Automotive smoke machine build.

[ukracer]

My son has borrowed an automotive smoke machine to check the intercooler connections.

I am wondering if anyone has made one or knows how they work.
They dont seem cheap but I can't see with the advent of vaping and cars chucking out great clouds of the stuff from the drivers window that it can be that difficult to use a vape machine to stick smoke into the right place.

I am all ears..especially if we have any vapers on here.

 

[ukracer]

Been doing a bit of digging and I can get cheap disco smoke machines as no where wants them used in their premises. Lol

Is there any reason why a few connectors and valves would not make a disco machine controllable?

 

[pcwizme]

I expect the automotive will be much denser smoke, and probably hang in the air longer, and looks like it runs on 12v with a gas bottle, I have a 110v one that uses pressurised cans of gas fluid (so after heating it can run for about 20minutes unplugged) and I reckon thst might work for what you need, but new they are over 600 quid

 

[ukracer]

I expect the automotive will be much denser smoke, and probably hang in the air longer, and looks like it runs on 12v with a gas bottle, I have a 110v one that uses pressurised cans of gas fluid (so after heating it can run for about 20minutes unplugged) and I reckon thst might work for what you need, but new they are over 600 quid

The one he used tonight used Johnsons baby oil..

 

[pcwizme]

Yeah so a light oil, theatrical ones use water mixed with I believe its glycerin to not set off asthma ect. Baby oil smokes at a far higher tempreture (they used to make toys thst used sewing machine oil to smoke)

 

[ukracer]

Found what I was looking for.

Gonna custom print in ABS its own container....got 12 wicks on there way and off we go.

 

[anto44]

I have the snap on version of this, the proper fluid is mental money but lasts ages. I was told on a training course never to use anything other than the proper fluid due to how sensitive the newer type lambda probes are to contamination.

 

[ukracer]

I have the snap on version of this, the proper fluid is mental money but lasts ages. I was told on a training course never to use anything other than the proper fluid due to how sensitive the newer type lambda probes are to contamination.

I wonder why....with the proper fluid being mental money..

 

[gaz_moose]

its on my list of things I want to own, I was going to look into using those smoke bomb things that gas fitters use to check chimneys. I think you can get those in bright orange which should make it easier to spot leaks.

 

[Rayf]

Polyglycol is what the fire services use for B.A. training in regular theatrical/stage type machines.
N.F.R.S. used to buy the polyglycol in 1000L IBC's, used to have around four "in stock" so I doubt its really that expensive.
Do you know any firefighters?

 

[Gareth_16V]

Yes, you just need some way of capturing whatever smoke you can make and then pressurising the can to push the air/smoke mix through the system. The most basic way of doing that is a coffee jar with two holes in the lid for two Schraeder valves - without the cores. One valve gets pushed into a pipe to connect to the system, the other can be pressurised using a tyre inflator. Those smoke pellets do burn hot, so I don't think plastic would be suitable for those.

 

[JohnH]

I knocked one up a few years ago



Its made from an American DJ MiniFog https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/American...590317?hash=item4221200dad:g:vO0AAOSwWeZfZ5Nm



Drilled a couple of holes on top for mounts



added a few bits and 8obs



Cost about £40 all in and just uses whatever fluid came with the fog machine. I've used it on a few cars and it works very well. The hardest part is finding/making an adaptor to feed the smoke onto the afm/maf or whatever.



My old E28.

 

[blackolive (Ste)]

disco smoke machine stuff is glycerin based. I can remember years ago dripping the stuff onto a 2kw fan heaters element in the garage and filling it with disco smoke. now if only Id thought of flavouring it and encouraging people to suck it into their lungs in great gobfuls Id have been onto a winner

maybe some sort of arrangement to drip it onto a vaping coil in a tub and blow air through it

 

[RaceDiagnostics]

I made one out of scrap in the garage, a fag and a inflatable bed pump, then used to find a vac leak on my xk8.