Tregilibob Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Hi, asking for my husband (a design tech teacher)He has built a wind tunnel for looking at aerodynamics on model cars/projects etc within both his curriculum lessons and their Young Engineers club. It is 6 foot long overall, with a 4 foot viewing platform and is powered by a B and Q windfan.He is looking for some form of smoke machine to funnel into a single tube on the wind tunnel (the main laminar flow unit it built out of hundreds of straws) to allow them to see the flow of air.Does anyone have either a) some experience of this type of work orb) some idea about what sort of smoke machine would be the best, bearing in mind total cost really can only be around £50-60. Looking at smoke machines, and maybe model train smokers, but not sure what sort, as he is aware that smoke machines may chug out too much, and maybe a model that he can adjust the flow rate. Thank you in advance Tregi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamtastic3 Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 I think he'd need a hazer rather than a smoke machine so that the smoke is continuous and slightly lighter on output (not a burst of smoke). If we're talking cheap as chips, I've used this machine in the past. Looks like a smoke machine with a fan but it can actually give you a continuous flow of smoke. I say smoke because being a cheap machine, it's very hard to get a very small output. But it will give a variable output to a degree as it has a variable 'volume' knob on the controller, you just can't control the fan (bog standard computer fan ** laughs out loud **) http://www.thomann.de/gb/stairville_sh150.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 If we're talking really cheap you can get chemical smoke generators for exactly this purpose. They are a plastic tube which you bend to get going a bit like 'light sticks'. I've used them to check cooling airflows in electronic equipment. Or why not look at the smoke pellets gas engineers use to check air flow for gas fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Pearce Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Smoke in a can might work well for this. No heating element to wait for and no messy fill up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 If they are looking to model and test laminar flows the smoke needs to come from a small source... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerry davies Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Exactly, Brian but those wand smokers are specific to wind tunnels etc and cost around £600 IIRC. Hippy would suggest incense sticks and he wouldn't be far out. Been used before for this purpose but your flue testing pellets or smoke in a can is probably simplest affordable solution. I've bought them in the past but forgotten where and Googly fetches this; Smoke sticks etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew C Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 We've got a small wind tunnel here. The advice from the local Uni aerodynamicists was that at the sort of volume of air that we move, smoke wouldn't be particularly useful. A bit of thread with one end glued to a thin stick (thin welding rod) shows the flow much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themadhippy Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Hippy would suggest incense sticks and he wouldn't be far outIm always far out man.Actually I was going to suggest using the ciggys you've confiscated of the first years, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tregilibob Posted February 22, 2012 Author Share Posted February 22, 2012 Thank you all very muchly.They have tried stick and thread, and want to try something a bit more as well.Will see what happens and let you know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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