SMOKE MACHINE MODEL X- NEW! FROM SMOKE R&D (SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT !?)
This is the top of the line, premium, top grade, no expense spared, gold standard, fully reverse flowed liquid converter. Assembled by skilled Latvian craftsmen using quality hammers and pick axes, and working in the most modern up to date farm sheds. We at Smoke R&D, present the Smoker Model X - "A smoker for the discerning modeler" (said Botswana Model Monthly)
JB, Head Sherang, Smoke R&D.
MORE SMOKE USING 2 AIR PUMPS ON THE ALLOY SMOKE BOX
Still waiting for a better air pump so thought I'd try whacking 2 pumps on and upping the voltage from 2 to 2.5V Works a lot better but smoke still a bit slow. If I blow gently into the air tube I get massive clouds of smoke (hence the need for a better pump) Sorry about the crappy vid,- camera lens has a cloudy spot and not so good inside.
JB
re - It's mainly the lens which is a bit cloudy Martin . I scratched it and tried to polish it out, DUH! Need a better vid cam.
Might do some more on a sunny day. Certainly puts out some serious smoke though!
JB
Managed to get a smoker fitted in the HSL and it works reasonably well. Would have used a small ESC to vary the smoke etc but have run out of channels on the 6ch TX (also room). Could use my 9X TX but would have to mod the elevator to a throttle (for twin set-up) I could use the TX to program smoke advance etc using the curve facility. Might do that later as I mainly use my Futaba 6ex and 9XR for my planes and hardly use the 9X, (even though it's a good radio).
JB
Trying air injection to break up the water flow. The air pumps I ordered finally arrived a week late but are too small to be of much use. I need a much bigger and faster volume of air to achieve what I want, which is for the water to almost be sprayed out in a mist. Might need to mod the water outlet by fitting fine tubes or stoppers around the inner smoke tube to build up a bit of back pressure, which might be another alternative
Unfortunately, as I've said before, you can't scale water, due partly to surface tension etc (why it either drips or runs out of a small pipe), so to make it fine you have to pressurize/vaporise it at the point of exit (ie garden sprayer) which is the hard part on a small scale. Lots of fun trying to perfect it though, and it keeps me out of trouble, and keeps the brain working - (although it's just asked for a pay rise due to all the work it's been doing lately!😂)
Tip,- if you run both videos at once you can see the difference between this and the last vid. It also breaks the smoke up.
JB
If only I was that clever Martin! unfortunately he had terminal sickness in 2008😴 He did 40yrs+
of comedy so he didn't have a bad run and made a lot of people happy😊
some of his quotes-
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?
There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls.
Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist.
Here's all you have to know about men and women: women are crazy, men are stupid. And the main reason women are crazy is that men are stupid.
The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live.
Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.
Weather forecast for tonight: dark. Continued dark overnight, with widely scattered light by morning.
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
Just cause you got the monkey off your back doesn't mean the circus has left town.
JB
Just trying a few more things while waiting for more bits to arrive. This time using a small ESC for the smoke, and using CH 6 (rotary pot) on the TX. Water is adjustable with the voltage reg but could be hooked to the motor ESC as well, with a voltage reg used to set max flow. I'm just using the Heng long smoker box (modified) for this test.
Hi Cash - pity we live so far apart looks like San Reno would give Darth Vader a run for her money - pretty impressive............nice sized lake too........
One question though - where's the Road Runner ?
I know ...I can't help it...thought I would share some pics of my collection. I have been adding Dodgers, handrails etc and continue to do so as well as starting new builds. Enjoy
Using the e-cig element in the alloy box again but with the old smoker pump bored out and converted to a single outlet in line with the piston. Even makes a cool sound out the exhaust side!. Still waiting for my air pumps so just playing around in the mean time. Also trying glycerin and water 50/50 instead of baby oil. The pump doesn't shift much air ( slightly more blowing than sucking, - sort of pulsing back and forward) but if I blow down a tube I get clouds of smoke, I'll see what the air pumps do. Still only running on 2v.
JB
Hi JB, That's interesting about the Dutch Girl, wonderful trip. I know about the Welsh settlements in Patagonia of course. Many of them are very proud of their ancestry. I was at the International Eisteddfod in Llangollen a few years ago and an official party from Welsh Patagonia were there as an official delegation.
