Discussion Smoke Setups

[GravyGoodness]

I have to run smoke on my MX2 for this season. I was told by a wise sage of R/C that smoke on a stick built plane is always a pain because of covering peeling back from the saturation of oil on the surface. I have been told to put clear nail polish over the seams to seal them up and prevent this.

I'm curious as to what people are currently running for their smoke systems. Do you have it mixed with throttle, what size plane, what size smoke tank, and smoke fluid of choice? Do the heating coils on stock mufflers really make a difference in smoke output/quality? Is your covering staying down?

I was thinking of going with a 20 oz tank and a Harris pump. I would like to run an adjustable rate on the slider on the side of my 10C for flow instead of the throttle.

Thanks for your input.

[William Storzuk]

I'am using the Skywrite by Sullivan. A throttle program mix to have 55% smoke oil at full throttle is all you need! The smoke will turn on at half throttle say 33% thru 55% full throttle waste as little oil as possible.

[FLYING_HIGH]

gravy your smoke setup sounds good
i use super dri http://media.chiefaircraft.com/media...d/mdw_1000.jpg
puts out good smoke.
i have read that on a gas engine a smoke muffler is not needed because the exhaust is hot enough to burn the oil just drill and tap for a nipple in your header close to your exhaust outlet. but i am sure more qualified people will jump in here.
i have a mx2 with a ys 140 so i bought a smoke muffler.

[cjgillette]

I've used TME, Sullivan and Harris smokers in my birds and they all work. The TME and Harris (competition version) pumps don't require an extra battery as they can run off the receiver power or an extra battery lead and run well on 7.4v. The Sullivan pump needs a 3 cell lipo to really rev up but when it does, it pumps out a lot of smoke juice.

Just tap in a 10-32 fitting (I get mine from TBM) near the exhaust and your off to the races. I don't time mine to the throttle - when I want smoke, I want smoke and its not always when I'm at a certain throtlle position. Instead, I tie mine to one of the lever switches so I can control the speed of the pump manually. That way I save as much oil as possible.

Speaking of oil, I use straight up #2 diesel. Smells like a truck stop, but smokes as well as any smoke oil I've tried. Some people mix it with baby oil or automatic transmission fluid - I've never tried that but have never really seen the need.

I've tried smoke on a glow bird many moons ago and it sorta worked - nothing like a gasser though. I tried smoke on an electric too, but the oil really gummed up the motor and didn't smoke at all. OK, just kidding on that last one.

C

[RTK]

Currently I am running the TME slaved to my throttle stick. My smoke tank is the same size as my fuel tank and I can produce excellent smoke for about 10 minutes flying a comp-arf 2.6.
I have tried a few home brew smoke oils (no diesel yet) and have found nothing that works as well as super-dri. I want to try the shell smoke/dielectric oil, supposedly it works just as well according to others that get it from full scale airshows

[GravyGoodness]

	Quote: Originally Posted by RTK
	Currently I am running the TME slaved to my throttle stick. My smoke tank is the same size as my fuel tank and I can produce excellent smoke for about 10 minutes flying a comp-arf 2.6. I have tried a few home brew smoke oils (no diesel yet) and have found nothing that works as well as super-dri. I want to try the shell smoke/dielectric oil, supposedly it works just as well according to others that get it from full scale airshows

Is running the smoke to throttle making that much of a difference? I would think once you find a good flow rate a simple on/off would suffice.

I don't know, this is why I am asking.

[RTK]

It makes a big difference on my 100cc plane. At just a click or so above idle it's a trickle with nice smoke in harriers etc., and goes up from there maxing at about 3/4 throttle. I run 32 ounce tanks.

[Tom G]

If you are running the smoke oil right in front of the exhast outlet, I would recomend mixing it with the throttle. On my 30cc I'm using a pitts style muffler so there is no baffle. before I got the mix right, I was bogging the engine down and sometimes stalling it out from pumping too much oil. On my 100cc im using stock mufflers and the easiest setup for me has the smoke oil hitting the baffles. I was worried that this wouldnt work as well but it really does! The other reason why you would want to run a mix is to cut down on unburt oil.

[Tom G]

Oh, and as long as I clean it good after flying for the day, I have not had a problem with covering coming up.
atleast no more than normal.

32oz tank on the 100cc
24 oz tank on the 30cc

[Outlaw308]

I run a Sullivan pump and use a 500mah 3 cell lipo for power and I do mix the throttle in it works great.

[TimSmith]

I run a sullivan on one plane and a harris on another,they both work great.And yes the less oil you are pumping into your exhaust the better. I even Crimpped the ends of the rube to get a better spray.I saw one member using carb jets as spray nozzles and his smoke oil would last nearly as long as his fuel would.
That s the next project. Carb jets on my spray tubes.I would even recommend a wrap of the tube around your head ,this helps to pre heat the oil, I noticed a major difference in the amount of cloud And density that my Carf Edge produced after wards.The tube wrap around the head helps considerably.And of this will save some money too.You dont want to pump ten bucks worth of smoke oil thru your system in two minutes.

[crash-n-burn]

Here are the keys:

1. If using a header wrap it with " header wrap", I have used Thermo-Tec available at autozoone.

http://www.thermotec.com/products/11...ite-black.html

2. Place your injection port close to the exhaust outlet

3. Do a throttle mix so at low engine RPM you are not loading your exhaust system with un-burnt oil.

4. Have a 1 WAY VALVE in the line between your smoke injector line and your smoke pump. Other wise exhaust back pressure will run into your smoke tank and can damage the smoke pump.

NOTE the check valve in the first PIC

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...P?I=LXLYW7&P=8

PICS:

The header wap is secured to the header with cable that is twisted around it in a "safety wire manner" The injection port on this header was subsequently moved forward for better smoke. The correct port position is seen in the second picture on the unwrapped "flex" header.

[tom erik]

I use Emcotec smoke-pump with check-valve. The check-valve gives a more crisp on/off of the smoke. It is programmed to 50% capacity on full power and 10% on idle.

I use a 3W 212 B4 with canisters.

EDIT: I have sealed all exposed seems in the Oracover with clear nail varnish

[Evenbigger D]

I have used the Sullivan pump hooked up with a "Y" connector (and a male-male jumper) so it runs off reciever battery power, no need for an extra battery. The pump speed adjusts with throttle setting also, way too much oil at 100% even for a ZDZ 210.

[vmceachern]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Evenbigger D
	I have used the Sullivan pump hooked up with a "Y" connector (and a male-male jumper) so it runs off reciever battery power, no need for an extra battery. The pump speed adjusts with throttle setting also, way too much oil at 100% even for a ZDZ 210.

Hope you got alot of battery cause it will draw it down rather quick.