Might have a look at x7, thanks Peter.
JB

Lovely job Ian, looking forward to the video.
JB

Did you mean these Phil😂 (sorry, just had to)
JB

Sounds good to me Ron👍
Hi Doug, This is an easy way to print white lettering using that method, (using Windows 'Paint' and white decal paper). Being that you can't see white lettering on the screen this method allows you to see what you are doing. 'Paint' is a bit crude and unfortunately does not allow you to 'cant' or bend letters to go round a curved surface (such as the tugs' stern where you need a curved decal) It also can leave jagged edges when blown up, which need manually tidying with some of the other tools.

Re your problem with the navy blue, you could have scanned a good sample of the colour, copied it to paint, and used the 'colour picker' and 'fill' tools to do your background (a small colour adjustment might be needed using the 'edit colours' tool) I did that with the BD6 which is genuine 'Charger Orange' metalic (a la Dukes of Hazzard - and the original colour of the planes side flash,) which turned out pretty close.

I used Corel Draw years ago which was very good (you could grab a word and twist it or bend it round in circles. Unfortunately it does not work on windows 8.1. There are much better drawing programs around today which would be great for decal making (note to self, - get one!) By the way, use the transparent selector to move things without bringing the background with them, (when moving something from outside the drawing onto the drawing)
JB

You must be giving her too much lip Martin😁
JB

That's looking great, good likeness of the original

Who's a lucky boy then??😊😊😊😊 Keep us posted on the assembly. Thinking of 'punking' it by any chance😂?, perhaps making a lizardarium complete with foliage and sun lamps for a conversation piece? 😂😂😂
JB

Merry Xmas from down here in in the colonies (NZ, the better one). It's been great chatting with everyone and swapping ideas this last year. Hope everyone has a great Xmas and happy new year and stays safe over the hols. Don't worry about the lack of sun up there,❄️ we're on daylight saving down here,☀️ so we'll put some aside and send it up in a few months😂
All the best to everyone for 2020.🎉🎁🎈👍
John B

Any updates on progress? Well worth re- doing.

Hi Mike. I used 2 mini air pumps (3v) same as the one you are using, (1 per side) Drawing is of method used but without the smoke (as mentioned,- no room) and just running an extra line from the cooling pump instead to the smoke/air exit. The larger 12v pump I tried (see latest smoker attached to exhaust pipes vid) works a lot better and is quieter if you have the room.
John

Very nice work, I'm looking forward to the launching vid.
JB

Re - I have caught up now and by reading through the posts.

Hi G6, interesting info! The bucks I'm using get hot around 4A but that's because the coil I'm using in the Y model is a bit much for it. It seems that the rectifier is the bit that's getting hot, -not so much the voltage reg. These are supposed to have an over temp shutdown but they haven't got to that stage yet. As mentioned, they are supposed to handle 5A but I would say max 2 continuous is about it,.

The ideal thing of course would be to match a battery and coil with the required voltage and Amp capability, (and doing away with any voltage wasting electronics) for 'start up' effect using an on off switch or timer/reducer as Graham has done, - boats don't smoke all the time unless the motors are stuffed, more like a bit of exhaust steam (depending on the exhaust system),- dry exhausts are a different story.) Whatever you do could be correct in a particular set-up and of course you could make up any story you like to explain why or how much the boat smokes (or not)😁

Rectifiers in these are 20100CT and the V Regs are XL 4016El if that gives any info into the makeup of these particular bucks (I'm no whiz at electronics,-very basic)
JB

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Nice job Graham, looking really good now and 'fully loaded', a regular floating gadget factory! When's the next vid with all the toys working? Envious of all the nice room you have to play with.😴
JB

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Drawing is how the smoke would have to be set up to overcome water pressure stopping the smoke coming out on the HSL, as the exhausts fill with water, (you would need the extra air pumps to keep the tubes clear) It's just too much to fit in, hence giving it away on that model for now. Clear as mud Martin?😁
JB

I've tried the large water pump I had in the HSL (swapped for a smaller one as it was heavy and overkill) and it worked quite well as an air pump (see vid - latest smoker model Y hooked to exhausts test) Problem is with these diaphragm pumps, is that the stroke is very short and they have to run fast to get any decent pressure. As mentioned previously I have some 12v 3D ceramic printer elements coming so it will be interesting to see how they work.

