly to the battery and then to the motor using a diode in order to isolate the circuits

Per spiegarmi meglio: ho collegato la ventola direttamente alla batteria, poi ne ho abbassata la tensione fino a 4v (al di sotto non partiva)
E poi l'ho collegata in parallelo al motore usando un diodo per non far andare la tensione della ventola al motore ma solo dal motore alla ventola.
Non collegare entrambi i motori alla ventola però, perchè il diodo blocca la corrente solo in un senso; nel momento in cui inverti la polaritÃ* i due motori interferiscono.
In questo modo la ventola è sempre alimentata, che il motore funzioni o no. Ti consiglio di aggiungere una piccola camera dietro alla ventola, con una spugna porosa così da evitare che un po' di fumo esca anche da diettro.

Ciao,
Francesco

I am interested in making my own custom smoker, but I am uncertain on how to setup the heating mechanism. Pushing, say, 7.2V through a few 1 ohm resistors crossed my mind, but I am worried over the safety.

hey what if i used the wire from a light bulb, or what wire did you use and where does the liquid go..... and would i have to same effect if i used oil or baby oil<div>
</div><div>cheers</div><div>
</div>

hey i figured out how to make my own smoke maker i got a thin spring, streached it so no short circuits could happen then wrapped a piece of cotton around the spring (will change it to something not flammable but will do for now). then i soaked it in oil (i only tried wood polish oil) then hooked it up to a 9v power supply

That's good work ; but you guys are kind of re-inventing the whell as per the smoke units ....
Most of the work process describe in here has been done about a year ago and gave birth to the super smoker sold at RCtank wars ...
rctankwars.com/Products.asp

You might want to check this thread for more informations ....<a target="_blank" href="http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1182927">www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php
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wooah that is a better way i could make that so easy

hey theres 1 problem what if the tank rolls over how does it stop the oil from going out<div>
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If you roll over your tank , the smoke fluid spill might be the least of your concern !!!...
In my mini-smoker design ; the fluid would leak through the 1/8 " vent hole ( between the box and the fan ) ...
In any case you wouldn't flood the place because the full unit is the content of that syringe .....

Ho visto il tuo filmato su youtube riguardante selfmade moke generator e sono interessato per una maggiore spiegazione vista la mia totale ignoranza in materia (grandezza del box voltaggio e sopratutto la durata del fumo spessore del filamento) visto che la distanza desio milano e minima ci potremmo incontrare anche in un bar a tuo piacimento per idettagli eventualmente non riuscirei a costruirlo sarei disposto all'acquisto.dandomi una via arriverei col navigatore .la mia comodita sarebbe il sabato pomeriggio e la domenica mattina .ti ringrazio anticipatamente p.s. nonso se si vede che e il primo e-mail che scrivo.

ENGLISH!!!














~ Jeff