Miniature atomizer, prop "smoke"

[TimeRender]

I just thought I would share this find with other prop builders here.

http://www.blucigs.com/products.php

This company makes electronic cigarettes. A small heating element connected to an airflow sensor vaporizes a small amount of propylene glycol, producing a puff of water vapor. It occurs to me that an atomizer this small could be mounted in the barrel of a prop blaster to produce a small amount of smoke every time the trigger is pulled. The airflow sensor could be shorted out so that the unit produces smoke whenever power is applied, and the power source could be the battery that drives your blaster's soundboard or led. Alternatively, the airflow sensor could be utilized as-is if the prop blaster had some sort of small air pump installed, like the sort of thing you find in a $1 squirt gun. I don't have any blaster projects planned at the moment, but I thought someone else might be interested. The atomizers are sold in pairs for $10, making this a cheap prop gun upgrade. Let me know what you think.

[Novastar]

EDIT: Wait... these simulate cigarette taste, scent(??) and all that jazz.

I would not want to recommend these, nor have kids looking at such links. Although the concept sounds good.

[Revan]

i agree with novastar, as great as an idea this is. kids can use these forums and they shouldn't be seeing this stuff. so if you could find a bare atomizer, that would be better to suggest....

[TimeRender]

I didn't think that would be such a big deal, since kids couldn't actually buy these for themselves anyway, and since other such things have been posted here before, like laser powered cigarette lighters. I've looked for bare atomizers before and couldn't find anything even close to these. If Tim feels this thread should be deleted, I would understand, but personally I don't see how this could be a problem.

Edit: Here is a funny observation... Revan, you even posted on that Zippo lighter thread. You seemed to think it was cool at the time. Just pointing that out...

[Jagahati]

I can see how it is important to shelter children, I am sure they have never seen or smelled a cigarette nor have they seen a beer commercial or the cover of an FHM or Maxim.

Yes small high price atomizers in the shape of a cigarette that stinks and contains no nicotine or tar are sure to be what drives them over the edge.

I think you would need some variety of pressurized air or a fan of some type to blow the "Smoke" out of the barrel.

[TimeRender]

Lol Jag seems to get my point, although I want to clarify a few things. Firstly, I would never have posted this if I thought it would be a bad influence on kids. These are mainly used to get people to QUIT smoking, not to encourage them to start, and they do not sell to anyone under the age of 18 anyway. Secondly, the "smoke" generated by these atomizers is nothing more than water vapor. The cartridges that they sell through the website contain flavorings and nicotine, but for the purposes of prop building I would not use them anyway. Plain unflavored propylene glycol has numerous uses and can be purchased in small quantities from a number of online chemical dealers. This way, any props utilizing the effect would not have any noticeable odor. Lastly, I just want to reaffirm that if Tim or any of the mods do not approve of this posting I will remove it with full apologies to everyone I may have offended. I don't want to cause a problem, but I did think it was a good find and that I should share it with everyone here.

Changing the subject, Jag is right that you would probably need some sort of air pump if you wanted to shoot the vapor out of the barrel. However, it wouldn't be necessary for all special effects. It could be used by itself to create smoke at a prop gun's cartridge ejector, or to create a small amount of lingering smoke just at the end of the barrel. If an air pump is desired, you might try gutting a cheap battery powered keyboard vacuum. These are just ideas, I don't have much experience with this sort of thing.

[Novastar]

I totally understand where you're coming from, Time. Still. Under Jagahati's logic... if a child has seen X or Y before--especially via corporate America--it means it's OK to advocate it elsewhere. I completely disagree in every possible way.

That being said... more to the point is: you're right, TimeRender. It would be water vapor!! I missed that. Sorry... and that's a good point that, yes, you must be 18+ to order.

But... again as devil's advocate--it might be easier to search out some theatrical tricks and devices that are made for this sort of thing (Phantom of The Opera did similar things to this during it's S.F. run--I saw the show 3 times... and that was YEARS ago).

[TimeRender]

If you can find something similar, please do post it. I've been looking but have been unable to find anything comparable being made commercially. Any sort of low voltage heating element could be used as a vaporizer though, so I suppose something could be scratch built. I just liked these because they were small, cheap, and readily available.

[Jagahati]

I totally understand where you're coming from, Time. Still. Under Jagahati's logic... if a child has seen X or Y before--especially via corporate America--it means it's OK to advocate it elsewhere. I completely disagree in every possible way.

That being said... more to the point is: you're right, TimeRender. It would be water vapor!! I missed that. Sorry... and that's a good point that, yes, you must be 18+ to order.

But... again as devil's advocate--it might be easier to search out some theatrical tricks and devices that are made for this sort of thing (Phantom of The Opera did similar things to this during it's S.F. run--I saw the show 3 times... and that was YEARS ago).

I would argue that trying to "Hide" the problems in society or the world from children is not even possible much less practical. It is a far better policy to actualy talk to and teach children about these things and why they can hurt you and how in my view. Attempting to sweep the problem under a rug and pretend it doesn't exist is not a sane policy.

I myself am an ex-smoker and I didn't start because of a prop idea I saw on a forum about props.

So in an effort to educate here are a few of the things smoking can and will do to you:

Effects of Tobacco Smoke

* Smoking KILLS
*Every year hundreds of thousands of people around the world die from diseases caused by smoking.
*One in two lifetime smokers will die from their habit. Half of these deaths will occur in middle age.
*Tobacco smoke also contributes to a number of cancers.

*The mixture of nicotine and carbon monoxide in each cigarette you smoke temporarily increases your heart rate and blood pressure, straining your heart and blood vessels.
*This can cause heart attacks and stroke. It slows your blood flow, cutting off oxygen to your feet and hands. Some smokers end up having their limbs
amputated.
*Tar coats your lungs like soot in a chimney and causes cancer. A 20-a-day smoker breathes in up to a full cup (210 g) of tar in a year.
*Changing to low-tar cigarettes does not help because smokers usually take deeper puffs and hold the smoke in for longer, dragging the tar deeper into their lungs.
*Carbon monoxide robs your muscles, brain and body tissue of oxygen, making your whole body and especially your heart work harder. Over time, your airways swell up and let less air into your lungs.
*Smoking causes disease and is a slow way to die. The strain put on your body by smoking often causes years of suffering. Emphysema is an illness that slowly rots your lungs. People with emphysema often get bronchitis again and again, and suffer lung and heart failure.
*Lung cancer from smoking is caused by the tar in tobacco smoke. Men who smoke are ten times more likely to die from lung cancer than non-smokers.
*Heart disease and strokes are also more common among smokers than non-smokers.
*Smoking causes fat deposits to narrow and block blood vessels which leads to heart attack.
*Smoking causes around one in five deaths from heart disease.
*In younger people, three out of four deaths from heart disease are due to smoking.

You also stink, often look like crap, they are expensive to the point that you can easily smoke a new car a year, and to top it all off quitting is on par with quitting cocaine.

I don't recommend it.

[TimeRender]

Ok Jag, we shouldn't let the thread get derailed, nor should be let it turn into an argument. I've been a part of too many of those lately. This thread isn't about cigarettes, it's about small atomizers that could be used for prop special effects. Since we all seem to agree now that this isn't terribly inappropriate, could we drop the other conversation entirely?

I checked out a few theatre special effects stores online last night, but the only things I could find were smoke pots and flash paper, which are one time use items. The atomizers that I proposed would probably only need to be reloaded once every 200 shots or so. I also looked into the smoke generators used in model trains, but the ones I saw all ran on much higher voltages than you would see in a prop, not to mention they are larger and have a proper "this-way-up" side.