I've also ordered 2 of the vape pens you mentioned to try $5.76 for 2 so it won't break the bank (thanks for making me spend money Martin!😂) lucky I don't smoke or drink (or vape), although I might as well with all the glycerin I've been breathing lately! I think those tanks are what Graham used with the addition of a bigger tank, and they worked well.

It's off to the hammock for me, so, afternoon from me (3.42AM here) must have me beauty sleep😂
JB

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Going great guns there, planking looks much better than printed,-very nice!
JB

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Thanks for the info Martin, looks interesting. Might have a look on Ali Express and see what's available. I did manage to get the 'model Y' working in the HSL with the twin pump set-up but the problem was the same as before, with the exhausts on the waterline. If the boat was dead still and level it worked fine, but the moment either exhaust went under water it stopped working and the smoke just came out the opposite side. I hadn't fitted it properly and had wires and bits everywhere and all the stuff necessary would not have fitted anyhow.

You need an air pump, voltage reg, smoker and water pump, plus all the hoses, so it's a lot of bits to fit into a space that's 2"W x 4"L x 2"H. Basically, to make it work as it is, I'd need the twin pumps (to keep the tubes clear (as in this vid), plus the water pump, plus a smoker, plus a smoker air pump, plus all the plumbing ( see drawing) It might not be a problem if it didn't have twin sound units and all the other bits and pieces, plus the drop floor in the wheel house which takes up heaps of space (not to mention 2x 2s LiPos, 1 3s LiPo and a 3v dry cell pack for lights/small air pumps.

I might just leave well enough alone for now and have a look at your suggestion for the ST, which although not having much room under the cockpit floor, might have space for a small unit like that. Had another idea along similar lines, using ready wound coils on a base, packed with cotton and slid into a small alloy tube with end caps. They would be small and very basic and you can buy coil selections with various ohm ratings.

I found the new coils I bought (50-85w are way too grunty and suck 3,7A at 2.46V - 41w (good smoke), but the first one I tried in the alloy box (40-80w) was only1.6A at 2.46v - 18.9w (good smoke) so there is a lot of experimenting that could be done for the best coil type.

We have now (1 DEC) have had 15% GST (grab and snatch tax) put on all online O/Seas purchases, - incl freight (this labour govt is giving money away flat out so they have to steal it off us somewhere else) so this is going to add a big cost to R/C modelers here. Prices round the country are going to go up on every NZ online store as well. All because of entitled shop owners whining because they can't rip as many people off as before, - seem to think it's their right not to have any competition, - supposed to be a free market economy!?? (funny the govt is not targeting their online purchases, - only private sales ) If these useless t..ts get back in next time I might consider becoming Australian!!😠😠😠😠 My favourite $2 shops will probably be $3 shops now!.

All that means I'll be buying less online now (batteries will now be an arm and 2 legs now) so I'm glad I bought all my expensive bits (TXs etc) years ago!
JB

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Gave up trying to fit a smoke device in the HSL due to lack of room so decided to try something else. Set up the twin small air pumps (1 per exit) and made some y joints to link them to the pump and exhaust outlets,. Works reasonably well and not too noisy. Breaks up the flow a bit and gives it an 'exhaust flow look'.
JB

R/C BOAT, EXHAUST WATER WITH AIR INJECTION

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Well done inspector! you've caught out the dastardly Sainsburys secret ham taster😂
JB

Re - As for "air collector" I suspect that the amount of air being pushed into the container by the fan .

