Can anyone post a picture of how they plumbed there smoke system?? I bought the sullivan skywriter. It will be going in my Boomerang XL. I searched the past post to see if anyone had a picture of the way they installed there system. I didn't have any luck. What I need to know is about how big of a smoke tank I should get. I am NOT looking to blow smoke for a 10 min flight. Mabe 2-4 mins. And what material did they use for the tubing??

Thanks Guys
Hoss

it's a simple setup, tygon fuel tubing is used for everything, put a vent line from the tank to the outside of the aircraft. a tube from the pickup line on the tank to the pump and from the pump to the stainless tube/tubes on the turbine.

unlike gas planes a turbine uses allot of oil to produce allot of smoke. i can use a 40oz tank on a 6min flight and NOT have it on the whole flight. best way to determine what you'll need is to set your smoke pump to max output, and time how much it pumps in a min then do the math for how long you want smoke in flight.

Hoss,

I have a 32oz tank and it lasts 2-3 minutes. I am using Tam's smoke pump with two nozzles out the back. You wouls use less with one nozzle.

But this thing smokes like a chimney!

Plumb it just like you would a fuel tank.

I built my own system. I had an old fuel that was not working for one of my smaller turbines and it will pump as much as 15 oz. a min at 7 volts so a 24 oz. tank will last less than a couple of minutes. I also have a second receiver that runs the system to avoid glitz interference on the main Rx system. I have the pump set up on a slider switch on my transmitter to vary the voltage so it will pump as slow as a couple oz. a minute which gives a light density smoke. A few clicks more and I can get a medium density smoke and of course at full voltage, it makes a lot of smoke. I am running dual stainless steel tubes from Tam with this set up on my Big Boomer. Most of my flights last 6 to 9 min and I have smoke on at least half the flight. I have been using SuperDri but I just bought a 5 gal. can of Freedom Form Release Oil to try. As you can see it puts out lots of smoke.

Roy

All my jets and paint stir planes have smoke and I have used several Tam systems (the very best system available at present IMO) as well as the Sullivan and a home made-from-old-fuel-pump system and all worked great. I never used a second receiver and never had any glitches with 72mhz or since switching everything over to 2.4ghz. A separate battery is a good idea. Keep the pump and esc away from the receiver and you will be good to go. You will need a steel tube to go in the turbine exhaust area. You can find it at McMastercar if you are building a custom sytem.

Thanks guys for all the responses, I should have made myself a little more clear when I said plumb the smoke system. What I need is a picture of the tubes going back to the turbine. How far away are the tubes from the exaust and how flat should I make the ends of the stainless tubing? Thanks again for all the good suggestions..........

Hoss

pics worth a 1000 words huh?

KC36330,,,,,,,,,
A picture is worth a million words THANK YOU, thats is exactly what I wanted to see.

Take care
Hoss

You're Welcome.

with the Sullivan pump you will most likely just need one tube, my Skywriter (used on a 50cc gasser) doesn't put out nearly the amount of fluid my Tam pumps do on the turbines.

Here is a picture of mine on the Big Boomer. I used the stock crimp that Tam puts into his tubes and it works fine.

Roy

I have a sullivan pump. 32oz of smoke fluid only lasts about 3 mins max....but makes a lot of smoke in those three minutes. I only use one Tams tube...I can't see how two could possibly make more smoke! I tap my 2 cell ECU battery so it is running on 7.4V . (It will run on 12 volts if needed). You will note on Roy's (MolarMender) installation, that he has a shut off valve in front of the smoke tubes. You need some sort of shut off when you are filling your tank, or transporting your plane, otherwise smoke fluid will drip all over the place. No need to ask how I found that out!
A picture is worth a thousand words, so here is three thousand worth:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmRfMDzl-Wo

two tubes and twice the fluid = twice the smoke [8D]

it's especially noticeably in the air at full speed.

Hey Wayne 22,,,,,,,, Thats a lot of smoke. Very good thought about the shut off valve. I will install one. Thanks Molar mender for your picture of the valve installed.

Thanks again guys
Hoss

Hope that these could help. Skywriter smoke pump, 3S Lipo, 32 oz DUbro tank and 1 Tam tube for spraying super dry smoke oil.
I chose to build my smoke unit fully independant, i.e with only 4 screws i can remove the whole unit. I am still experimenting with already good results and might add a second sprayer to possibly increase smoke denssity during flight.

Regards.
Dany

Thanks Dany, very clean and neat installation. I worked on my smoke this past weekend and almost finished it. A wasable to mount 2 saddle tanks on both sides of the main tank. With the pump, battery, and the tanks, I am right over the CG. I just have to mount the 2 sprayers today. It is all looking good. Again, thanks for all the responses

Hoss

Hi.. how do install one in a F-18?...i will be using the Skywriter... pls let me know... thx

on the back of the turbine just like any other turbine installation.

Man,, that was quick... ok.. but wont the smoke intefere with the heat dissipation thru the pipes?...is it possible if i install the pipes at the end of the tail cone?

you have to vaporize the oil to get smoke, that takes place at the back of the turbine. if you inject at the end of the pipe you just spray allot of oil out making a mess and no smoke.

ah... ok.. thx man

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Thanks, Chance Harris