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the ultimate fog machine

by somebullcrap on October 27, 2008 Table of Contents the ultimate fog machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Intro: The ultimate fog machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 1: What you need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 2: Fog it up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 3: Safety and such . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 4: Fog chiller how not to :first attempt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 5: Fog chiller how not to :second (more successful) attempt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 6: Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 2 2 3 4 5 6 6 7

http://www.instructables.com/id/the-ultimate-fog-machine/

Intro: The ultimate fog machine

this instructable will show you how to make a the ultimate fog machine .and also show you the fog chiller designs i tried even though they did not work for my fogger

Image Notes 1. the ultimate fogger 2. old fish pond hole 3. right after a pull on the trigger

Step 1: What you need

you don't need much to make the ultimate fogger .in fact you only need four things -mosquito fogger -small propane tank (type used for pipe soldering) -mineral oil (food grade i.e. laxative) -lighter

Image Notes 1. made in the USA

Image Notes 1. my dad found a case of this in a dumpster all unopened and not expired

Step 2: Fog it up
this step is rather simple too (as the best things in life are) .all you need to do is put the mineral oil in the mosquito fogger .connect the propane tank .light the fogger .let it warm up .pull the trigger and make thick white fog

http://www.instructables.com/id/the-ultimate-fog-machine/

Image Notes 1. the ultimate fogger 2. old fish pond hole 3. right after a pull on the trigger

Image Notes 1. fish pond hole still there only covered by the fog .yes it's that thick

Image Notes 1. not a ghost .but a large cloud of fog i made that stayed around due to the calm night .this picture was taken about 5-10 minutes after turning off my fogger

Step 3: Safety and such

ok ok .i know some of you out there are thinking this is a terrible idea .and yes heating mineral oil to the point it smokes is a bit dangerous not to mention flammable .and i did manage to catch my rig on fire while trying to chill the fog .it was a few tense moments but I kept my cool .turned off the propane supply and the fire burned it self out rather quickly .anyhow you shouldn't use it around open flames .that is even on the safety instructions on the fogger it's self .another thing you should not do is use any poisons in the fogger you intend to use to make fog .nor should you use an old fogger that was used for fogging poison .i would NOT recommend using this inside .the fog isn't the best of things to breath but i would say its less harmful then smoking cigarettes .if for what ever dumbass reason you do use this inside you need to have a fan or three ready to clear out the smoke i was using my fogger to see how the air moved around on our back porch .trying to figure out how to most effectively cool it and while doing so i the smoke had blown around my house and across the street leaving a hazy trail .i walked out the front door of my house and the neighbor from across the street was already on his way over to see if every thing was alright .i had to explain how i was just using my fogger .the point of that story was that by using this fogger there is a good chance you might get the fire department called out .so using it will be done at your own risk

http://www.instructables.com/id/the-ultimate-fog-machine/

Image Notes 1. not the fire i talked about

Step 4: Fog chiller how not to :first attempt

i looked around on here before i attempted making a fog chiller of my own .and the three fog chillers i found were the way to go .and you should see links to those in the related instructables area at the upper right part of this page what i did to make my first chiller was .get some 3/8" copper piping .coiled it around the propane bottle .got a container to place the coil and ice in .and made a small clamp out of a wire to hold the tip of the fogger to the coil howd it fail? .well it did and didn't fail .i used regular ice to begin with and it worked semi ok .the fog was cool but failed to drop to ground like i wanted .so to try to cool the fog mow i added a salt water slurry .the salt water not freezing at 32F was much much colder and the water made for greater contact with the pipe for heat exchanging .i thought the possibility of the fog condensing and turning back to its liquid state was a possibility but if you don't fail, you fail to learn so thats exactly what happened .i learned that the colder water did make the fog turn back to oil and whats more clogged the pipe leaving no room for the fog to easily pass threw .so a little pressure built up and pushed out the connection point of the fogger and pipe .oil and fog were both coming out and shortly after the fire i previously typed of occurred

Image Notes 1. always take care in bending pipe as not to crimp it

http://www.instructables.com/id/the-ultimate-fog-machine/

Image Notes 1. i flanged the end of the pipe for a snug fit but also for a place for the clip to hold

Image Notes 1. this it the clamp .but also the spot where the small fire started

Image Notes 1. was a nice compact set up until it caght on fire .oh and failed to work properly

Step 5: Fog chiller how not to :second (more successful) attempt

for this second attempt what i did was first gathered my materials .an ice chest .old vacuum cleaner hose (5 feet in length) .copper pipe coil i used in my first attempt the to assemble it what i did was .coiled the vacuum cleaner hose in the bottom of the ice chest .taped the hose in place on the top of the ice chest .placed the end of the copper pipe into the vacuum cleaner hose .filled the ice chest with ice this was more successful then the first attempt because the fog did come out of the hose and sunk to the ground .however where it failed in design was again the condensation of the fog on the inside of the copper pipe .though no fire occurred this time .it did spit out hot oil .i could have taken off the copper pipe and aimed the fogger directly into the vacuum hose and gotten my desired effect .though a fog chiller that works that was has already been made and again a link should be found in the related box on the upper right side of this page .if you can not find it there try using the search box (also in the upper right part of the page) and type in "fog chiller"

http://www.instructables.com/id/the-ultimate-fog-machine/

Image Notes 1. heavy duty electrical tape 2. used these to cut the tape cause i didn't care to look harder to find a knife 3. i like to recycle 4. weird looking snake 5. where i store the head i take until i make room in my freezer

Image Notes 1. taped all nice and tight 2. can't see it but the hose makes a full loop on the bottom of the ice chest 3. i believe this was the only faulty part in this design

