# Pirate cannon possibility



## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

Hi all,
IMU and I have been talking a bit about how to build a pirate cannon that uses a fogger, sound, and lighting, all triggered simultaneously. He pointed out a cannon that Dadgonemad posted on Halloween Forum. A really nice design, the only downside is the old fog-on-demand issue.
I thought about this, and came up with this idea. Instead of trying to know when the fogger is ready to go, let the fogger itself make the call. Wire a 110 volt relay (DPDT or greater depending on what else you need to trigger) in series with the fogger's pump. When the fogger is hot enough and the timer turns on the pump, the relay will be energized for the duration of the fog blast.

Of course, you don't get to fire the cannon whenever you want to but with this setup you're guaranteed to get fog when it fires.

Here's a link to Dadgonemad's cool cannon:
http://www.halloweenforum.com/halloween-props/82856-30-pirate-cannon-complete.html
The post mentions that the fogger he used is a continuous model, but I'm not sure of that. The machine looks like an older Lite F/X 1741 which is a workhorse machine, but not a continuous fogger. No offense meant, DGM.
Opinions are welcome.


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## halstaff (Nov 18, 2009)

I've been holding off building the cannon for my Pirate display because of the fogger issue. I've got the lightning FX box, light and sound but haven't found a solution for using a regular fog machine. I'll be anxious to see how this works out.


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## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

Actually, I don't plan to build one of these as I don't do a pirate theme. I do have an appropriate relay and a Lite F/X 1741 fogger that I'm real comfortable with hacking and repairing. I could do a proof-of-concept in a couple of weeks if there's enough interest.


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## sluggo (Jun 16, 2010)

When I built my cannon last year, I thought about adding a fogger to it. I didn't do it, but I thought about how I might do it. I was thinking I could hook a relay up to the circuit connected to the light on the remote that indicates that the fogger is ready to fire. The other side of the relay could then be attached to an input pin of my PIC. If the input pin is off, the PIC would not fire the cannon when the button is pressed. Certainly less than ideal, but probably better than firing randomly.


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## Evil Bob (Sep 1, 2005)

Otaku said:


> Actually, I don't plan to build one of these as I don't do a pirate theme.


Never too late!


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## Evil Bob (Sep 1, 2005)

I was think about getting around this problem by using a fog resevoir. basically, have the fogger pump fog into it as often as it can, but force air into the resevoir and out through the cannon when desired.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

It doesn't appear Dadgonemad posted a video of the piece in action on that thread. I would think, what with all the pirate haunters we have here, there would be interest in seeing how this might work. It could also have application for a prop like a roaring, smoke spewing dragon.


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## morbidmike (Sep 11, 2009)

kinda of the same idea for my gatlin gun otaku I need the barrel to spin the strobe to flash and the fog to omit at the same time oh and the deer motor for the sweeping motion I wanna hack the fogger controller and solder on to the timmer button to go to a relay and a contactor to activate a power strip Dr Morbius gave me the idea of a key banger but then I need a program dont I ??? I need to research a little more on this one


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## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

RoxyBlue said:


> It doesn't appear Dadgonemad posted a video of the piece in action on that thread. I would think, what with all the pirate haunters we have here, there would be interest in seeing how this might work. It could also have application for a prop like a roaring, smoke spewing dragon.


Roxy, I was thinking the same thing. The whole concept centers around having the fog when everything else is happening. The in-series relay also could be used to trigger timers for other effects that continue after the initial fog release.
It's getting close to the time when I pull out my foggers for pre-season testing, so maybe I'll drop a 4PDT relay in one of them and see what happens. Again, the best applications for this would be effects that aren't a scare-on-demand, but for stuff like cannons that go off at random intervals as part of a larger scene.


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## tot13 (Jul 25, 2007)

No secret at this point that this kinda stuff is over my head. However, I appreciate and admire your ability to look at a problem from different perspectives in order to come up with a solution. Otaku, I'm curious what you're profession is -


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## GhoulishGadgets (May 13, 2010)

great ideas, I've not gone down a pirate theme path myself, but this is tempting me.
plus I can play with electronics n stuff.. that's what I do and enjoy most...

