Sounds strange...to test it put a generator and add a bunch of high electricity consuming items...starts ok but then plays a rapid ticking sound (best i could describe it)
Smoke is not produced while working (will get back with more info might be a mod conflict,so ignore this one for now)

Settings for this mod changed only to have 2 tiers of upgrades and vanilla color scheme

The clicking appears when the machine works just barely (like powering a lamp or something. In this case, is also does not produce enough smoke to create a visible effect. It outputs smoke when a certain amount of pollution is created/fluid is burned which needs time when just powering a few Machines. The Sound is also a bit buggy when like saving in audible reach. Sometimes the engine won't produce both sounds and all you can hear is clicking. The only way to fix that (permanently) is to remove lines 241 to 244 in entity.lua (untested).
The amount of upgrades doesn't matter, there isnt rly a limit of how much tiers can be created.

ok,thx for the info will try it out