Making "steam" from an atomizer for making mist

[mymodeltrain]

I gave up running live steam locomotives for a while, but I still missed the steam, thus, I decided to make "steam" for the LGB Stainz. It turned out that this small atomizer from a mini-humidifier (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CGN4QC3K?ps ... ct_details) seems to be the best one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6K39tzZzEI

[philipy]

Thats quite impressive. Can you give us more detail on construction i.e water reservoir, wiring, etc?

[mymodeltrain]

Thats quite impressive. Can you give us more detail on construction i.e water reservoir, wiring, etc?

Here is the file, which details the design.

Atomizer connection.docx

(9.57 MiB) Downloaded 136 times

[mymodeltrain]

Thats quite impressive. Can you give us more detail on construction i.e water reservoir, wiring, etc?

Here is the file, which details the design.

Atomizer connection.pdf

(4.21 MiB) Downloaded 112 times

[philipy]

Great, thanks a lot. How long does one water fill last?

[mymodeltrain]

Great, thanks a lot. How long does one water fill last?

I have not had a chance to test. But the wick is 5 cm long, and the chimney can carry quite a lot of water (I need to calibrate how much). I will play around this Thanksgiving weekend and will let you know; can't wait to see how real that would be in the garden.

[drewzero1]

I've seen them available as just the component, with a bit more range in input voltage: https://a.co/d/awqu5dY , also https://a.co/d/ir2ABTL

I'd been looking into one to add mist to a waterfall feature I'm building in one of my aquariums. Maybe I'll pick up a multi-pack and try adding one to a loco as well. (Incidentally Philip, I made the Thornas smokebox and chimney hollow with the hope of adding some kind of smoke generator in the future.)

[philipy]

Thanks for those links drew. They also appear to be available from Amazon over here as well.

(Incidentally Philip, I made the Thornas smokebox and chimney hollow with the hope of adding some kind of smoke generator in the future.)

Not hijacking this thread, but my smokebox & boiler are more or less full with lead and Rx!

[mymodeltrain]

Great, thanks a lot. How long does one water fill last?

I just tested this evening. The reservoir can hold 7 mL of water, and the steam is generated for as long as 20 minutes.

[Trevor Thompson]

I had wondered if there was a way of adding a plume of steam to a battery loco, when you have added a sound card its the one missing element.

A very interesting idea. I will store it away for future consideration.

Trevor

[mymodeltrain]

I had wondered if there was a way of adding a plume of steam to a battery loco, when you have added a sound card its the one missing element.

A very interesting idea. I will store it away for future consideration.

Trevor

The Stainz locomotive was controlled by the wifi-based Locomote board and the sound is from the Mylocosound board, all are located in other freight car, including the 14v Lithium-ion battery and the speaker. The wiring for that can be found at the Locoremote website (https://www.locoremote.co.uk/lrdocs/Batteries.pdf). So the wiring scheme for the "steam" shows only the components on the Stainz, except the battery. I just need to link the Stainz to the freight car for running. For this setup, it needs to dial up to 75% Speed in the Locoremote wifi control to have "steam".

[mymodeltrain]

I gave up running live steam locomotives for a while, but I still missed the steam, thus, I decided to make "steam" for the LGB Stainz. It turned out that this small atomizer from a mini-humidifier (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CGN4QC3K?ps ... ct_details) seems to be the best one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6K39tzZzEI

It looks good in the garden today:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21LW9tUw2hA

[philipy]

It looks good in the garden today:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21LW9tUw2hA

Certainly does! Looks very good indeed.

[gregh]

Congratulations for getting it to work. Looks great.
I will put it on my "projects" list
Do you get water droplets condensing on the loco and wagons?

[Peter Butler]

That's the best steam impression I have ever seen.

[mymodeltrain]

Congratulations for getting it to work. Looks great.
I will put it on my "projects" list
Do you get water droplets condensing on the loco and wagons?

The atomizer generates tiny aerosols, which will dissipate quickly in the air; thus, there are no droplets on the loco or wagons.

[mymodeltrain]

That's the best steam impression I have ever seen.

Thanks, Peter; I enjoyed my Thanksgiving holidays in the garden.

[-steves-]

In the Uk you can get these from Temu at a reasonable price.

https://www.temu.com/uk/small-flower-mi ... 48ytx4a5ze

[-steves-]

Or you can get a DIY kit from AliExpress, though I have no idea how good/bad it would be, just what I found browsing for similar items.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004 ... 03666568_8

[philipy]

In the Uk you can get these from Temu at a reasonable price.

https://www.temu.com/uk/small-flower-mi ... 48ytx4a5ze

Are Temu reliable? I've always avoided them because they seem to sell so much varied junk at ridiculously low prices that I assume they are scam/rip off merchants.