# Fog machine trigger?



## marcus132 (Oct 18, 2007)

So I had this great idea for triggering the fogger in my monster in a can. I thought I'd just open up the remote control switch and wire in one of the photoresistors that was left over from my simple flicker pilot so that when the light bulb came on inside the can it would also trigger the fogger.

When I tested this out the photoresistor did a little bit of crackling and a little bit of... um... bursting into flame.

Can anybody think of a way to hack a fogger switch (a standard Gemmy-type thing with a red rocker switch and a green LED) to be triggered by my monster?

Perhaps there's a way to hack an extension cord onto the switch so that it gets plugged into the sensor-controlled outlet and only comes on when the monster is triggered?

I also have one of these timers from an eBay auction, but it doesn't seem to work. No matter how I set it it just seems to constantly run the fogger until it goes into its warmup cycle, repeating. So this thing is up for hacking too, if anybody has any ideas.

(I can't just plug the fog machine itself into the monster control, because the extra load from the fogger keeps the drill from working properly. That porch light wasn't designed for this kind of torture.)

Thanks for your help! :jol:


----------



## Brad Green (Jul 29, 2004)

I use a Radio Shack DPDT 110v relay (pn 275-217) to trigger the exact same Gemy fogger in my props. You could most likely tap off of the light to close the contacts on the relay and trigger the fogger. Light on, fogger goes, light off, fogger stops, that way the light isn't trying to pull power to run the fog machine, it's just closing the contacts and letting the fogger act as if someone is pushing the button manually. Just take the two wires from the fogger trigger and wire them to the normally open circuit of the relay, and the lights power supply to the coil.


----------



## marcus132 (Oct 18, 2007)

Brad Green said:


> You could most likely tap off of the light to close the contacts on the relay and trigger the fogger. Light on, fogger goes, light off, fogger stops, that way the light isn't trying to pull power to run the fog machine, it's just closing the contacts and letting the fogger act as if someone is pushing the button manually. Just take the two wires from the fogger trigger and wire them to the normally open circuit of the relay, and the lights power supply to the coil.


That sounds like exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks!

Do you have a diagram of what would need to be wired where? I'm still a beginner with electronics. But I'm learning fast! :jol:


----------



## marcus132 (Oct 18, 2007)

marcus132 said:


> Do you have a diagram of what would need to be wired where? I'm still a beginner with electronics. But I'm learning fast! :jol:


Never mind. I just did some Googling on that relay to try to familiarize myself, and the first hit was this page which seems to document just what you were talking about.

Thanks a lot for your help! :jol:


----------



## Brad Green (Jul 29, 2004)

Yep, that's it! Even shows the exact relay I used! You shouldn't have any problems hooking this one up, Wolfstone is a great place to learn the basics.


----------



## Gory Corey (Nov 17, 2006)

AH, you just tapped into Dennis' technology roadmap, see you in a month, when you reach the end.....


----------



## marcus132 (Oct 18, 2007)

Brad Green said:


> Yep, that's it! Even shows the exact relay I used! You shouldn't have any problems hooking this one up


I just gutted my broken timer and replaced the innards with a relay. It works _absolutely perfectly_ with my can monster.

Thanks so much, Brad! That's just what I needed. :jol:


----------

