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Tarr smoker, NO or little smoke

Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2017 3:04 pm
by minimivic
Got an ibu with an ibu edition tarr smoker which we installed yesterday, initially we got some smoke (not much) but now it’s non existent, just a little smell.
Using the stock taigen smoke oil at present.
Tarr has voltage and proportional fan is fine.
I removed the lid and all seems fine internally, the resistor gets warm and there is oil on the wick. With lid off I get some smoke but not worth taking about.
Any ideas?

Re: Tarr smoker, NO or little smoke

Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2017 3:35 pm
by tomhugill
Is the fan working as it should? Is the element and fan plugs in the correct socket?

Re: Tarr smoker, NO or little smoke

Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2017 3:47 pm
by minimivic
Yes tom all connected correctly, fan is working slow at idle, and speeds up when driving.
I connected it to the taigen mfu with just heater and got a small amount of smoke.
Both ibu and taigen have around 6.8v at the smoker connectors.

Re: Tarr smoker, NO or little smoke

Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2017 2:45 am
by c.rainford73
Hi I know this sounds silly but can you unplug the fan and let the element warm far a bit and see if smoke builds up?

Some of my Tarr smoker systems need a bit of a break in period and then they smoke very nicely.

I hold the fan from spinning or in this case unplug the fan and have the element heat of for a bit.

Also in the ini. Files for the IBU what are your settings on the SD card? I've also had an issue with too little oil or as I've learned too much

Re: Tarr smoker, NO or little smoke

Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2017 6:58 am
by minimivic
By plugging just the heater into a taigen mfu I get the most smoke, but still hardly visible.
I have changed the settings on the ibu I think to 1 sec off 4 seconds on, but have tried others.
Wick is covered in oil as that’s where the filler drains directly onto the wick.
Had it connected for 30 mins with no difference.

Re: Tarr smoker, NO or little smoke

Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2017 9:22 am
by Raminator
One of my Tarr smokers needs more voltage to work than it ought to. It's ostensibly a 7.2 V one, but needs to be stepped up to 11 V before I get any smoke out of it. Conversely, my 12 V Tarr melts the solder on its own wires when it runs on 11 V, and needs to be stepped down to 7.2 V. I wonder if perhaps their inventory system could do with some improvement.

Do you have any way to try running it at a higher voltage (if even only for a few seconds)?

Re: Tarr smoker, NO or little smoke

Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2017 7:53 pm
by minimivic
At 9v I get better smoke but still not much, at 12v I get good smoke but didn’t do this for very long in case it breaks.
Now what do I do though, it’s no good at 7v.

Re: Tarr smoker, NO or little smoke

Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2017 8:14 pm
by tomhugill
Have you contacted Ian (tankbear) at rctankelectronics?

Re: Tarr smoker, NO or little smoke

Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2017 8:48 pm
by minimivic
Not yet his site says away till the 3rd jan, but will email.

Re: Tarr smoker, NO or little smoke

Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2017 12:38 pm
by Vanguard
I've had problems with the Tar smokers, so opted for the convertion which I found on here, which was a taigen smoker box but instead of the pump used a fan which has proved most successful :) Steve.