strmnd54

Well, I didn't have any intention of designing a new smoke unit; but a link to a speaker manufacturer (Aura Speakers) posted on this forum by Dan (YHR) picked up my curiosity...

B.A.D.A.S.S.Force

Great results again Norm, you are definitely King when it comes to these smokers!!!

If you can find time, could you please post some close-up build pictures of this entire unit, along with the element (which resistor or wire) was used, the wrap material for the wick, & the smoke fluid (home made mixture ingredient percentages or oil) used. Thanks a ton!

~ Craig ~

strmnd54

Thanks Craig. The mod. is not that complicated.
The smoke chamber is taken from a broken down H.L. smoker; in which I replaced the nichrome heater element by a 14 Ohms 1 Watt wire wound resistor; wrapped in a couple strens of kevlar...
I've been using baby oil for smoke fluid because it's cheap, easy to get; and smells good when using my tank indoors...

Here's a bunch of pictures with comments....

B.A.D.A.S.S.Force

Awesome stuff Norm, thanks for sharing those great pictures & informational setup comments!

I realize the optimal setup has the actual exhaust output pipes as short as possible, but have you tested to see just how long an exhaust pipe a system like this could be, & would still work well enough? Just curious for any time there would be a need to have longer exhaust runs.

I was thinking I might try something like this using a larger dedicated speaker for sound in a normal speaker box, & still use a small 1" speaker like you have to drive the smoker. If I find the Clark board with a 3W amp isn't quite enough power I could always add a stronger amp too. This definitely opens up some more possibilities for smoker setups, always nice to have more options!

~ Craig ~

strmnd54

Those are very early tests...I'm running the TBS- mini with a Clark TK-22 board...
The clark sound effects are playing in a taigen speaker in the front of my tank...
I haven't sent the signal of the TBS-mini in the front speaker yet; so what you hear in these videos is the TBS-mini in that 1" speaker only....

I will test the unit tomorrow with longer pipes and post a video.

Dana Lowell

Outstanding.

reyemmanuel

Hi Strmnd54,

Well done mate. Very nice mod.

I'm making a similar set-up but with the FRS8-8 speaker as a modular type sound and smoke (together with the TBS mini) such I can swap around my Clarked KTs and DBC3'd MBTs.

Have you thought about selling these?
If you'd be, you probably betaking pre-orders...I would need at least 2. Just joking, but you might consider so.


Next up could be to isolate the cannon sound and direct it to another speaker-same concept, but this time with smoke for main gun fire.

cheers,
Rey

YHR

That is a very good looking, well put together, great functioning smoker. Your idea on the acoustic smoker is ground breaking.

They Aura speakers are very good. I have their 3" speaker and the bass response from the thing is Killer.

I have a box full of old HL smokers and a couple of these speakers kicking around. I may copy this idea, as you have produced a great working smoker that actually looks like it would be worth mounting in a tank

ausf

You never disappoint. [8D]

Outstanding work. I vowed never to work on a smoker again (I still have a bunch of fans, project boxes, glycerin and components). I ended up spending more bench time messing with fans, airflow, etc than building. That said, this setup is so simple, effective and small, it's brilliant.

thecommander

Such a simple yet effective concept....and the bonus is the sound emanates from the exhaust just like the real thing.

strmnd54

Thanks guys for the comments...
I did a little test this morning with extended tail pipes to see how the unit puts out.....

I also plan to buid a small audio amp. like a "bass boost" ; mounted on the unit itself....
This way, the smoker could be universal: Meaning that you would only need to tap in the power supply ( for the heater element) ; and the volume control of the main board ( for the audio signal input)...

My only concern with the design right now is : How much smoke will get sucked inside the speaker housing and how much liquid residue will be formed on the speaker basket...
That why I used an opening hatch cover on the speaker housing ; so I can monitor that side effect....

youtu.be/-QxeM_cGw-c

B.A.D.A.S.S.Force

Correct me if I am seeing this last video incorrectly, because maybe it's just a video optical illusion, but it does look like the amount of smoke generated by the long pipe setup has less volume than that of the extremely short pipe setup. However, even using that extremely long exhaust connection the smoke generated is still very good anyway. I know for a fact that the original smokers with their pumping style cannot send the exhaust for very long lengths, as they end up sucking the smoke back in before it escapes the piping, so this setup shows it would work on very long runs. Very nice.

Hmmmmm, you still have some moisture concerns Norm? I thought with the hole you made in the bottom of the speaker box, along with the breathing notch in the exhaust piping, you more or less solved any issue with reverse smoke flow that might cause moisture build-up on the speaker. Though I guess it's better to be safe than sorry, & keeping an eye out for that is a good idea anyway.

Matter of fact, this is so good the way you have this right now, that it's extremely difficult coming up with more ways you could actually improve on this simple design much more.

Though the only thing that came to my mind, I was thinking that you could turn the breathing notch downward instead of pointing it upward. It seems that might be better for a couple reasons.

I wasn't sure if any smoke was escaping, but given the setup, I presume at least some does. So for one, by positioning the notch downward, it might not allow any smoke at all to escape as it passes through the connection between the first & second exhaust pipe of the notch area.

Secondly, if any moisture were to collect there at all over extended running times, it would simply drip down out of the way. A simple small piece of felt or absorbent material positioned beneath the hole on the smoker mounting base could collect the falling moisture drops if any did occur.

Not sure either of those will even happen, but it's all I got right now.

Again, awesome work!

~ Craig ~

strmnd54

There's a lot of tweaking and adjusments that can be done with the design.
For example: The volume of the audio amp. in the 3 videos that I posted has remain the same; ( about 2/3) ...
Parameters like: The volume, the lenght & diameter of the exaust pipes; and the power to the heater element will influence the smoke output...( so far, I've been using a voltage regulator set at 7.5 Volts to power the heater; a fully recharge battery is around 8.4 Volts and will also produce more smoke...)

I don't mind having a little bit of smoke escaping from the air pipe; as it would simulate a small exhaust leak at the engine's manifold...

mcovalsk

Amazing. A guy in his house is more smart than a array of monkeys at HL. LOL LOL
Well done really

Strato50

That is fantastic. Im really impressed with the long-run test you did. Best smoker out there by far!

Airbrushler

amazing as usual i still want one of the smoking recoil that is also cool maybe the same can apply to the smoking gun

strmnd54

The smoking gun project is pretty much alive...I have a new design in mind, involving the real recoil of the Clark boards...That's why I'm putting a TK-22 / Benedini combo in my H.L. Pershing .

I plan to temporary run my Pershing with the asiatam recoil that I installed in it last year.

Meanwhile; since I have a spare turret; I will use it for the smoking gun mod.

But it seems that every time I say " no more work on the smoke units"; something new pops-up and here we are again...

YHR

Some one piped the smoke from a smoke unit into the airsoft on a stock Heng Long. When the Airsoft fired the Plunger blew the accumulated smoke out of the barrel.

strmnd54

That would work great for a Stug III or any Jagpanzer; but in my case ; I don't want to loose my 360 rotating turret for a smoking gun...( last time I checked for slip rings with a hollow core; they were more expensive than a tank) ...
So that's why I'm gonna go for a smoke unit mounted in the turret kind of mod...

I'm not starting that mod. from ground zero either; since I already had some results a couple years ago:youtu.be/t5YHDs-qY8c