Finding the cause of a car malfunction means halfway fixing it. That is why a good car service center will always have a lot of diagnostic tools - and not always electronic ones.
Such means include smoke generators. What it is, why this device is needed and how you can make a smoke generator for a car with your own hands will be discussed in this article.

Automotive smoke generator

This device is needed to identify places where the tightness required for the normal functioning of a particular system is broken - the intake and exhaust tracts of a car, for example.

The smoke generator pumps out thick white smoke, which is clearly visible when it leaks from the path being diagnosed.

The principle of its use is simple, like everything ingenious - smoke is injected into the system or part that needs to be checked, which begins to come out in places where the tightness is broken. In a very similar way, tire shop workers check a wheel for air leaks by immersing it in a bath of water - the escaping air manifests itself in the form of floating bubbles.
The smoke generator pumps out thick white smoke, which is clearly visible when it leaks; you just need to connect its output hose to the part being diagnosed, having first “plugged off” all other holes in it.
The principle of operation of smoke generators manufactured by various automotive equipment manufacturers is to heat liquid oil(like ATF), which, when evaporated, creates the required smoke. The smoke generator includes a compressor for pumping smoke.

How to make a smoke generator for a car with your own hands

The cost of the cheapest smoke generator for a car is at least 6,000 rubles, so many car enthusiasts make homemade devices, showing remarkable ingenuity.

Homemade smoke generator for cars with an oil evaporator

Smoke generator diagram for a car

To make such a device you will need:

To make a smoke generator you need two necessary conditions- these are the sources compressed air and smoke.

1. A container that will serve as the main module. This could be a grease gun, a metal can with a tight lid, or even an old fire extinguisher with a screw cap.
2. Glow plug from a diesel engine.
3. Time relay.
4. Hoses, tubes for air supply.
5. Source of compressed air.

In addition, you may need taps for cutting threads, compounds for sealing the joints of fittings, clamps - you will select all this in accordance with the raw materials from which the main module of the automobile smoke generator that you will make yourself - the evaporator - will be made from.
There is absolutely no need to make an exact drawing for making a smoke generator for a car with your own hands - after all, you will select the materials yourself, which means the sizes of the parts may be different (except for the glow plug).

A turn relay is used as a time relay, connecting a candle instead of light bulbs. This is necessary so that it does not burn out - the glow plug is not designed for long-term operation, and the relay will periodically turn it on and off. To connect the negative terminal of the battery to the spark plug, connect it with a wire to the body of the device.
Please note that the oil level in the container is small - otherwise the candle will not warm it up enough and it will not evaporate. The air inlet tube should be immersed in oil - this will be a kind of check valve for air at low pressure.

If you don’t have a compressor at hand, then an inflated car inner tube or spare tire is suitable as a source of compressed air.

If you do not have a compressor, then you can use your own spare tire as an air receiver (storage unit) - or use a car inner tube, having previously inflated it.
As you can see, there is nothing complicated - such a simple smoke generator for a car will cost you much less than a purchased one. You can simply ask your friends at a car service center for a glow plug - craftsmen often leave such things “just in case”, and they lie idle in the workshop for years.
The air supply can be adjusted by installing a suitable valve in the hose. To begin with - during testing - it is enough to pinch the hose by hand, bending it in half.

Do-it-yourself smoke generator for a car from a cigarette

Smoke generator made from a cigarette and a blowing gun

This simplest “smoke generator” for a car does not need unnecessary comments - you just need to make an adapter to connect a cigarette to a hose - that is, a banal mouthpiece.

As you can see, there is nothing particularly complicated behind the device’s initially frightening name. Especially if as a child you practiced making various “smoke products” - from casein, newspaper soaked in ammonium nitrate solution, etc.

Smoke is used in gardens to protect plants from frost.
The channel “Zubreev Alexander” told how to make a smoke machine. It is easy to assemble, powered by 12 volts, preferably from a more powerful power supply - for example, from a computer, in order to heat up the coil. I also installed a fan - any fan, as long as it blew on the coil. That's all.