I'm thinking of a fogger, with led lighting (red/white/yellow mix) for the firing flash, and a sort of air cannon system for the bang and smoke shooting effect
I'm thinking of priming an air cannon chamber with smoke, then hit the valve to let it go..
I'd use a little controller (maybe pic) to sort this - a relay on the smoke trigger button and detect the fogger ready light, so using that to fire as long as the smoke is available.
I won't get time for a week or so, but will mock it up to see how it goes.
maybe even smoke, air cannon, then more smoke? for best effect?

also.. whilst reading this, I can't get the pirates of the caribbean music out fo my head..
(as much as love my horror movies, especially zombie n vampire stuff - the pirates of the caribbean movies are big, well huge, faves too, specially curse of the black pearl)
.. now I'm really getting into a pirate themed halloween mood...
... mmm using a sample of barbosa's line about believing in ghost stories on the way in.. sweet..

now look what you've all done, my heads obsessed now...

- make a trash can trauma - but in a rum barrel.. maybe with a pump or spitter too
- use a grave peeper system for the skelly guy at the wheel...
- a madame leota projection/screen idea - but a porthole instead of crystal ball
- a ghost host type idea for the captain of the ghost ship


Si


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## niblique71 (Dec 2, 2009)

tot13 said:


> Otaku, I'm curious what you're profession is -


 LOL Me too......

I've had an Idea about this cannon fire thing for quite some time. As a drummer, a large bass drum (prefferrably bought at a garage sale) could solve 3 problems at once. 
1) It could be converted into a reservoir for fog 
2) You could use pneumatics to trigger the bass pedal to make a large sound like a cannon.
3) the Brief but violent impact would send a nice FAST burst of fog through the cannon using a flexible pvc tube. I'm fairly certain it would be Highly effective both visually and for audio. However you could actually trigger a digital cannon sound as well. the combination would be really eerily realistic.

If designed right the bass drum could be modified to be hidden in the carraige section of your cannon. Baffeling could send excess fog elsewhere in between cannon bursts if desired. Although I kinda think a constantly smouldering cannon would be Just as cool. If the tube is too long it won't work unless the fog is present in the tube. I might experiment with the smallest fogger available.

Several months ago someone posted that japlanese video of a GIANT box that emmitted HUGE smoke rings across an indoor stadium??? this could something similar if you weren't pumping it into the cannon barrel.

You could also make a large strong air-tight box for a reservoir, Add a short high pressure burst of air into the fog filled reservior. Again, with baffles you could direct excess fog elsewhere in your haunt. When the air cannon fired into the reservoir the baffles would close forcing all the fog and air out into the second exit that goes to the cannon.

Just a few ideas, Hope this adds some inspiration.


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## Evil Bob (Sep 1, 2005)

The resevoir is a novel idea.


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## IMU (Apr 8, 2009)

Hey ... thanks for posting this ... I'm VERY interested in this project (why I've mentioned it numerous times) but I can't do anything on it right now.

I was just given a cheap little fog machine (OK, maybe not cheap or little but it was free!!!!!!) the other day so I'll have to look into this project again soon.


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## The Watcher (Sep 13, 2008)

You could take a 10 inch speaker hook it to a 10 inch round concrete form. The fill the form with fog. The sound of a cannon through the speaker will also push out the fog in a blast also. I also think wiring into the fogger remote and wiring it and a sound card together would work. One of those 10.00 recorders and the fog controller hooked to a relay.You would need a amp to make it loud. But I think it would give a good effect. Some body had a video last year on here. The had 6 or more cannons firing. The had separate valves down the line and a large long pvc pipe capped for the fog to sit in. I don't know if he pushed the fog with air, or just the fogger. He still did the sounds with a sound card. But it was the best setup I have seen. But It wasn't a budget item either.

Here is a video before it was in the ship.


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## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

Cool effect, the speakers act like those old Wham-O Air Blaster toys.

http://www.retroland.com/pages/retropedia/toys/item/2405/


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## IMU (Apr 8, 2009)

*Vortex Cannons*

Here is a how-to on two different types ... one of which is with a speaker.


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## djlpn71 (Jul 18, 2010)

I am trying to hack the "manual" fog controller for an electrocution theme. I have a pica-boo5 that takes two plug-ins; one controls the pneumatics, and the other I want to control the fog. Can anyone tell me if hooking a simple relay into the remote(where the push button is), and connecting a corded plug to the relay, will be sufficient for plugging into the pica-boo so the fog will come on demand, when i program the second channel? I see many people talking about prop-1 controllers, and X-10, which i am not up to speed on. My prop is a corpsified bucky, hanging on a metal electrocution panel, with a motion sensor trip. The pneumatics and sound are all set, all I need is the smoke for the BBQ! HELP!


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## bobzilla (Nov 13, 2008)

Great thread, even know most of it's over my head :googly: I just used one of those wireless remote controls for my fog machine and set it off remotely when people walked by. That's the extent of my electronic abilities LOL


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