I've been eyeing a project for a while, and it might be out on the horizon, but id like people input. Maybe you've done it or planned it before too? I'm planning this for HO scale. O scale could use more smoke and bigger fans or just a simple ultrasonic disc. I found 10mm x 3mm 3VDC fans. They put out just over 1cfm, which for this application should be more than enough. At 12V tack voltage, a 100ohm 1 watt resistor will keep the V at 3 which is in the middle of the operating V of the fan (2.5-3.5V). Sound is 15dB and would be muffled outside of the shell for sure. The cooling effect on the generator should be negligible or at least easily addressed with a bit of insulating paint of material on the smoke gen. So, The idea is to install the smoke generator with a small air gap between its output and the stack of the locomotive/car. The gap is for the pressurized air to flow through, accelerating the smoke up and out of the stack. Giving it a more real look for things like GTEL's and diesels. Steam locomotives would benefit too, but it still wouldnt be the massive plume it should be. This air would accelerate the smoke out of the stack instead of it just kinda floating out. What do you all think of this idea/concept? 10mm should fit in most engines.
Interesting size. My mind is already racing with possible applications at work (local cooling on PC boards, etc.). Then my mind took to the siding off the main line and started thinking about model trains (3:30 am and caffeine will do that to me... ). So I'll throw some of my raw ideas up on the wall and see if they stick. I'm fully conscious that some are just plain crazy (like me ). At 10 mm diameter, it could plausibly be used as 36" radiator and dynamic brake fans on early EMD diesels. 14 or 15 mm is needed for 48" fans. The look wouldn't be right, but hey, they would work. For diesel exhaust smoke, tying fan voltage to speed is simple enough on DC (my situation), and probably something could be finagled on a DCC rig (maybe connect it to the motor circuit where there is DC. A more realistic operating scenario would be to use the slope of the voltage to detect when an engine was accelerating (increasing voltage) or decelerating (decreasing voltage - dynamic brake?). Using a small microprocessor, one could even program Alco's famous turbo lag to boost smoke production (a must!), or other peculiarities of other engine makes and models. Steam engines would need more of a pulsed output, with the pulse period tied to the speed of the engine (the chuffing sound). Just my caffeine-turbocharged brain rambling... But that's the kind of rambling that my boss likes.
The hard part is going to be getting this in the locomotive smokebox. Most models will require some pretty heavy modifications and milling to the metal weight or frame to fit all this inside. In a diesel locomotive, the decoder or circuit board is usually right in the middle where the exhaust stacks are. You would need to move all that around. Are Seuthe units short enough to fit between the motor and the top of the shell? The motor is usually in the middle of the body too, and that's pretty much impossible to relocate. Could this be a cool and create project? Sure. Being able to fit all this inside a model would be really awesome. Seeing people install sound in Trackmobiles and do other seemingly impossible projects is pretty impressive, but this is a not a project I would want to attempt on any of my models. Smoke is hard to scale as well. I am not a big fan of smoke, especially in diesel locomotives. In steam, it's reasonable just because it needs to be there, but I think HO smoke detracts more from the realism than it adds. It looks too wispy rather than large billowing clouds. Seeing models like the BLI AC6000 with smoke, it always seemed more like a gimmick than a realistic feature. Sure, diesel locomotives may release some smoke when notching up or starting from a stop, but I don't think that warrants a full smoke installation. You rarely see a constant plume of smoke coming from a diesel locomotive.
This is an interesting topic. But, don't ya'll understand that our Leader is attempting to eliminate pollution. I would like smoke with a wood burning streamer or factory.
Nothing happens until it's tried. Even testing on a small scale, like one radiator fan, is valuable exp erience. Success or not, it's a result. At the very least, one would have fun trying. In my book, fun is an essential part of the hobby. The solution is sometimes a bit sideways instead of straightforward. I'm already imagining a tube running from a more spacious area to the smokebox. It can either carry air to the smokebox-mounted smoker, or combined air/smoke to the stack. Just looking at what options are available, without sticking to a rigid initial concept, can sometimes yield surprising solutions. Of course, just imagining how it can be done is fun all by itself. Y'all know what I think of fun. I'm also a tad crazy.
