$10 fog machine

AAH

I love blinky lights :)
Community project designer
Joined
Dec 27, 2010
Messages
4,188
Location
Eaglehawk
Nice.
It's actually a thermal switch and bypassing it could have bad results. If you're wanting it to run longer at a time then some sort of active cooling for the element like a heatsink and/or a fan might keep the element from getting too hot.
Somewhere on the switch there is probably an operating temperature. If that temp is exceeded by too much then wires could overheat and the element will overheat with unknown results.
 

burnt

Full time elf
Joined
Nov 17, 2014
Messages
189
Nice.
It's actually a thermal switch and bypassing it could have bad results. If you're wanting it to run longer at a time then some sort of active cooling for the element like a heatsink and/or a fan might keep the element from getting too hot.
Somewhere on the switch there is probably an operating temperature. If that temp is exceeded by too much then wires could overheat and the element will overheat with unknown results.

I just moved the pump active wire to power from the element active. worst case the pump is turned on to soon and liquid gets pumped out.
 

David_AVD

Grandpa Elf
Community project designer
Generous elf
Joined
Jun 12, 2010
Messages
4,681
Location
Victoria Point (Brisbane)
Most smoke machines are not designed for continuous output. Once the heater core temperature drops too low, it starts reheating. At the same time the pump is disabled. This is done so you don't get (still hot!) liquid pumped out of the nozzle when the core is no longer hot enough to atomise it properly.
 

scamper

Dedicated elf
Joined
Jan 5, 2014
Messages
1,225
Location
collie
Everyone else has already pointed out the heating issues.
But you get what you pay for is pretty appropriate here. The machine maybe a cheaper machine that won't heat as long as more expensive machines between cooling cycles, But it is also true of the fog liquid. you could look around for some different types that create a denser smoke which means you don't need to run it as long to get the same effect. Or if you want the Halloween smoke along the ground, then you can make a cool box for the smoke also.
Good buy anyway, once you have one, there are many ways you can utilise it.
I have a party hire business, so have a few of them and I use one in my train I made for xmas
 

Mark_M

Annoying Elf
Joined
Dec 30, 2018
Messages
914
Location
Christmas Light world
Here's an interesting video about one of the nastier (electrically) smoke machines out there.

I'm kind of tempted :laugh: to add a microcontroller to a small fog machine one day, see if I could make it have proper temperature regulation to be continuous.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ik_0Z46y6-g&t=0s

Btw, I have a 1Kw smoke machine with an XLR plug on the back! When I was 12 I bought an XLR lead from Jaycar and it had metal outer.... just like in BigClive's video he mentioned. I got a substantial shock that was pulsating like AC 50Hz. But luckily didn't struggle to let go!
 
Top