Re: [MV] Best way to make a in-vehicle smoke generator?

From: Jim Newton (jnewton@laurel.com)
Date: Wed Jan 14 2004 - 17:11:18 PST


Hi Ryan...

>>Is there a human inside the vehicle at the time? I would never want
>>you to place smoke in a vehicle if there is a person inside.
>
>Jim, Jim and I are in the same unit I've been looking at this problem as well.
>
>several people are in the vehicle. My thought was
>for a metal bin (double walled?) attached to the
>outside (back of the under side of the hull out
>of the way) that contains the smoke mix that is
>electrically ignited and burns in a nice safe
>manner.
>
>
>>Do not use commercial smoke bombs or smoke "candles", because they
>>burn incredibly hot and could light your vehicle on fire.
>
>With the above arrangement, I'm more concerned
>about causing a fire on the terrain we're on.

The smoke dough is perfect. You can throw it into dry brush, leaves
and grass and it will not ignite it.

>>I developed my own recipe for smoke compound for use in our
>>re-enactments and it would work great for your use. They burn nice
>>and cool and make lots of smoke.
>>
>>You can make them yourself:
>>
>> 11 Parts Ammonium Chloride
>> 7 Parts Potassium Chlorate
>> 3 Parts Powdered Sugar
>> 3 Parts Water or Agar Agar Gel Solution(*)
>
>That's not black ammonia is it?

No. Ammonium chloride is a salt and looks like salt too. It tastes
salty with a weird other flavor. They actually use it in Swedish
licorice...some people eat it plain my the spoonful. Really!

>>(*) Make agar agar gel solution by mixing 5 parts water with 2 parts
>>agar agar dessert powder, available at Asian supermarkets. Boil the
>>solution until it is clear, and add a little water if it boils down
>>too thick. It should be no thicker than cream.
>>
>>Mix all the ingredients together in a glass bowl with an electric
>>mixer. It will be the consistency of cookie dough. Put a few
>>tablespoons of the dough into a small snack-size zip lock bag and
>>squeeze all the air out and seal. place into a cardboard tube and
>>insert a fuse or electrical ignitor into the tube next to the bag,
>>then tape the caps on loosely.
>>
>>You can make your own electric ignitors too and then you could set off
>>the smoke with a remote control.
>>
>>This smoke dough is great because it burns really cool with no flame
>>at all. And it produces tremendous volumes of thick, white smoke.
>
>Does it dry out or do you need to somehow keep it wet?

It takes a while to dry out. Just pack it into the plastic bag to
keep it moist. You could also dip it into wax I suppose.

>>Do not burn this powder dry because it burns rapidly with a large
>>flame. It will also explode if confined in a container. Adding the
>>liquid dampens it and makes it much safer and more effective.
>>
>>You can get all the chemicals legally from Skylighter
>>(www.skylighter.com).
>
>I've bought some books from them on the subject.
>But I've not started any experiments yet. I'd
>rather start from a good recipe and optimize it
>than start from some other stage form that I need
>to heavy modify.

Yeah, this recipe would work perfectly as-is for you. I've tinkered
with it a lot to get it just right.

Consider the tin can of ammonium chloride with the heating
elements...I think that would work great for your application.

Good luck!

-- 

Jim "Ike" Newton

o 1984 M1007 CUCV Military Suburban 6.2 Liter (378 CID) Turbo-Diesel Engine 5/4 Ton Cargo Capacity, 4WD

o 1971 M35A2 Military Troop/Cargo Truck "Deuce and a Half" 478 CID Turbo-Diesel Multi-Fuel Engine Air Shift Front Axle 2 1/2 Ton Cargo Capacity, 6WD

See These Trucks at www.CUCV.NET Keyword Searching of 22,000 Electronic TMs at www.MILDOCS.com



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