I've secretly desired a smoke machine since I first discovered them around the turn of the century... I know I'm still a tool *****, and always will be... but I'm just too cheap to ever buy one.
I had thought we had a thread on this once in the past, but I couldn't find it and I want to get some specific feedback... plus whatever else comes up.
15 or so years ago, I had a coworker who made on from a paint can and a diesel glow plug (probably from a benz). I was the test pilot. He used Dexron as his smoke fluid and no wick, but it worked great and created no fire (could be dumb luck). I diagnosed a 7 series induction problem pretty quick and would have struggled to use a different method with the location of the leak. I've never seriously considered this since.
1- I'm not going to pay for a paint can or spray gun conversion... I might duplicate it... still thinking about a vessel I'd like.
2- I'm debating what fluid to use... the commercial machines are pretty much all compatible with baby/mineral oil... easy enough to make and the internet is full of good and bad advice. One thing about mineral oil which I don't think will be a huge issue, but does give me pause when I think about some of the hard to fin parts I want to test... I have noticed baby oil does damage vacuum lines when used excessively.
3- I did kick around buying a fog machine for $20 and running it on a homemade glycerin/distilled water mix... 100% people safe, but I wonder if my single test session would actually be harmful... I think it would take a lot of smoke to create any concerning residues.
Note, this is not propylene like some commercial smoke fluid.
4- I really liked the water vapor fog/mist from ultrasonic foggers... 100% safe water vapor, but the cost to build one big enough to effectively smoke test looks like a couple hundred just for the fogger.
The bright side would be getting one step closer to a hydroponic greenhouse once legality establishes...
I do have access to machines running baby oil at work... but that's always a PITA and I don't like driving certain cars there.
Thanks in advance... some advice may even be followed...
I had thought we had a thread on this once in the past, but I couldn't find it and I want to get some specific feedback... plus whatever else comes up.
15 or so years ago, I had a coworker who made on from a paint can and a diesel glow plug (probably from a benz). I was the test pilot. He used Dexron as his smoke fluid and no wick, but it worked great and created no fire (could be dumb luck). I diagnosed a 7 series induction problem pretty quick and would have struggled to use a different method with the location of the leak. I've never seriously considered this since.
1- I'm not going to pay for a paint can or spray gun conversion... I might duplicate it... still thinking about a vessel I'd like.
2- I'm debating what fluid to use... the commercial machines are pretty much all compatible with baby/mineral oil... easy enough to make and the internet is full of good and bad advice. One thing about mineral oil which I don't think will be a huge issue, but does give me pause when I think about some of the hard to fin parts I want to test... I have noticed baby oil does damage vacuum lines when used excessively.
3- I did kick around buying a fog machine for $20 and running it on a homemade glycerin/distilled water mix... 100% people safe, but I wonder if my single test session would actually be harmful... I think it would take a lot of smoke to create any concerning residues.
Note, this is not propylene like some commercial smoke fluid.
4- I really liked the water vapor fog/mist from ultrasonic foggers... 100% safe water vapor, but the cost to build one big enough to effectively smoke test looks like a couple hundred just for the fogger.
The bright side would be getting one step closer to a hydroponic greenhouse once legality establishes...
I do have access to machines running baby oil at work... but that's always a PITA and I don't like driving certain cars there.
Thanks in advance... some advice may even be followed...
