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This video shows the basic construction of a homemade smoke machine. This was made to check for leaks in the intake system of an engine or the emission EVAP system. You can also check the exhaust for leaks. All this without the engine running! No hot parts to burn yourself or moving parts to get caught in.
Spraying carb cleaner or WD-40 around the suspected area just makes a mess and you often can’t see or reach where the leak may be.
I have not included all the little bit in the construction as the video would be an hour long. Just look at the video and you will get the picture, just use common sense.
Speaking of common sense, remember that this is homemade, and it works for me, but I cannot control what you do. Also be aware that their is controversy about homemade smoke machines, Google “homemade smoke machine” and read what comes up.
One thing is the use of Baby Oil to make smoke. Some have said that this will foul sensors. I have not had any issues with this, but please eliminate the MAF sensor from the test, it will foul the sensor wire.
Another concern is the testing pressure. Automotive standards for EVAP testing is 1.5 psi. The BBQ regulator used is exactly 1.5 psi, no concerns for me here.
Another concern is using shop air for testing the EVAP. This is a valid point! Normally you will find an very rich fuel/air ratio in the fuel tank, this will not support combustion, unless you pump oxygen rich air into it. I only use the Argon from my MIG welder for EVAP testing.
Testing the intake manifold for leaks can be done with shop air.
Use of the smoke machine does require some automotive knowledge.
I have used this many times and I am confident that it will last and be very useful. Finding EVAP leaks can be the most frustrating aspect of automotive repairs. I used to fix only about 1 in 10 “EVAP leaks” as I could not actually see or sometimes reach to visually inspect. The leak in the video of the carbon canister connection was only found using dye in the oil, not enough smoke was present.
I can answer some questions about the basics of my smoke machine, and some about how to use it, but I am not a know all about using this on your particular vehicle.
I hope that those of you who are into some backyard repairs can use this information to help you solve these troublesome EVAP leaks.
I do not wish to get into a debate on how this will damage this or that, I have made my own decision to go with this.
Enjoy.
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to find a vacuum leak where is the best and safe place to introduce the smoke? I noticed you said not to use air in the fuel tank during evap rest. But on the other videos everyone is using air compressors thru the regulator. Sorry, just trying to figure all this out.
thanks!
that very weak smoke most smoker u would be able to see just fine with any camera
I use to work at a dealership and had access to the expensive store bought evap smoke machines. I am going to make one of these to test the evap system in the cars i work on at the house. Like your design that has the flow meter set up on it. Dont think compressed air would be an issue. One smoke machine we had used compressed air and another one we had had an air pump built in to operate it and another one used nitrogen.Thanks for posting your video
I would like to thank you a lot for your informative video. i modeled my smoke machine after yours. I really liked the fact that your design included a homemade manometer, which my unit also has. My design is very similar to yours with the following major difference: I made my smoke generator based on e-cigarette technology. I went to an e-cigarette store and purchased 22 gaug3e Kanthal wire and a package of "Native Wicks"(cotton wick material). I wound two 6-volt coils which a run in parallel for 12 volt operation. Each coil is 9 turns of the wire on a 4mm drill bit. The resistance of each coil is a little more than 1 ohm each. I made 4 posts with 4-40 set screws to hold my coils end down with by starting with 1/4"-20 brass screws purchased from Home Depot. Two reservoirs(plastic caps) were attached underneath my round fiberglass circuit board along with leads that I soldered onto the heads of the screws. This produces an incredible amount of smoke using a 80/20 mix of VG/PG e-cigarette e-juice. There's one correction I believe that I should bring up. A propane regulator doesn't bring the pressure down to 1.5 psi, as this would equate to ~41 inches of water pressure, requiring a much larger manometer. Instead, a propane regulator puts out more like 0.25 PSI, or 13 inches of water pressure. i measured 11 inches of WC for the actual regulator that I picked up from Home Depot. My manometer came out so that it can measure up to 18 inches of WC. I also put a small amount of loosely packed cotton on the top exit hole of my manometer. This has two added benefits: 1: helps reduce loss due to evaporation and 2: Helps to dampen the response and settling time of the water/dye mixture. BTW, I used blue dye in mine
Finally, adding a second calibration point for a 0.040" leak is also nice as there's two Evap error codes that can be set: One for a small >=0.020" leak and one for a large >0.040" leak.
One last important detail WRT my smoke generator: I used a 3/8" copper pipe to direct the incoming air to come out and blow directly across my coils. This is very important component when trying to generate lots of smoke. I pinched one end and drilled 4 holes at each coil position. I pinched off the far end using my bench vise, attached first with tie wraps for aiming and locked down with Fuz*It Liquid nails onto my fiberglass PCB after getting it aimed and aligned perfectly. This step is key for generating ample smoke. I guarantee you that you won't need any special light to see the smoke that comes off from using this puppy!!!
Best DIY and I structional video. Thank you!
This is, by far, the best video I've been able to find on building and using a DIY smoke machine. Others are setting things on fire or risking blowing out seals with too much pressure or dangerous in other ways.
Nice job
Great video man and thank you. I have something like that but i dont have a manometer so you give me the idea to ad that on it…. thank you again
how much wire do I use, and what ohm reading should it have and if the wire turn red hot won't it start the baby oil on fire.