Image Notes 1. cold fog sinking .thats a nice sight

Step 6: Conclusion
my conclusion is that if you want to make massive amounts of fog for whatever (legal) reason this is the way to go .you're not limited by power cords .this fogger could easily fill a large arena with smoke so thick you can't see you're hand in front of your face using only about 5fl oz of mineral oil if you combine this with a fog chiller you will get the best and most ground hugging fog effect you've seen outside of a hollywood movie .which this is the type of fog and fog machine the most hollywood movies use i hope you enjoyed my third instructable and put it to good (legal) use .and as always .constructive criticism welcomed

Related Instructables

Care and Feeding of Fog Machines by Tiller

The Ultimate budget ($8.20) Fog Chiller by Negafen

Super Cheap and Easy Fog Chiller by admanrocks

Make a Fog Chiller for $10 by T3Hprogrammer

Pumpkin Fog Machine (Photos) by NADYSTudiOs

Chauvet Hurricane 700 MOD by C7mb

http://www.instructables.com/id/the-ultimate-fog-machine/

Comments
21 comments Add Comment

Vulcanator says:
Why dont you try actual fog machine liquid?

Nov 8, 2009. 2:23 PM REPLY

somebullcrap says:
main reason is my dad didnt find any in a dumpster .plus im cheap

Nov 8, 2009. 3:46 PM REPLY

Vulcanator says:
you could use 30% glycerin and 70% distilled water. better for the lungs

Nov 8, 2009. 6:10 PM REPLY

dfwsupergeek says:
Thats all it takes to make fog juice? Seriously?

Oct 10, 2010. 8:16 AM REPLY

IX Smith XI says:
Where can you buy glycerin.

Feb 21, 2010. 9:53 PM REPLY

Owenmon says:
Um..... Your dad goes through the dumpster?

Feb 26, 2009. 10:49 AM REPLY

somebullcrap says:

Feb 26, 2009. 2:20 PM REPLY absolutely .people throw away all kinds of stuff even brand new ,unopened stuff .the mineral oil bottles were all unopened still with the little safety foil under the cap .my dad also looks threw peoples garbage .he has found all kinds of things useful and not so useful but recently found a craftsman jigsaw .it wasn't new but not only is it in great shape it works great if you bothered reading all of that sorry .to answer your question directly .yes my father digs in dumpsters why don't you start?

sueman2 says:

Jun 14, 2010. 11:58 PM REPLY i do that too, i'm 16 and me and about twenty of my friends have tree house's. i would go threw the wood thrown out by houses being built in the neighbor hood and we would build one after the other. we also got free nails thrown out probably for being a little rusted or left over at the end. so all 20 were like free!!! May 30, 2009. 8:22 PM REPLY thats pretty cool... i gotta admit! i'd like to do that too, but idk where to start... lol :D i remember a teacher at my school threw away a whole lawnmower in the dumpster just cuz there was some small instability and also a whole buncha good flowerpots or so my friend said :(. wish i could have dove for them but i didnt have the time.

MadBricoleur says:

knex_mepalm says:

Feb 27, 2010. 12:37 AM REPLY I too am happy to look thru garbage. I mean some guy threw out a whole box of 2 GB RAMs , I mean with some money and a whole lotta time I made windows boot in 13 seconds and Macintosh boot in 23!

Owenmon says:
=O

Feb 27, 2010. 5:35 PM REPLY

Owenmon says:
Um.... That makes a little bit of sence. I guess. But just make sure he isn't mistaken for a hobo!

Feb 27, 2009. 7:39 AM REPLY

pyro13 says:

Oct 28, 2008. 2:43 PM REPLY hmmmm i have never messed around with mineral oil, but if this stuff is flammable, and you are vaporizing it, this is looking to be a gnarly fireball if something were to set it off. =D

Wesley666 says:
Your giving people ideas.

Oct 11, 2009. 7:15 PM REPLY

http://www.instructables.com/id/the-ultimate-fog-machine/

Nicky Pyro C. says:

:D forget Nap-Bombs.. that is one helluva idea!!

Aug 11, 2009. 5:17 PM REPLY

Evilthingamabober says:
Um, is it really a good idea to breath in laxative?

Oct 9, 2009. 5:05 PM REPLY

BlueFusion says:

Jul 20, 2009. 5:27 AM REPLY Mineral oil was disused in foggers for the theatre industry (and shortly after for other uses of fog) many years ago, because it's highly toxic. Many theatre techs have died or been permanently injured because of inhaling mineral oil smoke. Don't do it. It is much, much worse than smoking cigarettes.

mikeasaurus says:

Oct 27, 2008. 11:34 PM REPLY an amazing idea, good job! Step 3 is priceless and should really be step 1. How long until the smoke dissipates? And is there any odour?

somebullcrap says:

Oct 28, 2008. 12:24 AM REPLY first off thank you .second off the dissipation depends on atmospheric conditions .the cloud in the dark picture would have hung around longer if the wind hadn't picked up slightly .and third on .yes there is an odor .its hard to say exactly what it smells like as i've been told by different people it smells like different things .i'm not sure if you've ever had cooking oil get smoky on you .but its similar to that .its not awful and really only pungent when a more concentrated amount is breathed in

frollard says:

Oct 28, 2008. 3:47 AM REPLY If using an uuber fogger why not use commercial fog juice? its glycerin based - and health safe...ish... I like the thought of using a full-blown propane fogger though :D I've never thought to use plastic hose to do the chilling - I Made the syrofoam/dryer hose version and works like a charm, the effect is killer.

somebullcrap says:

Oct 28, 2008. 12:13 PM REPLY never had any to try .and i'm to cheap to buy some .the only potently problem i can think of is the propane fogger might get to hot for the commercial fog juice

http://www.instructables.com/id/the-ultimate-fog-machine/