Update! I got the mod done and it smokes like a trooper. I could only run it for 10-20 seconds at a time in my shop otherwise the smoke got too thick.
It draws .95 amps at 8 vdc, so about 8 watts of power. I think when my friend gets it installed in his boat it's going to look great.
In the end I left C1 in place, as well as the D2/Q2/Q3 stuff. There was no good reason to remove them, so it's just easier.
Anyone looking to use a smoke unit for a building stack or other trackside structure could do the same mod. And it would be a snap to power it up using one of the mini ac or dc to dc buck converters that have been mentioned here before.
Rod
