smoke gen info

Dear Michael,

Thoughts in some vaguely logical order.

- Yes, it's big for a camp fire, but with an appropriate flue to draft the smoke up from the unit it could well work.
(takeaway, the smoke gen does _not_ "have to be" mounted directly under the scene, it could well be some inches below with adequate draft/flue design). 

Bonus points with a big unit is it should have a larger oil-tank, and be able to go longer without refilling

- 16V is a "moving target" for smoke gens. I know modelers who have hit a "16V gen" with short bursts of 24 or even 30 volts to get a "sudden violent eruption" of smoke, but the emphasis is on SHORT BURSTS.
(Yes, these modellers carry spare smoke gens in case the control circuitry fails and the "short burst" ain't short enough...)

Personally for "wafting drifting" smoke, I'll run a 16V Seuthe smoke gen at as-low-as 6V (usually between 6 and 9V), or "just above oil-cracking threshold". Gives a nice low-velocity "wafting" smoke, and greatly reduces the smoke-oil-burnt-per-minute quantity. (IE better appearance and more economical ).

- Personally I use DC on smoke gens, it's just a little easier to control.
Using an old DC train throttle with a DC meter connected in parallel, 
starting from OFF,
and slowly raising the voltage until the gen _just_ starts cracking the oil is a useful test.
(Make a note of the "just cracking" voltage. Replace the train throttle with a 78XX fixed-voltage regulator power supply, and you have a reproducible "smoke gen" condition).

- One _can_ use baby oil if _truly_desperate_, but there are a lot of reasons why you would _not_.
Baby oil is thicker than Name-Brand smoke oil, and can definitely congeal in the smoke-gen pathway if it isn't cleared when the gen is de-powered/goes cold. Baby Oil also tends to crack with a black sooty smoke,
and is the very source of many modeller's "smoke gens leave oily residue everywhere, so don't use them" complaint.

In contrast, name-brand smoke oil is _thinner_ and _better_formulated_, 
cracks with a white flume,
cracks almost _completely_,
and disappates in the atmosphere long before it has any chance to gather enough to condense and "leave oily residue" anywhere.

Seriously, the only reason to use Baby oil is because it's comparatively cheap, but with the typical model smoke gen being _not_ engineered to handle such a thick liquid it's a fools economy in the long run...

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

PS the "minimum voltage to crack the oil" will change depending on what oil/fuel you use

PPS A Seuthe 250ml smoke oil bottle costs around AUD$25 here, but has lasted me over 5 years of relatively continuous show use on both On30 ("Nine Mile") and HO ("Brooklyn : 3AM") show layouts...

Thanks Prof.....

...I was kind of hoping you would see this and throw your thoughts in, having seen you comment  on smoke generators before.   I will get  genuine smoke oil but  the issue is there is no place locally that has it. There is a dearth of hobby shops in this area. My only thought of baby oil was to run a quick test while waiting on a mail order shipment of the real stuff  to arrive

Michael.

911

Don't forget to model a fire truck and squad car to respond to reports of "illegal burn".

pqe

Don't forget to model a fire

 I hardly think so in the 1930's!  Most people had more important things on their mind and minded their own business. But you'd probably be on target with the environmentally and politically correct finger pointing society we live in today!

Michael

It works....

....as the baby oil test was successful. I used a very small amount just for test purposes and it was going pretty good at 9VDC. Certainly enough for a HO campfire. The scene is iin it's infant stages right now and still forming in my mind so I'll definitely get some "real" smoke fluid on order now.

Michael

Great ideas

Michael, I can see this scene shaping up nicely. One nice touch to your visual story, which I have always wanted to do but never had the hobo scene...a couple of curious boys snooping on the 'bos. In my riverboat landing scene I am planning, I will have a couple of boys on a rock fishing, watching the riverboat activity. Anyone familiar with Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn can pick up the story from there...

It would be neat to see a video of the effect once you have built the scene, photos probably won't do it justice.

(modern) Homeless in the rain...