We used 3 of the units to great effect on our heat layout for the Great Model Railway Challenge. Ours produced atmospheric smoke and steam from around our rocket shed and factory. We found a fan or piston type device was needed to blow the vaporised water out of the chimney and keeping such exhausts short avoided condensation reducing the efficiency.
The Tomy Thomas trains feature a Thomas with a puffing smoke unit as well. They turn up on ebay for not a lot of money quite often.
I'm humbled
My wife and I were keen viewers of the series and I remember how impressive your team rocket effects were!
Thanks for the heads-up re: the Tomy Thomas and for the words of wisdom regarding the real-world practicalities of using these devices.
My locos are battery RC DCC and I have so far used ESU smoke units for main smoke effects, which of course use the heated glycerin approach. Great for the main smoke application but their bulk, cost and current draw preclude using them in the locos for any other effects.
These ultrasonic ceramic plates look more suited to the other steam effects such as a brief whistle or cylinder blowdown - particularly the latter; putting one on the bottom of a little 3d printed water resevoir, then triggering it with an unused channel which can be slaved to the appropriate sound and the job would be done.
I had reckoned that the outlet would need to be kept as short as possible to keep it effective and avoid the need for a fan or similar - particularly when the outlet is facing upwards and the droplets are working against gravity. That may not be too hard to avoid for a steam whistle but I couldn't get my head around how the plate could be kept in contact with the water surface for an 'upwards' application? Thinking some more this afternoon, I suppose an answer may be to have a small tank as a reservoir and providing a head of water to a smaller chamber that the ultrasonic plate sits on top of. I imagine that'd work although it means the plate is pushed lower down from the exit, which is something ideally avoided.
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