DalaGStanator's Customs, Mods and Experiments

It occurred to me that homemade smoke units are much easier to make than I thought they would be a few years ago. I've found multiple variants of them that use either fire in a tube or a nichrome heating element with glycerine/machine oil in cotton wool. Both types have a fan or a vacuum pump for the smoke to billow. A YouTuber named Quazar made two different steam engines with a hot wire smoke unit, and it would be amazing to have one of my own models with it. Too bad the pump makes them whine like Gordon in "Whistles and Sneezes" and totally ruins the illusion, even though it's safer and more compact.

I initially had mixed feelings about the fire based version, but gained enough courage to build one and risk trying it. The first two tests went well until the fan's blades broke off, but I didn't manage to record until the fifth test (pictured). I had to hold a battery in one hand (while pressing the wires over it) and the whole unit in the other, so a 2x battery pack allowed me to put it down. Just 3V were enough to give a decent effect, which I think might be harder with nichrome wired to the motor. I'm thinking of using 6V (four batteries) to power smoke in an engine, if not a separate 9V battery for it.

At one point, the flame got closer to the fan and even sparked for a bit before I managed to save the unit. The fan broke again and soot got into both halves, so I eventually took it apart. I'm just thankful it didn't go horribly wrong, though it (inevitably) left a nasty odour of burnt tissue paper.