Economy Series

After using it in my shop for a few weeks, I can say this machine is damn effective. You can be done with diagnosing leaks in mere minutes. What I found out that it does is turns mineral oil into thick smoke which is then pumped in sealed systems, such as air intakes, exhausts, you name it. Wherever there are cracks, smoke would seep out and this would determine the leak source. It's so effective and fast to use! To hook it up, you simply connect the power cables to the 12V positive and negative battery terminals of your car. Then plug in your air compressor and you're good to go. I now have 3 of these running, 2 in the shop and 1 at home. Huge time saver! PROS: - Fast and easy to use. Capable of finding common leaks in mere minutes. (Hint from experience: use a flashlight) - Works on almost all sealed systems like intake manifolds, exhausts, etc. and the mineral oil is safe for even oxygen sensors. Believe me, I've tried. However, I'd still cover up the mass air flow sensor just in case. - Has an air regulator @ a very safe 1 psi so your system doesn't blow out. - Compact. You can put everything back into the box it was shipped in for quick storage. CONS: - The unit requires mineral oil which is not included. Had to go out to purchase some at Walmart for a few bucks. - Air connector only allows for a quick connector fitting from any air compressor. But I don't see why you can't use a hand pump for this. - The kit doesn't include an EVAP port adapter, but you can simply disconnect the EVAP hose and use the included multi-size tip. If you have one in the shop, I'd recommend an EVAP port adapter for much faster diagnosing. UPDATE July 20, 2017: It's been 4 months since I've purchased 3 of these (2 in the shop and 1 at home). Everything is still working strongly. Quite impressive for such an affordable diagnostic machine. I refilled mineral oil only once or twice for the ones I had in the shop. Which costed me less than $3. Had a question about what type of mineral oil would be best and seller responded very promptly. Use plain ol' mineral oil guys! It's cheaper than baby oil and baby oil smells a little bit. Good customer service, great product. I'm happy, just thought I'd let you guys know.

The only reason this would get a poor review is if the buyer has no concept of what it costs to produce and market a unit like this. Yes, this unit is a little cheap and cheesy but, it works well if you set it up properly. For what the unit costs, you are actually getting a fair deal. The most important parts ie. ( power cord and heat coil inside and regulator ) are of good quality and that is what truly counts. Yes, the can is a cheap Home Depot tin paint can with fittings for air and the smoke tube and power attached and a regulator. All looks like its straight off Ebay or maybe from here on Amazon. But, they do a good job of putting it all together for you. I read a few of the bed reviews that complained that said " I could have made this junk myself for cheaper! " and their right. But they didn't! You are paying for parts and for someone else to build it for you. With that in mind you are getting a fair deal for your money and it works. Keep the air PSI under 10 psi and it is a little champ.

I’ve been a mechanic for 61 years. I’ve never needed anything like this.. but after using it, I will never not have one. This one is a little crude. But it gets the job done. I’ll probably never use it again, but it was so damn fast. I found the problem in about 20 seconds. Very, very cool machine.!! I used it on my 2013 Jeep Wrangler 3.6 just a cool tool it doesn’t care what car you use it on. It would work on any kind. Been fighting the problem for a week and I found it in no time flat thanks so much for making such a neat machine.!!

Looking for vacuum or exhaust leak on 2003 Silverado because of Lean bank 1 code. No vacuum leak found but there were three exhaust joint leaking, one above the O2 sensor, so thinking that was the problem. Great diagnostic tool. I got the big rubber funnel too, which worked great in the intake and exhaust.

Takes all of 2 minutes to connect everything. Instructions say it should take about 5 minutes before you start seeing smoke. It didn't take mine that long. I hooked it up to a 3 gallon air compressor from Harbor Freight, and gets consistent smoke. Worked like a charm.

I very much like this unit.

I had the infamous leak somewhere in the evap system on a Jeep. Few hundred dollars estimate from the local shops. I bought this, and after about an hour figuring out how to hook it up tried it for real. Took less than a minute to find the problem. Less than a minute!! Got the part, installed it, retested and everything was fine. Reset the code, drove it a bit, passed smog test with flying colors. You can even check your gas cap with this. I does look a little silly, paint can with some hoses and some wires, but it does the job really, really well. My neighbor has already used it to find a vacuum leak in his AC system. This thing is great. It does get hot though, so pay attention to what you're doing to prevent dropping it when the heat surprises you.

I'll be honest, it's a small paint can with 2 hose attachments (one a regulator for incoming air and a rubber hose for outgoing) and a heating element. The heating element looks impressive with a screw on connector for the battery clamps with an inline fuse. It hooks up to a 12 volt source like a car battery. At first, I thought that was neat and handy. Later on, it was kind of a handicap. I needed to smoke my exhaust to find a leak and the battery clamps on the smoke machine didn't quite reach so I had to use a spare car battery that was hooked up to a battery charger with an extension cord just to reach to where my car was parked. (I wasn't able to move it to a better spot at the time). It does draw a bit of power off the battery if you need to use the smoke for a while which is why I ran it with a battery charger hooked up to the battery I was using. Probably not a good idea but I had the machine hooked up to my car for a while since I was having trouble getting visible smoke. I had to leave my car battery on the charger afterwards to charge it up after I was done using the smoke machine. The instructions say to turn on the heating element for 3 minutes before use. Each time I did that, I got smoke, but it was a very transparent smoke. The best place to use it is in a dark room with a flash light. It's a very clear smoke. Not the big puff of white smoke I was imagining. I was using the included "smoke oil" which I think is just mineral oil. Maybe I needed to use different oil? I was kind of disappointed with the smoke quality. By the way, be prepared for the lingering smell of burnt mineral oil. Because the can is so small, you don't get that much smoke out of it before it needs time to catch up. I had great smoke for a few minutes after starting and then wonder why no more is coming out. I pull the hose off my intake and I see there is barely any smoke coming out. This could be due to the fact I don't know how to use my air compressor's pressure regulator but I made a DIY smoke machine with a soldering iron that made more consistent smoke then this does. (except this one is much safer to use) I had much better results using just using soapy water on the area I was looking for leaks. It was much easier to see and stunk less. The good: Affordable compared to professional smoke machines Easy to use Simple design Can use your car's battery to power it Good quality materials Compact The bad: You can't use a wall outlet to power the heating element Small capacity for smoke generation Requires an air compressor