ESU dual steam unit

[DGE-Railroad]

Oooo....the postman's been!


Thankfully there are some instructions for matching the different smoke outputs to the sound in the LokProgammer. I'm going to need to do some translation work though as they're only in German

 

[Greg Elmassian]

So by "dual" I assume 2 independent smoke outputs? are there indeed 2 heaters and 2 fans?

Thanks, Greg

 

[DGE-Railroad]

Affirmative Greg - one tank, two outlets

Two heating elements and two fans


It's very compact, so will be interesting to see what output it's capable of.

Impressively, both heaters and fans are still controlled via the usual pos, neg, fan and heater harness but there's an additional board which looks to interpret the data from the decoder and route it appropriately.


The cylinder steam control is assigned through some dark magic as specific commands in parts of the 'cylinder blow down' sound slot sequence

 

[andyspencer]

Would love to see a video of this thing all fitted and working

 

[DGE-Railroad]

Would love to see a video of this thing all fitted and working

If you take a look in the battery power forum, at the Battery Power LGB Mikado thread, I have some footage of it in and working. I'm quite happy with it but there are a few tricks to setting it up

 

[MaximDeDonder]

I used it for my BR 50. However I needed a special sound project of ESU. Because you haven't fully control of the second fan, smoke can be leaking from the fan standing still. That was improved by ESU.

I would wait with this unit until they get the unit and the software right. I compared it side by side with the normal 'big' smoke generator of ESU, and the smoke is much better with the big version. It's more dense and reacts faster.

 

[DGE-Railroad]

I used it for my BR 50. However I needed a special sound project of ESU. Because you haven't fully control of the second fan, smoke can be leaking from the fan standing still. That was improved by ESU.

I would wait with this unit until they get the unit and the software right. I compared it side by side with the normal 'big' smoke generator of ESU, and the smoke is much better with the big version. It's more dense and reacts faster.

Totally agree Maxim. It works okay but could be better. I feel the dual smoke unit could be so useful but at the moment it does two jobs 'okay' rather than either job brilliantly.

The large unit definitely does a better of smoke output because in the same footprint the unit is only having to do one task.

The only way I was able to stop the secondary smoke unit leaking was by turning off its preheating. It only added about a second delay to the output

 

[bruno.degraeve]

I used it for my BR 50. However I needed a special sound project of ESU. Because you haven't fully control of the second fan, smoke can be leaking from the fan standing still. That was improved by ESU.

I would wait with this unit until they get the unit and the software right. I compared it side by side with the normal 'big' smoke generator of ESU, and the smoke is much better with the big version. It's more dense and reacts faster.

hello MaximDeDonder ,

With leaking smoke, did you encounter the same issue as I have ? More smoke comes out via the fans than via the smoke channels. Are you aware of an update for the ESU dual smoke generator. I'm really disappointed with the result.

regards, Bruno

 

[Greg Elmassian]

Well, we have not heard from him since August....

What fans are you talking about, the fans for the secondary unit that can run the whistle or cylinders?

Greg

 

[bruno.degraeve]

Well, we have not heard from him since August....

What fans are you talking about, the fans for the secondary unit that can run the whistle or cylinders?

Greg

hi Greg, thanks for asking. Indeed, I mentioned the smaller fan that operates the smoke of the cylinders but when I watch my own recording (20211106_151606.mp4), I guess it leaks from both fans. This issue is related to one I mentioned earlier on this great forum (https://www.gscalecentral.net/threa...nerator-leosoundlab-config-br99-23-24.317501/). Today I'll have a look how I can disable the pre-heating, mentioned above.

regards, Bruno

 

[MaximDeDonder]

Well, we have not heard from him since August....

What fans are you talking about, the fans for the secondary unit that can run the whistle or cylinders?

Greg

Well Greg, here I am!

bruno.degraeve
This problem occurs only when the fluid level is below a certain point. It's a known problem for ESU. It should work properly for higher fluid levels.

 

[bruno.degraeve]

Well Greg, here I am!

bruno.degraeve
This problem occurs only when the fluid level is below a certain point. It's a known problem for ESU. It should work properly for higher fluid levels.

hi MaximDeDonder hartelijk bedankt ! Thanks for the reply. I also believe I might have used some tubes which are too small in diameter. Especially around the Y-connection to allow going to the 2 cylinders, I might have blocked the smoke flow. Yesterday, I dismantled everything and I noticed less leaking smoke or smoke coming out the fans. It's a pity, ESU didn't deliver the appropriate connectors. I used some I got from an aquarium shop. But the plastic broke or detoriated because of the smoke. I now ordered Y-connector pieces in messing.

 

[Greg Elmassian]

The smoke fluid is a mild solvent to many plastics. So in Bruno's case an obstruction caused restriction so the fan driven smoke had to so somewhere.

Max, I would guess that a low fluid level would result in less smoke, but still going out the right path... maybe this is an additional issue, but not Bruno's...

Greg

 

[MaximDeDonder]

Max, I would guess that a low fluid level would result in less smoke, but still going out the right path... maybe this is an additional issue, but not Bruno's...

Greg

Hi Greg

I had the same problem as Bruno with the same unit, so I am quite sure that's the problem. Once the fluid level is too low, an extra path for the smoke is created cause of the way the reservoir is made. Also, with pulsed smoke generators less or more fluid doesn't affect the output too much. Once the wick is totally dry, the smoke will stop.

bruno.degraeve Make sure that your connector is wide enough. I used a Y-splitter of an aquarium too, but I drilled out the holes to get a diameter as big as possible. Succes!

Greetings

Maxim
Modelspoorbanen De Donder

 

[Greg Elmassian]

That is very interesting, so a single reservoir and 2 wicks, I assumed that. But a low reservoir creates a new smoke path? I'd like to see that unit opened.

Aren't there 2 fans? One or more of them must act as pressure, not as suction.

Greg

 

[MaximDeDonder]

There are indeed 2 fans, 2 wicks, 2 temperature sensors and only 1 reservoir. Both fans blow air into the tank. That's the reason why when the fan for chimney smoke blows and the other fan doesn't, the smoke leaks trough that fan. What you also see is that in normal operation without cylinder steam, a little bit of smoke still finds its way through the cylinders. I think ESU doesn't use good air valves, or no valves at all (or 'tout court' like we say in French).

 

[Greg Elmassian]

Yes, would like to see the insides of it. Without some sort of isolation, it would seem that pressurizing the tank, even without both fans going, the smoke could come out somewhere else.. Is there perhaps a dividing wall extending down into the tank to make 2 separate compartments, until the fluid level drops below this divider?

Greg

 

[MaximDeDonder]

I have not opened a Dual yet, because of my warranty. This summer one of the fans stopped working of my Dual, but I immediately got a new Dual smoke unit from ESU.

 

[LarryCasey]

I used it for my BR 50. However I needed a special sound project of ESU. Because you haven't fully control of the second fan, smoke can be leaking from the fan standing still. That was improved by ESU.

I would wait with this unit until they get the unit and the software right. I compared it side by side with the normal 'big' smoke generator of ESU, and the smoke is much better with the big version. It's more dense and reacts faster.

Hello Maxim,

Do you share your sound project for this BR50 ?

Regards