Let's start creating a smoke machine. You will need: heating wire, in this case kental 26 gh, and kental 28 gh. For this homemade product I chose 26, it is thicker, and I made it around 20 by twisting 3 wires together. By the way, photos of this coil, which is located inside. The photographs show it quite well - take a look.
Also, if you don’t have special wire, you can use springs - they work well. You need to thread cotton wool into the spring - fuel passes through it. Glycerin rises and evaporates.
The author has been trying to make this homemade product for a long time, but it just doesn’t work. Already wrapped the soldering iron copper wire- more precisely, a pipe. Liquid passed through it and should evaporate. It worked, but the soldering iron quickly cooled down. It's not safe, it eats a lot, etc. - many disadvantages. This method is the simplest and can even be powered by a battery.
This is how a smoke machine works – current is supplied to the coil, it evaporates and you’re done. There is also such a battery - you can power it from them, but you need to calculate the resistance of the wire.
We will wrap the coil around a screwdriver - it is quite thick. Coyle will be big, that’s why I chose this one. For the hook, a smaller screwdriver is used - very small ones there. Micro-coils are wound onto a rope this way.
There is a wire, it is all crooked - it needs to be straightened. If you just pull, it won’t straighten, and if you bend it with your fingers, it won’t either, so we’ll use a screwdriver. We'll show you how to use it.
Take a screwdriver, remove the attachment from it, and clamp the wire - and that’s it. We hold it at one end with pliers and pull it, and at the other end we turn on the screwdriver. We can see how straight it is - perfectly level, it’s much easier to work this way.
You can already wind it. But for this homemade product I decided to make it more powerful. It didn't turn out bad. Three wires together. After you have tripled this wire, you need to twist it again with a screwdriver.
Next from 4 minutes on the video about a smoke machine that you made yourself

Smoke generator from fire extinguisher

By making a smoke generator for yourself, you will forever provide yourself with natural smoked products.

Here is the scheme we will work on


And so let's get started
We will need: a fire extinguisher body, a 9-12 mm steel or copper tube, a 15-30 mm steel tube, an aquarium compressor or a computer cooler for air supply.
To begin with, if your fire extinguisher is full, you need to completely release the pressure and remove the contents. Next, take an adjustable wrench, unscrew the top cover and wash everything inside thoroughly with water.
Now we need to cut off the fire extinguisher cover evenly. To prevent the lid from letting smoke through, I cut it in three places with metal scissors and tightened it with pliers, then the lid fits tightly.


Next, drill a 20 mm hole for ignition.

Well, now we drill holes for a 25 mm steel tube and a 9 mm steel tube, 3 cm away from the top of the fire extinguisher, and then weld them to the fire extinguisher.
The 9 mm steel tube should extend 2 centimeters into the 25 mm steel tube. And from the outside of the fire extinguisher 2 centimeters to connect your compressor or cooler.

To supply air, I took a regular cooler from a computer and connected it from an old one charger placing it in a 1.5 liter bottle.

As a smoking chamber, I took a box from a system unit from a computer.
I use store-bought Alder wood chips, sold in any fishing store.
This is what I got


zen.yandex.ru

Making a smoke generator with your own hands

We make a smoke generator with our own hands to search for air leaks in the internal combustion engine system
Very often, the cause of unstable engine operation is air leaks in the internal combustion engine system. To detect the location of air leaks, service stations use special smoke generators. I suggest making it yourself...
Hello, I think many of you know about such a device as a smoke machine. Here's what it looks like:


