Imex-Erik

Hey tankers,
Finally our new smoke units have arrived! They are in the same form factor as the previous ones, but small quirks have been straightened out and the smoke output has more than doubled The new ones are now in stock and are shipping today. I just made a video demonstrating the new units and they output way more than the previous video I posted. Nothing too new has been done, just the quality of materials on the inside has been improved as well as a better heating element. V3 will AMAZE you guys but wont be out for a while. The first prototype of the V3 is already complete though.... Video coming shortly, should be around 30 min.

Imex-Erik

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egrr9MOPuu0&feature=youtu.be

philipat

Looks nice. What were you using for smoke fluid?

Just missed the 20% sale, too.

Imex-Erik

That is all stock, nothing added. I seriously did just pull them out of the package and apply power. I'm sure some mega steam fluid would perk it up even thicker too!

Max-U52

OK, I just happen to have two of the new units and the Panzer IV was in for new gearboxes so I decided to do a before and after video, and to get an accurate test the PIV is good because it already had a very good smoke unit. If the new smoke units can improve performance in this tank then they're pretty good, since this one was pretty good to start with. You be the judge. This is the old version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeC901R4fQQ&feature=youtu.be And this is the new version. I think you can play both videos at once and get a real side by side comparison.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alsNu8UFfXQ

Shorty54

Lots more smoke, but alot more noise also. There has to be a way to quiet them down. ?????

Max-U52

Yeah, Shorty, I noticed the increase myself but it seems to be worse in the one I put in than the other unit I have. I did a side by side and when I made it they sounded pretty close but when I watched the video I could tell the new units are a bit louder, but on most of my tanks the engine sounds masks that pretty well. Of course, I have them turned up all the way when I run them outside. If it ever stops raining I'll take some shots outside and turn the smoke on and off from a distance (the IBU can do that) so we can see how much difference it makes at full volume in an open setting. If it ever stops raining (yeah, I get really whiny when I can't go out to play). And remember that the v1 unit is one of my best, so with a mediocre v1 you'd see a much greater difference.

The one thing I hope they can cure is consistency. That's been my biggest problem so far, some units work really well straight out of the box and some, well, not so much. It already seems that with the two new v2s I have one that's a bit louder than the other. I'm just glad for the improvements in smoke and geartrain strength. I was having a problem for a minute there with the gears not wanting to mesh, but that seems to be fixed for good in the new units. On the whole I think they're waaaay better than the v1s and I'll have to order some more the next time I get something from Erik. At ten bucks a pop I usually throw in a smoke unit or two and an airsoft unit or two every time I place an order with Imex. They're light enough that an extra unit or two won't increase the shipping, which is always a good thing. I've found it's a good idea to just keep a couple new replacements on hand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTCszxANl3s

Imex-Erik

What is fun is hooking a bunch of them up at once 4 of them is enough to fill up a room very fast haha. I just recently had a few 4WD guys contact me about using some of these in their scale builds as a lot of them run brushed motors and 2 cell this would be perfect as an add on. I'm interested to see how it plays out!

Edit: Also, for shipping always contact me guys and I'll hook you up The online system is not very friendly like I am.

Jmiller70

Looks like one of the V2 units will be on my list of upgrades for the Tiger.

Namerifrats

Gonna get a couple of these myself. The one on my Sturmtiger died. I like the higher smoke output of these! They take long to install?

YHR

Typically the effect of a smoke unit gets lost as soon as you get outside. This combined with the durability has me questioning the over all value of these things, RC Drift cars have smoke machines that make a pile of smoke. One of these devices hooked up to come on when a tank is taken out would interest me.

Let me know what you think once you get these outside. I have found even the slighest breeze will negate any smoke effect.

Imex-Erik

V3 will negate this COMPLETELY. However, it is still a long ways away. Without the suggestions of the RCU community the V3 would be a total different ball game. Thats all I'm going to say on that, but I promise a radical change for V3.

