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Making "steam" from an atomizer for making mist
Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2023 2:04 am
by 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
Re: Making "steam" from an atomizer for making mist
Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2023 5:51 am
by philipy
Thats quite impressive. Can you give us more detail on construction i.e water reservoir, wiring, etc?
Re: Making "steam" from an atomizer for making mist
Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2023 7:17 pm
by mymodeltrain
philipy wrote: ↑Wed Nov 22, 2023 5:51 am
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.
Re: Making "steam" from an atomizer for making mist
Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2023 8:05 pm
by mymodeltrain
mymodeltrain wrote: ↑Wed Nov 22, 2023 7:17 pm
philipy wrote: ↑Wed Nov 22, 2023 5:51 am
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.
Re: Making "steam" from an atomizer for making mist
Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2023 8:14 pm
by philipy
Great, thanks a lot. How long does one water fill last?
Re: Making "steam" from an atomizer for making mist
Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2023 8:21 pm
by mymodeltrain
philipy wrote: ↑Wed Nov 22, 2023 8:14 pm
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.
Re: Making "steam" from an atomizer for making mist
Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2023 8:41 pm
by 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.)
Re: Making "steam" from an atomizer for making mist
Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2023 8:45 pm
by philipy
Thanks for those links drew. They also appear to be available from Amazon over here as well.
drewzero1 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 22, 2023 8:41 pm
(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!
Re: Making "steam" from an atomizer for making mist
Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2023 1:18 am
by mymodeltrain
philipy wrote: ↑Wed Nov 22, 2023 8:14 pm
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.
Re: Making "steam" from an atomizer for making mist
Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2023 9:31 am
by 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
Re: Making "steam" from an atomizer for making mist
Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2023 3:12 pm
by mymodeltrain
Trevor Thompson wrote: ↑Thu Nov 23, 2023 9:31 am
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".
Re: Making "steam" from an atomizer for making mist
Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2023 8:08 pm
by mymodeltrain
Re: Making "steam" from an atomizer for making mist
Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2023 9:12 pm
by philipy
Certainly does! Looks very good indeed.
Re: Making "steam" from an atomizer for making mist
Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2023 9:50 pm
by 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?
Re: Making "steam" from an atomizer for making mist
Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2023 10:41 pm
by Peter Butler
That's the best steam impression I have ever seen.
Re: Making "steam" from an atomizer for making mist
Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2023 1:25 am
by mymodeltrain
gregh wrote: ↑Thu Nov 23, 2023 9:50 pm
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.
Re: Making "steam" from an atomizer for making mist
Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2023 1:27 am
by mymodeltrain
Peter Butler wrote: ↑Thu Nov 23, 2023 10:41 pm
That's the best steam impression I have ever seen.
Thanks, Peter; I enjoyed my Thanksgiving holidays in the garden.
Re: Making "steam" from an atomizer for making mist
Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2023 8:09 am
by -steves-
In the Uk you can get these from Temu at a reasonable price.
https://www.temu.com/uk/small-flower-mi ... 48ytx4a5ze
Re: Making "steam" from an atomizer for making mist
Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2023 8:10 am
by -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
Re: Making "steam" from an atomizer for making mist
Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2023 8:21 am
by philipy
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.
