Control smoke problem tips

[smokywave]

Hi,
it is since a while that the smoke unit of my Tiger I is not producing smoke at all!
I added some oil, but even if I can ear the pump working properly, I don't have the nice effect of the smoke.
I don't want to open the hull!!!
There is any tricks that can help me in this issue?
Someone can help me?

[Kaczor]

Unfortunately, sometimes you have to open the tank. This is a useful skill to perform minor repairs and maintenance.

[Estnische]

The smoke unit has two parts - an air pump and a heater unit. Sounds like the air pump part is working. The smoke is made by an electric wire getting hot while wrapped in cotton soaked in glycerine 'oil'.

There are three possible causes for no smoke:

- you flooded the cotton and it is blocking the smoking tube
- the wire has burned out or broken
- you deactivated the smoker with your radio controller (see the manual) - perhaps unlikely if you are hearing the air pump

Seems like you need to get handy with a screwdriver and open 'er up. Then you will discover the benefits of the Taigen hull with clips instead of screws.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Advance fearlessly, Smoky. If you have an electronic camera or cell phone, take pictures with each step, for they will help you put it all back together. Chances are you will be able to fix it yourself at no cost with a bonus of learning. (Hey, if I can do it, anyone can do it.) At the worst--as is highly unlikely, you will need to replace the smoke unit, which is easy-breezy. In fact, if you are in the US, I have extra Taigen smoke units you can have for the cost of postage.

[jarndice]

Smoke units are historicaly unreliable and as smoking Tanks are not desirable in the real thing many of us once the thing inevitably fails we take it out and forget about it.

[YYCADM]

You will need to get into the hull and dig into the smoke system a bit. My Henlong Merkava smoke generator burnt itself out and melted the top of the generator completely. I removed the entire system, and ordered a metal unit from Twinhorse. I had to do a little fabrication to fit things properly in the hull, but it's really a worthwhile project if you want consistent smoke.
The Merkava is seeing a lot of T.V. coverage lately with the Israel/Gaza conflict, and it's a smoky beast so I wanted the unit functional. It works much better now