TheBennyB

Looks good. Like YHR though, I've always shied away from smoke units as they dissipate outdoors and also afraid to burn out the element in a longer battle if you were to run out of fluid in the unit.
May grab some of these for my R/C loco's though.

Max-U52

As for smoke not working outdoors, check this video. Jump ahead to the 1:00 mark and you'll see plenty of smoke, outdoors, on a windy day without a lot of sunshine. Now, I admit that this is a custom smoker made with the help of the King of Smoke himself, but the point is that if I can make smoke that's easy to see on a windy day it should be possible for the V3 smoker to get the same effect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRgWnvZmLtA

Max-U52

Took the PIV with the new V2 smoke unit outside for a spin today. I also made a couple short videos, just goofin' around, so I'll throw those in, too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AArn954yO3c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsfBi1ykKgM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcybkU6py0M

YHR

Thanks for the video Gary.

I am more of a sound guy, so the volume in the hull I would sooner fill with speaker, but as you said to each his own. The world would be a pretty dull place if we all liked the same thing.

Improvements in these may one day change my mind. I know Norm had a pretty good thing going with his acoustic smoke unit, and it is too bad that design isn't mass produced as that seemed to pump out a ton of smoke..

Max-U52

If Norm's acoustic smoker ever goes into mass production I'll be the first in line and it will be the only smoke unit I use!

strmnd54

One of the bright side of the acoustic smoker is that you can use a switch to turn "on" or "off" the heater element; and still have an extra speaker to carry the engine sounds...
Up till now, I've been trying to design a compact unit using a 1" Aura speaker for smaller tanks: ( Panzer III; Panzer IV); but if I was to build a smoker for a Tiger 1, for example; I would go for the 2" Aura speaker with a more power full audio amp...

Max-U52

Here's the other v2 unit I had on hand, in my Imex/Taigen full metal Tiger One. This unit isn't as loud as the first one, and it works really well. I do miss the clear smoke boxes, though, as they made it a lot easier to maintain a proper lever of smoke fluid. So that's the first thing I want to bug Erik about for the v3 units, bring back the clear smoke box so I can see how much fluid is in there. And Lucy and Charlie said to tell you they should cost 5 cents.

Seriously, though, I'm impressed that Imex did all this work to improve the smoke units and didn't raise the price. That's pretty darn cool, if ya ask me. I'm waiting to see how much airsoft recoil adds to the price of a plastic Tiger Turret. Right now they're $40 without the recoil (TAG120061). If they can keep the cost of the airsoft recoil under or at the cost or an IR turret ($65) I'll be very pleased.

Anyway, here's the video. You can't hear me very well over the IBU, but I guess some people will think that's a bonus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i3QsgaXx8g

philipat

I got two of these and am generally happy that they work better than V1. The stock oil (linseed?) does dissipate quickly outdoors when it's warm and sunny (especially on my PzIII wading exhaust with the cover over the exhaust port). But, they work. My two critiques are noise and the black fluid box. I'd prefer a clear box so that I can see if it is empty, overfilled, etc.

On that note, I wonder if I could swap a clear box from V1 for the black box. Erik, is there anything different about the box that would prevent that?

Oh...for those that get one, it doesn't take much to overfill it. I filled mine with what I thought was a little bit and didn't get any smoke. Had to pour out quite a bit to get it down to a level where smoke was produced.

Imex-Erik

As long as you swap the internals on the reservoir as well you should be ok. The black plastic is also a bit more flexible than the clear so please be aware it may crack easier if too much pressure is applied when securing the lid or structure. Other than that you should be ok.

Max-U52

I swap boxes all the time, just make sure you also swap the piston, as they can be different sizes from black box to clear box.

maillemaker

Do these drop into Heng Long tanks?

Steve

Crius

Yes, they are a direct replacement.

philipat

I was browsing the rctank.de website and they have a small board that can be wired to the motors and the smoker to make the smoker proportional. Is that a Taigen thing? If so, any chance of Imex/Taigen offering here in the US of A?