Smoker setup and troubleshooting

[Raminator]

I've mentioned a before that I've had a number of problems with my Tarr smoker. At this point, I've spliced in a DC step-up regulator, connected it directly to a LiPo battery, switched to Mega Steam and the smoke output is still sporadic and weak. It seems to periodically condense near the entry of the tubes and block them off, until they leak out the other end. Consequently, the entire rear of the tank was soaked in smoke fluid after ten minutes' or so of runtime.

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Am I doing something wrong, or have I got a dud smoke unit? I'm really unimpressed with this thing and don't see the appeal at all.

I'm trying to blot the oil off the tank right now, and I'm hoping it hasn't ruined the paint or weathering. Knowing my luck, I'm going to have to redo half of it.

[dgsselkirk]

Can I see the inside set up you have?

[MichaelC]

Can I see the inside set up you have?

That would help also make sure you use higher quality silicone tubing if you can get them from the local pet store. The don't kink and smoke would come out easier and not condense as it is much smoother.

[dgsselkirk]

Yep the slightest kink and the smoke builds up at that point changing from the vapour to the liquid and the pressure just keeps moving it along till it drops out your tailpipes... I have learned to put a little coil of wire in mine now to keep it from doing that... Also if you overload the smoker with fluid this can cause the same thing too. You get little smoke and more liquid than anything coming out...

Trust me, the Tarr's work and there is little that can go wrong with them...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ8zDq3JV_g

[tao]

Yes they are great..but I would make sure wick is okay and on the heating coil..test with lid off to see if coil is heating and producing
smoke on the coil..half fill or so with fluid..then test with fan and if all okay..hook all up to tank with tubes not bent as mentioned and should be fine!

[Raminator]

Can I see the inside set up you have?

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I've wired up a direct line from the battery to the voltage step-up (the blue circuit board between the speaker and motor), which feeds the heater coil. The fan is controlled proportionally by the IBU2.

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The tubing is looped around to give a wider bend radius to prevent kinking, and I've got a length of strong antenna wire to hold the shape and make sure it doesn't collapse in on itself. It looks like I'm getting a decent 3 millimetres inside diameter the whole length of both runs.

With the coil cranked to ~11 volts, about four pipettes' worth of Mega Steam and the fan pushed to 100% speed, I still get smoke fluid condensing in the tube inlets (where they come out of the smoker). I ran it under the rangehood in the kitchen so I could watch, and it doesn't behave anything like the one in your YouTube video (which, incidentally, I saw last year and helped convince me to buy the damned thing!); I'm not sure what's different or what I'm doing wrong.

[Del]

The pipes look fine,when i ran mine at 12v it produced too much smoke so i'd say check the heating element or wick as sugested.

[dgsselkirk]

Pipes look good but 4 doses of Mega Steam is too much. The most I ever put in is 2 and that is enough for 1/2 hour run time no problem.

You may be saturating the batting inside too much. How long have you let this run please? Let it run for 1/2 an hour. if you don't see an improvement in the smoke it may be the element. Although everyone says no problem to run at 11 V I know the manufacturer does not vouch for it running at that voltage...

[Raminator]

Cheers for the help guys, I appreciate it.

Pipes look good but 4 doses of Mega Steam is too much. The most I ever put in is 2 and that is enough for 1/2 hour run time no problem.

You may be saturating the batting inside too much. How long have you let this run please? Let it run for 1/2 an hour. if you don't see an improvement in the smoke it may be the element. Although everyone says no problem to run at 11 V I know the manufacturer does not vouch for it running at that voltage...

I might drain and strip the unit, turn down the voltage and give it a nice long run. Sounds like a weekend job, since I need to remove the gearboxes to get the smoker out. For what it's worth, I've also got a small saddle clip pressing the wick onto the heating element (if that makes a difference).

Also check the wire going to the element they some times break in the shrink wrap you can not see until you check I run mine at 8.4v and that is plenty of smoke

Your tubes are going down find some brass tube and insert it into tube on top plate of smoker unit it will prevent moisture blockage

I'll check the connections when I strip the unit down, but where would the brass tubing go? Inside the silicon tubing stubs that are in the lid?

[Raminator]

Thanks Selkirk and Kiaser, you were both correct; the Tarr was overfilled and the voltage regulator was being interfered with.

I drained the unit and refilled it with only one pipette full of fluid, and while the performance was better it was still recondensing in the tubes. I checked the voltage coming out of the step-up and it was only reading 7.2V (less than the battery!). Since I set the voltage before I installed it into the tank, it looks like the magnets in the motor altered the dynamic of the voltage change. As soon as I adjusted it back up to 10V the smoke started pouring out of the thing:

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Works like a charm, now! In the space of about twenty minutes running, I only had two blockages in the tube inlets and they both resolved themselves in a few seconds.