Probably correct in one part Mike, but it works fine in the open air (only a 6v fan,- see vid More Smoker Stuff 2, - 20 days ago), I think it just doesn't get enough air in this application as the motor space is not very well vented and also as you said, not enough air getting out the other end.
JB

Hooked it up to test exhausts and set the voltage a bit higher (2.6v) to show a bit more smoke. It can go to 3.5V but the test V reg Buck wont handle it (I've fitted a fan but still gets hot quick on 3.6V although not quite as bad.)
JB

MY LATEST R/C SMOKER HOOKED TO EXHAUSTS (TEST)

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Re - That is the problem we practice our art of model making for many many years

Model making and collecting are a form of mental illness Martin, I'm sure you know that!?😂
JB

Any pics of fan air 'collector' into smoker? I tried using a 12v fan and once everything was closed in I found that smoke came back through the fan ( any back pressure, ie long hoses lack of air in, causes fan cavitation and lack of thrust, letting built up smoke back into the boat.
JB

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Re - With all of these smoker experiments i have noticed that there has been no mention

Same with mine Martin, it's run fully open for max airflow. The alloy tank version I made just has the coil on a bracket so no coil base or tank base, (very simple and seems to work just as well really)
Air from the pump just goes into the box and comes out through the element which is up against the exit pipe stub (comes inside a few mm).
JB

Hi Mike, how about a couple of pick-ups at the transom (as shown on my HSL), but with one reversed (angle/ chamfer backwards) for the monitor pump which should work as a venturi rather than a pick-up like the other one (for water cooling pump etc) but at slow speed would allow pumping (pump in my reply to Graham is self priming and quite powerful - and cheap enough to buy a few spares😊) You could put say, 3-4mm linear flow solenoids on your monitor lines to open with the monitor pump (or fractionally before to avoid pipe blow-offs, leaks etc)
JB

These 12v pumps are pretty good Graham, just tried my one (ex cooling pump from the ST) and it will squirt water 3ft plus from a 3mm pipe. Quite cheap on Ali Express so 1 per monitor would be all you need (or 1 for 2 with say 2mm pipe. Feeds in and out need to be 3mm+ to reduce friction. I ran it on a 3s to try it with a 5mm inlet pipe. If you run it at 12v and you reduce the outlet to 2mm you will probably double the distance. If you decide to try one of these, make sure it is this model with the ribbed front plate shown, as they have a higher output than some others (1.5-2L/min.

Found these work quite well as air pumps also, just a bit noisier (some advertise them as air pumps and others as water pumps- same thing.
JB

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Re - I have this feeling that you will start getting withdrawal symptoms when you Finish these experiments.

Probably Martin, I'm starting to dream about smoke so I think I should stop before I spontaneously combust !😂
JB

Hi G6, yes, I removed the whole device. It was cooked due to a short/over voltage when the voltage buck threw a rod. Wired it up direct with another buck turned down to 2v. I'm going to try some other coils to drop the amps and have fitted a 12v fan to this buck to help cool it.
JB

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This is the latest smoke version running on only 2,2V (4 Amps) and using a 12v water/air pump running on 8v to push the smoke. I can't run it on 3v (coil capable of 3.5v) as the regulator (5 Amp) is only rated for around 3.5A continuous (found that out cooking the last one) They say they have an over heat cutout, - but not so much☹️!

Don't need any more smoke than this for most applications I would think, but it's there if you need Mt Etna. Might see if I can get some lower wattage coils to drop the amps. I've ordered a few different 5A regulators to try, but I think fans are going to be needed to cool them. I think this is about as small as you can make these, using this method and easy to find bits and pieces, as you have to leave a reasonable air gap so as not to melt the housing, (also to pack the cotton around the coil)

There are the pre-wound coils to try next which might be able to be fitted in a smaller metal housing, but that's for later. I'm sure everyone has the idea by now and it will be interesting to see what others come up with for their particular models.
JB

LATEST R/C SMOKE DEVICE TEST

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Re - That is a very nice unit
I could be making it for a 3 engined MTB or PT but I'm not Martin. 😁 The smoke was only coming out the front pipe (filler) as I had not packed the cotton in at that stage (or capped it) and was just running it for a short time with the coil soaked, to see how it would go. The filler is above the coil .
JB