I agree with you about the shops and what gets us is the scripted speech from the till assistant, 'can I help you with your packing, do you need bags? do you have a store card' and so it goes on. Try and enquire about something or ask for information and more often than not, they just bluster and cannot answer. No proper training or product knowledge at all. But this is it, the modern world, one often gets the impression that the government wants a populace of ignorant easily manipulated sheep, who will believe anything they are fed.
Made a few changes to the pulsing frequency/timing, and to the plumbing where the smoke is mixed with the water. Video shows the pulsing speeding up with throttle setting. Happy with this now, I can adjust the volume of smoke once it is installed in the boat. Probably will need less, but it is difficult to be sure as conditions on the lake are different to those in my workshop!
Re: I was wondering if adding propylene glycol might make a difference.
Don’t know what effect this would have. I’ll be interested to hear what happens if you try it. I find I have plenty of smoke using plain vegetable glycerine and I can increase or decrease it by adjusting the power to the smoker coil.
Graham93
Re:Had a look on the Microchip site, basic kit not too expensive but, as so often, the stuff you need to make it work well ain't so cheap☹️
I just use the PICKit2, which was cheap, and the free development software. The software lets you run a simulator on the PC where you can monitor your code, single step, set a breakpoint, etc. You can also monitor and change variable values. Some of the more sophisticated PIC16f chips allow you to debug your code running in the target hardware using the PICKit2 as the debug interface to your PC.
This version of a smoker box uses an E-Cig element in an alloy electronics enclosure.I gave the lid and box a 7mm haircut on the mill to reduce the size, (now 50x50x26, - was 50x50x33) but it could still be 1/2 the width. haven't found a smaller alloy box yet but might come across one, (only really needs to be 35mmx35mmx25mm The element is mounted on a bracket screwed to the bottom of the box (the box being the resevoir and neg) and against the outlet tube, and the pos wire runs through the side (in silicone tube) to the element.
The box is packed with cotton wool which is surrounding the element and soaked in smoke fluid (in this case baby oil) but leaving a passage through the center for air flow. I'm waiting for a couple of air pumps to arrive but I've used the old smoker unit pump again to demo the smoke and pulsing, (makes good smoke rings too)😊
The element is capable of taking 4.5v, but I'm only using 2v for the test and it smokes quite well. The pump is running on 7v but can be varied from around 3v - 8v. The large tubes are to allow for later exhaust fitting (water or dry stack). Once I get the air pumps I'll be running this one with the water again. I've done this (like Grahams version to be able to easily replace the element as the Heng Long smokers, while working ok (but noisy) have non replaceable elements, so if you kill one, it's off to file 13 at the end of the bench😉😁
The pump actually works quite well and if you mount it on sponge rubber it is reasonably quiet and could still be useful in a boat with a bit of interior room.
Super, I will be watching this with great interest. When the final version is finished I would like a set of diagrams and instructions. Or I could place an order for a dozen units.
Cheers Colin.
Looking forward to seeing what you used for jet drives - always wanted to modify a Tamiya PBR but the drives would be impossibly small - certainly no commercial ones available for 1/35 scale.
What hull was it that you used ? Looks like a good one.
Very interesting build sandkb, always fancied a build of one of these, since my build of a 1/35 plastic kit,
as redpmg requests, I would also like to know what jet drives you used, and the scale of the hull.😐
At last after 8 months I've finished my Vietnam River Gun Boat.
I've built this vessel using a made up fibreglass hull that pretty much measured up to the 1/9th scale with some modification that I wanted.
I will post photos of the build of the build over the next few weeks and answer any questions as they arise.
These pics show the initial hull modification underway.
Interested in your build of the Pibber River Gunboat. I have the Pro Boat version which performs well. Would like a bit bigger hull as there is not much room for normal size batteries.
Which hull did you use?
Also interested in the Patrol Craft Fast ( Swift boat)of the Vietnam era
Looking at all of your experiments it definitely looks as though you are really enjoying yourself.
Model X is a very nice unit.
In my opinion the best yet.
Martin555.