Jb,
The self Contained Tank is definitely the way to go.

Martin555.

Great post am following this closely as I like the idea, not ready to build one yet. But intend to use idea in a later model.

That's the type of coil I tried in the metal box version Martin, a bit easier to hook up the particular coil by itself as it has a nice loop on the center pole. The latest one is also a Vaporesso brand but a different model with small coils and nowhere to wire on to, - hence buying the tank to try. Making a 'sleeve' to fit over the inlet slots could be tricky without a lathe, hence enclosing the whole thing seemed easier.

Your type is probably a better option but they are around $50 here and this one was only $24 so worth the risk. Don't want to waste too much money as the idea is working in the various forms already (mine and Grahams) Just trying this, as with the tank it's self contained, and not too bulky. Also trying to get the size down to fit in smaller hulls and be easy to work on and fill.
JB

Jb,
Getting better and better!
A lot also depends on the style of the tank.
I have a top fill tank that has a hole through the centre of the bottom + terminal where the air is drawn in.

Martin555.

This is the latest crack at a more compact easily made smoke unit using off the shelf (pretty much) items. I bought a top filling vape tank which arrived today and made an electrical connection base for it to start with. The base is industrial linen (formica,- or you could use hardwood) which is drilled and tapped to 4mm, and also counter bored to almost the thread diam of the bottom of the tank. The counter bore was tapped to 7mm but only to get the tank thread started, as this thread is very fine (7x.25?) and I doubt if you could easily find a tap to suit. Also the tank only has to screw in a small amount to hold it in place for the center electrode to contact (adjustable brass screw), and to trap the neg/pos wire which must contact the body.

I made the center contact from a 4mm brass screw which is screwed in from the bottom till it contacts the center electrode (which is insulated from the stainless tank body) Under the head of this screw is the wire for the + (or -) -- also screw has a small piece of silicone tube on the inside over the screw to further insulate it ( don't want LiPo shorts!) and the other lead is under the body where it screws onto the base. I tried it on 2v an 2.5v and it works very well (air being fed in the top (where you normally suck from) and the vapor comes out the adjustable air slots (which are normally the intakes.)

If you could make a collar around the intake area you could either direct the vapor into a collector, or reverse this (air through the collar) and have the vapor exiting the proper way through the mouthpiece (preferable). to make it simpler I am just going to enclose the whole thing, and have the air feed set up through the lid into the element and the exit (tube/tubes) through the top or side of the container. This particular tank must be kept upright to avoid leaks but is small enough to strap to a bulkhead or similar.

Have ordered another air pump which hopefully will be better than the previous disappointments! Yay another month to wait!!!😴 Looks promising so far though!
JB

Re popping off JB - sad to say in most cases it depends on your inherited genetic structure - we all age at different speeds - remember years ago Dad leaping across my garden wall to offer to prune next doors roses - the two of them stood there for a while - neighbour looked positively ancient - much older than Dad - but he was only 60 and Dad was 72 at the time........
And one never knows what to believe from these "scientific" studies - one minute butter is bad for you - next minute very good for you - as for general fat consumed - nations who have used olive oil for centuries tend to have less heart attacks.........but it was thought to be very bad for you........
We had one scientist at Wits Uni who completely decried "Global Warming" in public - wonder what he thinks of the weird weather patterns nowadays. The Cape is a Winter rainfall region - we are now in Summer and it cant stop raining and getting cold........Very few days over 20c at the moment and exceptions tend to get really hot !

Re - The other problem is if i listen to all the things that are not good for me then my funeral will be tomorrow

Quite true Martin, I remember a story about a Russian farmer who ate around a dozen eggs a day (in the days when eggs would kill you) and had been doing that since he was young,- he was 105 and still riding horses. I have about 10 cups of coffee a day and have since teenage years, I also smoked a pack a day from 18-50yrs - also rolled my own for years and smoked every tobacco known to man while working on Norfolk island for 2 1/2 yrs (duty and tax free stuff from round the world) in the 70s - still here (maybe not in quite as good condition as I might have been otherwise) but can still go sailing, walk 7km (our beach is 3 1/2 km each way, so real handy) in 50 mins without a problem, like a lot of similar older people (sometimes I think I'm doing well on the beach and then get passed by an 80yr old jogging!😮

All depends on your metabolism and if you can get a but of regular exercise to burn of the rubbish😊. I used to smoke Russian cigarettes (bitumin road scrapings rolled in old news paper😋) and Camel (dried dead camel scrapings rolled in newspaper and toasted lightly over burning camel hair) was my favourite eastern brand. If you can survive those 2 you can survive anything😁
I it feels good and makes you happy, rip into it! you could be run over by a bus tomorrow, and that can be real bad for your health.!!😂
JB

Hi graham93/Martin thanks guys sounds like an interesting addition for a steamship, will be looking into it for my next steam fishing boat. More satisfying to make your own rather than the bought ones.
Ian

Thank you Graham93.
These smokers are definitely the business.
Well done.

Martin555.

Hi Ian, Martin,

Yes, JB is using baby oil, I'm using vegetable glycerine diluted 50% with water.

Graham93

Hi Ian,
Sorry I misunderstood your question.
I thought you ment for normal vaping.
If it is for smoke from a funnel or exhaust I think Jb said he uses baby oil but I am not sure.
Maybe worth asking Jb.

Martin555.

Thanks Martin at this stage just a little curious about the smoker. Could be an interesting project for later, but have enough on my plate at the moment.
Ian

Hi Ian,
The Liquid's used Ethylene Glycol, Vegetable Glycerine, Nicotine and 'flavours'.

Martin555.

