Large Scale Central

Smoke generator

General Discussion
#1

Just a thought came to my mind, a happening seldom noticed, and seldom of much use…!!

How would one go about constructing, at very low cost, a small (Larger than the ones for electric powered locomotives) smoke generator, to be used in an industrial complex in the garden ? (To produce a moderate volume of smoke, as one would see coming from a good sized chimney)

I’m thinking of something that would generate smoke that would not be injurious to breathing, and could have some scent such as Pine, Birch, or cedar.

It would be great if it only needed refueling once in 4-6 hours, with something like lamp oil or stove oil. Possibly modeled after the miniature smoke units we all know of, running on 9 volts or so.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Fred Mills

#2

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LFVWL5U?psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Zero-Toys-Wizard-Stick/dp/B000FIN0V8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491087065&sr=8-1&keywords=Model+Train+Smoke+Generator

(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

#3

http://trainelectronics.com/Animation_Smoke/

#4

The refueling requirement is way away from an E cigarette … the professsional fog machines that use heat seem to be pretty economical… and you get a remote!!

You want the heat as opposed to the ultrasonic ones, so the smoke rises…

Greg

#5

Greg, Dave uses a medicine bottle for the reservoir, so it doesn’t need filled all that often. And the vapor does rise from Dave’s set up. I think its fan driven. And the volume it puts out is actually quite impressive, impressive to the point where we had to not run it for a while so we could breathe. And of course Dave did a remote, would you expect anything less from Dave?

#6

Yep, fan driven from an air pump from a Kurig coffee maker. I did watch the video.

But bottom line is that no matter the heating element, to produce a lot of smoke takes a lot of fluid. I have friends that use these units and the element is not designed for continuous duty.

I found one of those 1000w fog machines that holds a liter of fluid for $32, with a wireless remote and a hardwired remote. Can’t beat that deal.

Greg

#7

True. But I wouldn’t want my backyard to become shrouded in a blanket of model factory smoke. It would be prototypical for my era around these parts. But that’s a detail I will leave out.

#8

When Greg needs smoke, he just lights up a cigar. He just uses his free human pump.

#9

Instead of smoke, maybe you could do it with water mist. I have ultrasonic misters (7) in my volcanos and hot springs and everyone thinks I use dry ice.

If you get a “self filling” pet bowl, it will maintain the water level/mist for a looong time. Mine continually refill from the river/volcanos.

These run on 24 vac/1 amp so are safe for use outdoors. Cost is ~$5 each plus your ac power supply. The Radio Shack 24 volt, 2 amp trasformers will run two perfectly.

#10

Dan Pierce said:

When Greg needs smoke, he just lights up a cigar. He just uses his free human pump.

your not far off.

about 20 or 25 years ago, for a model of a factory, i made a chimney out of a copper tube covered with window pane putty “bricks”.

the lower end was closed with a coarse grate of nails. on one of the walls of the chamber below i put the smallest ventilator i found (about 6" diameter)

for showing off, i just threw a burning (cheap!) cigar into the chimney. = lots of smoke!

#11

Dan Pierce said:

When Greg needs smoke, he just lights up a cigar. He just uses his free human pump.

I used to light up Greg with two words…

Battery Power!(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

#12

John, oh no!!

#13

DCC cigars… that’s the ticket!

The ultrasonic generators make “smoke” that hugs the ground, since it’s not heated. I’m sure the effect on a volcano looks great, but smoke from a smokestack is supposed to go up.

Of course if it is fan driven aggressively perhaps the velocity will mimic a smokestack.

Greg

#14

True, but if there is a temperature inversion, the smoke will go up to the inversion layer, level off, and then drift downwind.

#15

Yep, also it a good haven for flying pigs. :wink:

Seriously, the $32 machine I found starting with David M’s links on Amazon seem pretty cool, and perhaps you could make a manifold and “smoke” multiple stacks or buildings with some tubing.

The drawback would be the 110v, but no batteries to recharge. Perhaps internally it runs from a lower voltage.

Greg

#16

Of course there is always the Pola unit. These can run all day on a single fill. I used to use one in my Del Oro module and it would run pretty much all day. I think I still have a couple…, one even still sealed in the box.