Smoke system is not working

[dai phan]

Hello,

On my new 1/16 HL Sherman the smoke system does not seem to work even after waiting minutes. I added a few drops but still no go. The S button is pressed and on. Any advise? Dai

[dai phan]

On my HL T-90 the smoke unit is not working and I have contacted Toucan. Is it better to by an after market version 6.0 compatible smoke unit as I have heard the HL ones are not reliable? DP

[karltrek]

Hello,

On my new 1/16 HL Sherman the smoke system does not seem to work even after waiting minutes. I added a few drops but still no go. The S button is pressed and on. Any advise? Dai

I have said this before on other threads. The best way to maintain the smoker is to open the Tank up and open the smoker unit. Fill it there. You are probably not putting enough fluid in the smoker. And probably the heating element is not pushing down on the cotton well enough. Which is another good reason to open the smoker unit up so that you can re-adjust it.. It's super easy to do on the Sherman. Contrary to what you may have heard your cannot harm the smoker by running it dry or putting to much fluid in. What can happen if you run it dry is the element will burn away the cotton and it will no longer be able to touch it. So no smoke will happen even when you have put fluid in. It's an easy fix by opening it up and re-adjust the cotton. Honestly it takes about as much time to open the tank and smoker unit as it takes to fill via the exhaust exit. And you will know exactly how much is in there.

[dai phan]

I have said this before on other threads. The best way to maintain the smoker is to open the Tank up and open the smoker unit. Fill it there. You are probably not putting enough fluid in the smoker. And probably the heating element is not pushing down on the cotton well enough. Which is another good reason to open the smoker unit up so that you can re-adjust it.. It's super easy to do on the Sherman. Contrary to what you may have heard your cannot harm the smoker by running it dry or putting to much fluid in. What can happen if you run it dry is the element will burn away the cotton and it will no longer be able to touch it. So no smoke will happen even when you have put fluid in. It's an easy fix by opening it up and re-adjust the cotton. Honestly it takes about as much time to open the tank and smoker unit as it takes to fill via the exhaust exit. And you will know exactly how much is in there.

Will getting a better after market smoker solve the hassle? Or just fix the problem?

[Dutchy93]

I don't think it will. Besides, the issue is very easy to solve. My smoker didn't work out of the box and when I opened her up the problem was exactly what kaltrek stated.
The coil didn't touch the wick properly.

Just spend those few minutes opening up the tank and check if the coil properly touches the cotton. When in doubt just wrap the cotton around the wick and tie it down with some thin copper wire. Do be careful not to let the copper wire touch the coil!
Thats how I fixed mine and it never failed sice. If it stops smoking, just pour a little more in.

If you spend that little time opening the tank up you'll gain insight how all of this works and it'll help you out later.

[dai phan]

I have said this before on other threads. The best way to maintain the smoker is to open the Tank up and open the smoker unit. Fill it there. You are probably not putting enough fluid in the smoker. And probably the heating element is not pushing down on the cotton well enough. Which is another good reason to open the smoker unit up so that you can re-adjust it.. It's super easy to do on the Sherman. Contrary to what you may have heard your cannot harm the smoker by running it dry or putting to much fluid in. What can happen if you run it dry is the element will burn away the cotton and it will no longer be able to touch it. So no smoke will happen even when you have put fluid in. It's an easy fix by opening it up and re-adjust the cotton. Honestly it takes about as much time to open the tank and smoker unit as it takes to fill via the exhaust exit. And you will know exactly how much is in there.

You say open the smoker and " fill it there" meaning you have to open the tank, smoker then fill ? Seems like aewful lots of work for a fluid refill . Dai

[dai phan]

Any feedback on this smoker? Looks like you have to open the tank and do the refill. Dai

https://www.ebay.com/itm/TARR-Mk-IV-PRO-Smoking-Unit-for-Heng-Long-Tamiya-Tank-1-16/362997408423?_trksid=p2485497.m4902.l9144

[dai phan]

Hi all...

I opened up the smoker and I made sure the heating coil is working and touches the fluid soaked medium. If there is too much fluid or too little, or no contact with the soaked medium, no smoke will be produced. I got the smoke to come on but unless the smoke is distributed evenly inside the chamber, likely you will end up one exhaust working rather than two. It happened to me so I have move the soaked medium around until the smoke is filled evenly in the chamber. I just do not see how 1-2 drops can get into the "reaction chamber" to generate the smoke unless there is a direct fluid line to refill. 1-2 drops will simply coat the exhaust wall. I think one needs to put in at least 5-6 drops in then wait few minutes to see if the smoke is generated. A better design would be a wrapped heating element with medium and direct fluid refill line. This ensures constant contact with heating element/medium and proper refill. Dai

[Vaseline]

there should be a bit of cotton batting in there that acts as a wick? but to answer your question about a more reliable system that drops into a Heng Long tank, I dont know, the smoke doesnt do a thing for me so Ive never looked. That being said dealing with the space constraints not to mention power distribution of the HL MFU boards id be real doubtful I mean thats sort of the problem, theres only so much power to spread around and heating elements by their nature are power hungry which is why the smoke volume is lame to say the least, There just isnt the support for a robust heating system to burn enough propylene glycol to make a decent amount of vapor.

[dai phan]

there should be a bit of cotton batting in there that acts as a wick? but to answer your question about a more reliable system that drops into a Heng Long tank, I dont know, the smoke doesnt do a thing for me so Ive never looked. That being said dealing with the space constraints not to mention power distribution of the HL MFU boards id be real doubtful I mean thats sort of the problem, theres only so much power to spread around and heating elements by their nature are power hungry which is why the smoke volume is lame to say the least, There just isnt the support for a robust heating system to burn enough propylene glycol to make a decent amount of vapor.

I opened up the T90 and wrapped the cotton around the heating coil and it worked. I am not going to open up the tank each time I want to refill because metal screws on plastic parts will strip in no time. In fact I could not tighten 2 screws, an indication the plastic thread is being stripped. I will fill through the hole and wish for the best. Dai