They use it, as I already said, to detect air leaks. Smoke is supplied to the system. Accordingly, smoke will come out from the place where there is depressurization. Thus, it is very easy to detect where exactly the air leak occurs.
The cost of a smoke generator on the market ranges from two to twenty thousand rubles. The amount, you see, is decent. Since the problem of air leaking into the system does not arise often, people, of course, do not want to buy a smoke generator for themselves; it is certainly cheaper to visit a service station.
I offer a life hack on how to make a smoke generator to detect air leaks in the internal combustion engine system with your own hands, almost free of charge! The method is actually very simple.
We will need: a plastic container with a tight-fitting lid, a compressor for inflating tires, cigarettes, pipes, two rubber nipples for tubeless tires.
So, directly the manufacturing method and operating principle:
IN plastic container We make holes on both sides and install rubber nipples in them. In one of them, where air will be supplied from the compressor, we leave the spool, from the second we unscrew the spool.
They must be installed tightly in the holes to prevent air leaks. If you haven't calculated the hole correctly, you can use sealant or glue. It looks something like this:


We screw the compressor hose to the nipple in which the spool remains.
Now you need to pick up the pipe on the nipple on the other side so that it fits tightly.
We connect the second pipe to the intake manifold. It is from this pipe that the smoke will come.
It is imperative to plug the air filter with anything so that smoke does not escape through it and a certain vacuum is created in the system.


Having plugged the air filter and connected all the hoses, you can begin the search.
To do this, you need to light a cigarette and install it in the nipple, as in the photo below. Then close the container with a lid and turn on the compressor.


The supplied air will pass through the cigarette and exit as smoke, entering the system. Well, all you have to do is watch where the smoke comes from.
In this simple way you can build a completely working smoke generator. The only disadvantage of this method is that the cigarette installed in the nipple does not last long; it smolders quickly.

During the assembly of the working model railway I added animation, added light and sound. But until recently I had no smoke. The recent invention of smokeless cigarettes, also known as electronic cigarettes or electronic vaporizers, has made it possible to assemble a fairly small and inexpensive smoke generator.

After conducting a series of experiments, I came up with a mechanism for a fog machine that creates a lot of fog, and which can be turned on or off at will.

The DIY smoke generator without a compressor, which will be discussed, is quite suitable for creating smoking pumpkins for Halloween, hearths in Christmas dioramas, or for creating realistic smoking chimneys of a factory in a working model railroad. You can even use the device in mock-ups of burning buildings or plane and car crashes, or a campfire. To make a smoke generator from an electronic cigarette, you will need certain materials, including the cigarettes themselves, a harmless liquid for electronic cigarettes, a small air pump to move the smoke and a suitable power source.

Step 1: Vaporizer Liquid

Conventional e-cigarette liquids are not suitable for our purposes, firstly, because of the nicotine content, and secondly, because of the flavorings. In most departments that sell equipment for electronic cigarettes, you can purchase ready-made liquid without nicotine and flavorings, or they will make it for you to order. You can order the required composition on eBay or other online resources at a very reasonable price.

Step 2: Safety

Gases formed during the evaporation of liquids in electronic cigarettes (even such a safe composition as ours) are detected by the sensors of the fire extinguishing system. Be careful when using/running the generator in public areas/buildings/premises. Electronic cigarettes have heating element, which evaporates the liquid. It runs on 3.7V lithium batteries, this voltage level must not be exceeded. If the voltage increases to 5 V, a fire may occur.

Step 3: Choosing electronic cigarettes

I purchased an inexpensive kit for my project, consisting of two electronic cigarettes, batteries and a charger.

I only needed an evaporator ( upper part cigarettes) and battery connector. And if you solder a couple of wires to the evaporator, you won't need a connector.

Step 4: Heating Element

Since I only disassembled the cigarettes because of the heating elements, I decided to look only for them on eBay. I was lucky and found a seller from whom I purchased five elements at once. They differ in resistance. The ones I purchased are 1.8 ohms, but I'm sure others will work too.

Step 5: Materials

You will need the following materials:

• a short piece of brass tubing, approximately 0.5 cm in diameter and 2.5 cm in length
• flexible hose approximately 15 cm long, for connecting the brass tube and the pump, can be purchased at household or pet supply stores
• thin twisted wire
• JST connectors or similar
• pure vegetable glycerin
• plastic and rubber tubes for directing smoke
• converter DC or battery
• a small bottle of pills with a cap, and another cap. I took a bottle made of transparent plastic, approximately 7 cm in length and 3 cm in diameter, but other sizes will also work.