Hi Jb,
Yes you are right i should give it up.
The other problem is if i listen to all the things that are not good for me then my funeral will be tomorrow.
Tea is bad, Coffee is bad, Alcohol is bad, meat is bad and so on.
In fact the air that we breath is bad.
Now i a getting very depressed and that is bed LOL!

Martin555.

What’s the liquid you use
Ian

Re - I gave up smoking about two or three years ago now
Yes you should give it up Martin, there's research I just read the other day (some US university) that reckons there's harmful stuff in it which is as bad as cigs (not to mention the Nicotine they add!)?? Turn your tank into a boat smoker not a smoked boat maker😂 Burning Ethylene Glycol, Glycerine Nicotine and 'flavours' can't be good for you, (unless of course your flavours are a liquid form of a certain natural product (referred to sometimes in hippie days as 'old bed socks' ) or you're nipping over the fence to the paddock and collecting the glow in the moonlight 'mushies', nudge nudge wink wink say no more say no more know what I mean😉😉😉😉😂😂
JB

Re - Not sure I understand what Vaping is .............The tanks I presume are part of the system
This is what a vaping/e-cigarette tank looks like Peter. Heating coil is in the tank and screws in top and bottom - and + terminals. Coil body has holes to allow the liquid to soak the cotton surrounding the coil. Air, (person sucking) passes through the center of the coil and through the center of the sucker sucking (sorry Martin😊) Pics are of heating coil and complete tank with coil inside. Hope that's 'unfogged' your mind😂

Hi Red,
Vape/Vaping is a naming word similar to smoking.
Smoking. Inhaling burning Tobacco .
Vaping. Inhaling Vape/steam form boiling liquid.
Something like that!

I did watch the Rugby, Had no choice but i am not in to sport.

Martin555.

As to the disguised boiler idea - what about modifying one of the small shaving cream canisters - right shape - just needs a funnel.
Often wondered what to do with the empty canisters (buy small ones as having a beard don't have to shave much) Last one emptied is a G.......e about 5" high 1 1/2" diameter.........
False steam engine over an electric motor and away you go - link the puffing to the esc and its realistic.
Ready made for a small sized clinker River Queen........or the African Queen..........

That makes it easier Martin - but what is Vaping ? Did you watch the Rugby ?

Hi Red,
The Tank is to hold the liquid.
The liquid then soaks up through the Cotton wick through or around the coil.
When the coil gets hot it then vaporises the liquid turning it in to the smoke effect.

Martin555.

Not sure I understand what Vaping is .............The tanks I presume are part of the system - you will have to go into a great deal of detail for ignoramuses like myself to understand whats going on..........
I have visions of one of those very involved Turkish pipe things standing up in a boat shaped like an Alladins Lamp...
Seriously I like your idea of creating an easy to use working smoke unit JB - would be of great use to all boat modellers . Have only one small steam engine set left now - the nicer gunmetal type sold by Midwest ..... all the rest have been sold over the years as its very time consuming firing up - watching the sailing time - and the safety bits too - simpler to use electrics with dummy boiler & engine in open boats - so a smoke unit would be good there too - perhaps camouflaged as the boiler itself.
How about that for your next project!

Hi Jb,
Yes the tank i use is a Kangretech bottom fill.
I gave up smoking about two or three years ago now
But i do Vape.
There are many types of tanks on the market some a lot better than others.
I make my own juice and also make my own coils.
I should give it up really!

Martin555.

I'll have to wait and see how it's made Martin, I know it's a top fill version but I'm not familiar with its construction. From what I have gathered, these things are not used flat, more inlet pointing down to prevent possible leaks?. Really have no idea about this vaping as I gave up polluting my lungs about 20yrs ago when my arms started going numb😂😮☹️ Thought that was the tank (Kangertech) you were using in the pic you posted or was that just an example?
JB

Hi Jb,
I don't know much about that tank.
Maybe it would be posable to drill a small hole in the top then you could fill it using a syringe, then plug the hole with a small bung.

Martin555.

Hi Martin $10 - $30 for the Kangertech Nano 2.0v tank here but a lot won't ship from UK. Prices seem pretty similar worldwide for most e-stuff.
JB

Hi Martin, that looks pretty flash!
I have ordered a tank (Vaporesso brand) to try ($25) but it looks like I will have to modify it to fill it up. My idea is to have a small self contained unit that can be filled without having to remove it, no chance of leaks, and easy to replace elements. Only problem I can see with the sealed tanks is re-filling them (having to remove hoses etc) whereas this will just have a plug/dipstick in the lid to fill it, 5 sec job. Most of the better e-tanks seem to be pyrex so you can't drill holes for a fill hose or tank adaptor. The 'throw away' $2 e-cigs might be ok as you could just rotate and fill a bunch of spares (still have to unplug things though) and you have to break into them to get to the element and wire up an external power source, (the small on board batteries would not last long enough).

Also the elements in some are very cheap, just a few wraps of wire round a chunk of cotton string, as against the nice stainless screw in Vaporesso one I have ( which are only $5 each) and appear very solid. Thought about the rebuildable ones, but again, too much mucking about, -although the ready made coil rebuildables don't look too bad and coils are cheap.

This all costs money (and a lot of time) so I'm not going to get too carried away, as I want to make it quick and affordable for others who might want to give it a go. Still a lot of refining to do yet but between Graham and myself I think we are making good progress and having a bit of fun as well. Always nice to have an idea actually work😊😁
JB

Jb,
Your experiments are coming along in leaps and bounds.
I think if you used a clear tank you will always be able to see the liquid level.
(The Tank in the photo is quite an expensive tank but you can get cheaper tanks.)

Martin555.