RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

The Tarr Smoker does not work with the new Taigen Board, That's common knowledge But does it work with the new Heng Long V6.0/1?
Has anyone tried it out yet?

Anyone figured out why the Tarr smoker does not work with taigens V3 board? I had to go with a G.I smoker in my Taigen in the end. Hopefully there will be a fix for it for V4.

This is the Heng Long smoke unit for V6.0 MFU's, according to the Haya site. On the face of it, I can't see that it differs substantially from other smokers with two connectors. Edit, just to add a little more info to the thread, the G.I smokers offer the following features (text pasted from Ebay):
"....
BARONESS 2-7.2V unit is a simple plug and play with 1 JST XH 2.5 plug for fully proportional smoke output for ElMod Fusion ECO/PRO REV F, IBU2, and Taigen V2 and V3 systems.

LADY JAYE-7.2V unit is a fully proportional upgrade smoke unit specifically for the Heng Long TK 6.0 and 6.1, IBU2U and IBU3, and Clark TK 60 and TK 80 control boards. Simple plug and play with 2 plugs, programming of the control board by the user can modify the amount of smoke. 1 JST XH 2.5 plug for the heating element and 1 JST XH 2.5 plug for the fan.

SCARLETT-7.2V Unit has a secondary fan, and is fully proportional WITH NO SOLDERING REQUIRED. It is designed to work with Heng Long, Taigen V1, Tamiya, Torro, and other radio controlled 7.2V Tanks with one or two motors. Plug the JST XH 2.5 plug into the smoke output port. The pair of black cables connects to the Black and Red leads of one motor.

COVER GIRL-12V unit is an upgrade smoke unit, simple plug and play with 1 JST XH 2.5 plug for fixed or variable smoke output. Only for use in tanks using a 12 Volt Battery....."

From the above, we can glean that a smoke unit with a JST connection for the heating element, and another XH 2.5 mm JST for the fan, should work with the HL TK 6.0/6.1 boards. Which one of the Tarr units most closely matches the configuration of the Lady Jaye, then? The Taigen V3 MFU now only has one connector for the smoker. The switched connector (smoke on/off), adjacent to the smoker connection, is now the Track Recoil Switch. The on/off for the smoke unit is on the Transmitter. I'm guessing that somewhere along the PCB signal routing, the new path for the TX triggered smoke signal (on/off) somehow doesn't reach the Tarr unit. Or maybe there been a change in voltage supply on the V3 board, such that's it's now insufficent to run the 7.2-7.4 VDC Tarr unit.

The Tarr Mk 111 Pro and MkIV pro units work with versions 1 and 2 of the Taigen control board; but not V3. Vs 1 and 2 had two sockets on the MFU for smoke units (on/off and smoker output). V3 only has one.
That has to be significant. Incidentally, here's the wiring array for Tarr 111 and IV Pros:
(from rctankelectroncis) The different versions of the Tarr unit vary quite a bit, but- I think I'm right in saying- that 'proportionality' is dependent on the unit being wired directly to the drivetrain motors. This is not the case, however, with Taigen smoke units. The sense of increased speed seems to come down some other trace on the PCB.
On the subject of practicality, I see that the latest Tarr units on Ebay are available with transparent cases. This makes it a lot easier to see how much fluid remains...(or whether meltdown is fast approaching...)

If this is all about proportional smoke then the smoke unit will need a minimum of 3 wires, 4 if there isn't a shared neutral. One power lead provides for the actual smoke generated and the other for the fan/pump, the current to the fan being proportional and mirroring the throttle.

Is this where the mfu fails to support the smoker? If so it shouldn't be too difficult to provide a second power lead but, if so, is it missing a constant current or variable?

I'm sure Dave at Forgebear l can help with this.

Have this , a picture is worth a thousand words. Bought this and now cant remember what its for might be for an HL smoker. I gave up on them as Tarr was quieter and the heater worked for far longer.

General Jumbo01 wrote:If this is all about proportional smoke then the smoke unit will need a minimum of 3 wires, 4 if there isn't a shared neutral. One power lead provides for the actual smoke generated and the other for the fan/pump, the current to the fan being proportional and mirroring the throttle.

Is this where the mfu fails to support the smoker? If so it shouldn't be too difficult to provide a second power lead but, if so, is it missing a constant current or variable?

I'm sure Dave at Forgebear l can help with this.

That makes good sense.
It struck me that wherever Tarr smokers are mentioned,though, one learns that they won't work with Taigen V3 MFUs. Yet nobody says why this is the case. I Just thought I'd try to find out.
Maybe the issue might be less to do with proportionality, and more with the on/off function.

Or even the voltage? They do like to keep us in the dark. It must be a RTR thing!

I too did the same thing and installed GI Smokers with my Taigen V3 board, super happy with the result.