Super Smoker II review.

[jackalope]

Hi so I've been re-building my H/L Tiger I and thought it needed more exhaust smoke so I started searching and found "THE SUPER SMOKER II" and thought AH HA here we go! I watched the you tube videos and they looked promising so I called the phone number on the site and talked a very nice gentleman named Carl who builds these by hand in his basement in New York. I had him send me a paypal invoice and awaited my Super Smoker II, and waited, and waited, and waited some more. 3 weeks past and I get an email that its on its way 2 day priority mail, YIPPY! Hmmmmm..... Odd no tracking info but 2 day shipment from just over 100 miles up the road no biggie. Day 2 came and went and then so did day 3, day 4 and 5 and still no smoker and no update I was beginning to wonder if I got scammed but then on day 6 I got home from work and it had come in the mail. 2 day priority must mean something different in New York I guess but hey what ever I got it now so who cares!

Instructions are included to install it and so is a trouble shooting page and if further problems exist call me with Carls phone number so after reading the instructions I follow the break in procedure which is simple enough, fill the Super Smoker II with the included syringe 4 by filling the syringe 4 times and injecting the included smoke fluid into the fill tube and allow to sit for 15 minutes to soak the insides prior to use and then drain off any excess. I let it go for 20 minutes just to be sure then I fired up my Tiger and waited for the magic to happen! And waited, and waited, hmmmmm..... ok so I break out the instructions again and it clearly says it may take a minute or 2 to start working the first time just then a wisp of smoke appeared coming out of the mufflers! I quickly took it outside because I didn't want to smoke up my whole house as was shown in the you tube vids. Sure enough smoke is now coming out MUCH nicer then the factory unit EVER did so I start to move the tank because it has a proportional fan it pumps out more smoke when moving and sure enough it cranked out smoke like crazy!

Back inside to cut the exhaust tubes to size and mount the smoke unit in the tank with some double sided tape and another test run and I notice its no longer smoking from the right side so I pull the upper hull off and inspect the smoker and found the tube had condensation built up in it and the water had blocked the smoke. I re-adjusted the smoker so its right behind the rear bulk head and body clip (somewhere I really didn't want it to be because I had plans for this area) so the tubes are up hill to the holes for the mufflers and tested it out again and once again condensation blocked the tubes after only a few minutes of running.

I have cut, moved, notched, re-re-re-positioned the smoke unit and still the tubes get clogged with condensation. It still needs a good 5 minutes to "warm up" to start making REALLY good smoke that lasts for about another 4 or 5 minutes before a tube gets clogged and I have to clear the condensation from it. Also turns out the body is made of PVC pipe which gets VERY hot and got burned inside. The wick looks like rope but I'm not sure all I know is its burned too and its NEVER been run dry, in fact I can't run it for more then 5 minutes straight without one tube of the other becoming blocked.

After working with this thing for 3 days now its clear it is not worth the $60 I paid for it regardless of how nice Carl is. A phone call to him yielded little help or advice since he "can't control condensation" he doesn't feel there's anything wrong with the unit. If I had it to do over again I'd have saved my $60 and either modded the stock unit or built my own, something I plan to under take now as in my opinion the exhaust tubes shouldn't get clogged up.

I think before I build my own I'm going to try a different smoke fluid cause the stuff that came with the tanks seemed to work well and didn't cause condensation, I told Carl I thought it was the fluid and he said he doubted it that his fluid is "the best" but MAN that stuff stinks! I'll report back once the new fluid comes in and I give that a try but if it still gets clogged up this thing is being used for its parts.

[PainlessWolf]

Good Morning, Jack,
Thanks for the in depth review. So when it works, it _really_ works but then condensation shuts it down. I wonder if that is why some of the smokers I have seen run a wire through the tubes. I originally thought it was to assist in the fluid getting to the body of the unit and the wick but maybe some kind of warmer is at work as well.
regards,
Painless

[jarndice]

If you go to the electronics section of this forum and click on Smokers, go down until you get to ACOUSTIC SMOKER LATEST DESIGN, it is an easy build and does not require Trans-Atlantic postage! shaun

[billpe]

I also bought one of these and it was far to fragile. Best smoker I bought was off some Polish guy on Ebay. Thing works like a treat but isn't proportional.

[ALPHA]

Good Morning, Jack,
Thanks for the in depth review. So when it works, it _really_ works but then condensation shuts it down. I wonder if that is why some of the smokers I have seen run a wire through the tubes. I originally thought it was to assist in the fluid getting to the body of the unit and the wick but maybe some kind of warmer is at work as well.
regards,
Painless

Greetings Painless...that wire put in the tubes do help with the condensation...but that's not the intended purpose HL and other companies have for it... it's really to keep the tubes from collapsing

ALPHA

[ALPHA]

Jack...Smoking is hazardous to your health ....Really though... no matter what fluid you use you will get some form of condensation....try getting larger tubes...perhaps fabricate a collector for the smoke then connect the tubes that lead to the exhausts to that..preferably with the collector in a location lower than the exhaust ports

ALPHA

[jackalope]

Ok so SCREW that stupid smoker! I filled it up with other smoke fluid, it says it works with any of them, the damn thing smoked great for about 10 minutes and then BLACK smoke started pouring from the exhaust, IT WAS ON FIRE INSIDE!!! I quickly opened the tank up and ripped it out only to find it still had smoke fluid inside on it but the rope that was around the heating element had come into contact with the PVC body and caught it on fire. Thankfully I didn't lose my tank tho I did get burns on my right hand from the PVC being almost melted.

I'm gonna take its heating element, circuit board, and fan and build my own smoker.

Kinda pissed right now cause my hand hurts, my new smoker is trash and I almost lost my tank that I just spent the past 5 freakin days painting and detailing!

Thanks for the heads up where to look for tips Jarndice heading there now.

[dgsselkirk]

Wow! I would REALLY hate to have tank go up in flames because of a stupid smoker. Hope the hand feels better soon man...

So far I have had good luck with the polish guys and I like it better because it is an aluminum box and lid so no chance of a melt down of the casing. Also very reasonably priced I think. Makes enough smoke for me although it would be nice if it was proportional set up somehow...

[jtracks]

Thanks for the review jackalope. I almost pulled the trigger on one of those units yesterday but I won't now.

Joe

[ALPHA]

Wow! I would REALLY hate to have tank go up in flames because of a stupid smoker. Hope the hand feels better soon man...

So far I have had good luck with the polish guys and I like it better because it is an aluminum box and lid so no chance of a melt down of the casing. Also very reasonably priced I think. Makes enough smoke for me although it would be nice if it was proportional set up somehow...

That's how most of the ones I've seen are made... aluminum housings...kind of big..with copper fittings


ALPHA