Step 6: Solder the heating element

You need to solder a two-core wire to the end, I used thin (26 or 28 gauge) twisted wire. We solder one core to the body, the other directly to it middle part. The soldered wires must not extend beyond the threaded part, otherwise you will not be able to insert the element into the generator. There is a gasket above the threads, do not lose it.

Step 7: Continue Soldering

Be careful not to accidentally solder the hole that is in the center of the rod. This is the air supply hole.

I used a very hot soldering iron (273.9°C) and high-quality solder. Fortunately, the material of the white gasket turned out to be heat-resistant, and I did not notice any damage to it.

Step 8: Cutting the Pill Bottle

First, cut the bottle in half, making sure the cut is straight and parallel to the top of the bottle. To mark a straight cut line, I used a thin wire.
Make the cut with a sharp, fine-toothed hacksaw.

Step 9: Drilling Holes

After the bottle is cut, drill a 7 mm hole in the bottom (No. 1), drill a 5 mm hole in the cap (No. 2). Drill another 5 mm hole in the wall of the upper half of the bottle (No. 4). Opposite it, drill a 3 mm hole (No. 3).

Hole No. 1 is the base for the steam generator, hole No. 2 is the outlet for smoke, No. 3 is for the power wires of the heating element, No. 4 is the connecting hole for the air pump. In the photo, hole No. 2 is made in the center of the lid. I came to the conclusion that if it was made off-center, the condensing liquid would flow back into the reservoir, whereas with a hole in the center, excess liquid would flow back out.

Step 10: Install

The heating element is installed in a 7mm hole.
Press the element into the hole, keeping it upright and pressing the gasket firmly to the bottom.

If the gasket is not pressed tightly, liquid will leak from the upper compartment to the lower one. In general, this is not so scary, you can simply pour it back into the tank.

Step 11: Glue the bottle halves together

You need to glue the halves of the bottle together as shown in the photo, the lower half is inserted bottom into the upper half, closed with a lid with a hole. We close the bottle from the cut side with the second cap.
All that remains is to fix the wires and brass tube, I used hot melt glue for this, but other types of glue will work too.

We glue the two halves of the bottle with electrical tape.
Pour the liquid into the upper compartment. You need to pour enough so that the base is covered. I usually add 6mm glycerin. The level should be sufficient to cover the wick or liquid supply holes.

Step 12: Pump

There are plenty of direct current pumps on both Ebay and Amazon. Below is a link to the one that worked better than the rest. It operates at the same voltage as the steam generator. The difference in price is due to shipping from China.
Before this, I managed to test the pump that I already had. It worked fine, but it had a small outlet nozzle and was noisy. In the photo he is on the Amazon page.

Beware of sellers selling used pumps - they are almost all 12V and many leak. I was lucky to find a new 3-6V pump from one of these sellers.

Step 13: Power Supply

The heating element operates at 3.7V lithium battery. You can use one of these or power it with a forward current converter, sometimes called a buck converter. I found an inexpensive converter with a graphical display showing the output voltage and current. I set the voltage to 3.7 V, and found out that my converter produces a little more than 1A.
The converter can be purchased on eBay.

Step 14: Finishing

I would recommend not keeping the heating element running constantly, but turning it on for certain periods of time. I tested with the power turned on for 30 seconds and turned off for 60 seconds. The steam generator worked flawlessly for 6 hours.

A smoke machine, or, as it is also called, a smoke generator, is a device that allows you to create a unique and mysterious atmosphere using artificial smoke at concerts, cafes, parties and other entertainment events of various sizes, indoors and outdoors.

Operating principle of the device

A fog machine is used to reduce the clarity of the air. Not only laser beams, but also light beams are perfectly readable and effective.

The device generates and disperses smoke in the desired direction.

