Boosting a H.L. smoke unit

[Tankbear]

Strmnd54,

What does making the intake larger do? Guessing more smoke but would of thought that be limited to the heat output of the element.

Regarding the pulsing voltage to fan, I was thinking of maybe installing a resistor or diode or both across the fan supply. Idea been when supply removed the momentum of fan makes it a generator the diode will act as a dead short and stall the generator. Problem is these mini fans don’t act like motors (i.e. on a motor reverse supply polarity and runs backwards, that isn’t case on the fans) so not certain if the braking effect would work. Plus there is the speed up delay as well.

I’m going to try something different when I try this modification. As my smoke unit is non speed proportional, leave that as it is and only make the additional fan speed proportional and see what the effects are like. As I’ve found once the unit is installed and connected up to the exhaust the effects are somewhat diluted.

[strmnd54]

Increasing the size of the intake should also increase the air flow , hence more smoke at the output ....Since modifying a smoke unit is not an exact science ; there's a lot of trials and errors involved in the process....

As for the mini fan , the electronic required to power them is more complicated than it seems ...The following picture is an example ....

To make your smoke unit fully proportional ; you would need the board mounted on the proportional smokers ...If you want one , just send me a P.M. with your mailing address and I'll give you one ...( I have quite a few spare ones )

[markymark09]

Pm sent

[strmnd54]

Pm sent

Sorry ! But I didn't receive any P.M. from you ....

Meanwhile ,I proceeded with the full mod. of the smoke unit ..
Here's a short video and some pictures ...
Notice in the video the ease of maintenance provided by the refill probe : When smoke is coming out of the probe , there is around 1/16 " of fluid left in the unit ; just add a full Syringe to refill ...
This way you don't need to worry about running dry or overfill ...

http://youtu.be/0Uo89du7FoE

[markymark09]

Thanks, you sure took the smoker to a whole new level, thumbs up

[strmnd54]

You're welcome It's one of those " Why didn't I think of that before ? " moment ....
I guess it's better late than never ....

[markymark09]

Hey strmnd54, I was thinking of your smoker today and a idea came to me, , instead of two exhaust port and a fan, can you use one exhaust port and feed it to the pump chamber and tee off the other exhaust post into two, that way you won't need a fan and still have a proportional smoker. Almost like a turbo theory. I wondering if you might want to try it, I don't have my smoker modify yet.
Another question is way do you have to drill a 3/16 hole in the chamber, is it to feed the pump more.
Hope to hear from you to see what you think,

[strmnd54]

The 3/16 " hole is to increase the air flow ; since I increased the size of the exhaust pipes to 1/4 " ; I didn't want the system to starve ...

As for your idea , It's worth a try ...You never know if an idea works until you try it ....

Here's my conclusions to explain the mini fan improvments to the system ...( notice that I've been wrong before ... )

In order to fill the cylinder with air , the piston , on the back stroke ; has to suck air & smoke from the smoke chamber through the air port hole and the exhaust pipes ...Then it pushes everything out on the forward stroke ...

Adding smoke fluid , extending the exhaust pipes and increasing the piston speed ; diminish the volume of air filling the cylinder ....
And since the piston cannot push out more than it sucked in ; there's a lost of smoke at the output ...
The mini fan helps to fill the cylinder with cool air ; increasing the smoke output ....

[markymark09]

Thanks for your reply, I guess I will have to test my idea when I have a chance, been too busy lately, will let you know have it turns out

[strmnd54]

I was asked a week ago by someone who is in the trucking and excavators hobby to suggest a smoke unit for his models ...I tough about the boosted H.L. unit and wondered how it would perform with longer exhaust pipes in a vertical position
Since there wasn't many way to answer that ; I came up with this video ...