The liquid is supplied to the heating element using a pump. There it heats up high temperature or evaporates during chemical reaction and turns into an aerosol, which is released from the nozzle of the device.

In many ways, the effect produced by the device depends on the choice of liquid. It can be a light dissipating haze, or dense, thick, slowly disappearing smoke.

Liquid for the device

The smoke that is created in a special device is not a combustion product, and therefore is harmless to health and does not have an unpleasant pungent odor. It is generated from a liquid consisting of distilled water and distilled glycerin in certain proportions.

To create dense smoke, mixtures of distilled water with atomized mineral oils. Dyes and flavors added to liquids create an additional effect.

Depending on the dispersion time needed, long-, medium- and fast-acting liquids are selected.

Devices can also generate smoke from a homemade liquid consisting of 85% distilled water, 5% alcohol and 10% glycerin, but the heat exchanger clogs faster. Therefore, experienced users of such equipment argue that homemade products should work with homemade products, that is, a homemade liquid and a smoke machine created with their own hands.

Types of devices

There are various types car smoke. Fog generators without heating elements create a light haze in which the rays are easy to read, and the room itself remains quite transparent.

The thick, heavy smoke generator produces smoke that spreads across the floor. In such equipment, the aerosol is cooled to a temperature several degrees below the room temperature, and fans are used to keep it moving. There are many disadvantages to this design.

A smoke machine using dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide) is the simplest and most inexpensive. The aerosol from a conventional device passes through a container with dry ice, the temperature of which is below -78 ° C, and enters the room very cooled. The disadvantage of this device is the need to purchase and store dry ice.

The light smoke generator is the most common type. It is versatile and inexpensive. This device is used in small cafes and at home parties.

Characteristics of smoke machines

One of the important characteristics of the device is the type of compressor. Air compressor It works very noisily, which is often unacceptable.

The first thing that distinguishes smoke machines is power, which determines the number of cubic meters of smoke that is produced per unit of time. This parameter (performance) ranges from several cubic meters to several hundred cubic meters per minute.

Based on the area of ​​the room that is supposed to be smoked, the power of the device is selected. For a room of 15 square meters. m, a generator power of 90 W is sufficient, and for open area or a large stage, a generator with a power of more than 3000 W is suitable. By the way, such a powerful device is capable of emitting smoke at a distance of 7 m, while the least powerful one is no more than 3 m.

Smoke machines can be produced in both floor-mounted and suspended versions, with a timer, equipped with control panels or an interface for control from a light remote control.

There are many manufacturers of smoke machines today. Each of them produces devices that differ in functional features, performance and, of course, price. The cost depends on the country of origin (European devices differ greatly high quality and reliability, and Asian ones - low price).

Le Maitre Megatron MGT-2 - smoke and fog generator - the most powerful smoke machine. The price for it is more than 7.5 million rubles.

A low-power device that emits 140 m 3 /min, with a wired remote control, costs no more than 4.5 thousand rubles. Like, for example, the Involight FM900 smoke machine.

DIY smoke machine

You can do it yourself homemade device for home discos. The simplest option is a heating element and a small container with glycerin. There will be some smoke effect in small room created for a short time.

How to make a smoke machine, a slightly more complex device, can be figured out if you know the principle of its operation, the main structural elements and the composition of the liquid.

You can use a single-burner electric stove as a heating element (some craftsmen use the heating element of a regular iron).

A medical dropper can serve as a slow supply system for the glycerin mixture. A regular home fan can keep the smoke moving.

The electric stove heats up, glycerin drips onto it from a dropper, evaporates, and the resulting smoke is distributed by a fan. That's all the wisdom - for home use enough.

If you want to please your friends or celebrate a significant day for your family in an unusual way, it is not at all difficult to create an unusual atmosphere for a romantic holiday. And it doesn’t necessarily have to be an expensive smoke machine.

For crowded events, it is better to use the services of specialists and their professional equipment. It will turn out more beautiful and safer.