# Dry Ice Machine Pea-Soup?



## EdKaz (Nov 14, 2010)

Is there ANY other dry-ice fog machine manufacture besides Le Maitre.
I took a look at this thing...for a $1000.00 USD it leaves a LOT to be desired!
A plastic bucket with a heater. I know that is all you need but how do you attach the DMX cable to the basket handle . Come on LE Maitre its 2010.

Anyway can one use a liquid co2 line in some hot (130deg.)water to create the same effect. Of course GFCI, low water cut out (heater),a fan and a cryo valve (3000psi) hooked up to a dmx relay? Would this work instead of dry ice. I will have a few co2 tanks from my cryo jets.

I don't want to re-invent the wheel just something a little better the the pea-soup fogger that controllable and not $4000.00.

Thanks
Ed


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## Van (Nov 14, 2010)

You can always build a dry ice fogger. there are plans and descriotions on here. I know I've posted them at least once. as far as adding dmx controllability there are multiple places one can buy a DMX -relay interface for anything from 50 - 165 dollars US. the question is ; What is you crafting skill level?


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## EdKaz (Nov 14, 2010)

Don't have time to build...just looking for another dry ice fog machine manufacture that has a reasonable price.

Would the liquid co2 in hot water work???


Thanks
Ed


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## derekleffew (Nov 14, 2010)

EdKaz said:


> ...Would the liquid co2 in hot water work???...


Yes...if your intent is to make club soda.

Otherwise,
City Theatrical Aquafog 3000
Interesting Products: Products
MDG FOG


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## David Ashton (Nov 16, 2010)

It isn't the fact that it's CO2, its the interface between the very cold dry ice and the hot water that produces the fog, the fog is water vapour not CO2, you could make fog with any cold material, it's just that dry ice is readily available, so just blowing CO2 into hot water would not work.


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## jwl868 (Nov 16, 2010)

The other issue with liquid carbon dioxide (as opposed to cryogenic carbon dioxide) is that the pressure is about 800 pounds per square inch gauge (psig). There are safety issues that must be considered when handling compressed gas.

As noted, dry ice sublimes at about -78 degrees Celsius, and that cold gas plus warm water generates the fog. 

It’s been a long time since I’ve had to try the calculation, but would Joule-Thompson expansion of the compressed carbon dioxide sufficiently lower the temperature of the carbon dioxide to create a satisfactory fog effect?

Joe


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## EdKaz (Dec 3, 2010)

Rosco US : Fog : Coldflow


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## Van (Dec 3, 2010)

EdKaz That is a great unit however, it is a chiller unit not an actual fog machine itself. used in conjunction with a 'standard' glycol based fogger chiller units work fantastic. I have not used that particular one before , but i have used them.


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## ivctech (Jun 10, 2011)

Bit late on the thread I know, but I've only just discovered the site. For a great dry ice effect, we just purchased the Antari ICE 100, its a fogger with a 10kg capacity hopper for ice. Gives a great effect a lot more safely than dry ice and can be dmx controlled, also comes with a controller with a timer and continuous supply functions. Hope this helps.


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## MPowers (Jun 10, 2011)

> Would the liquid co2 in hot water work???



Yes it would work, but you have to have a fog machine specifically designed for the liquid CO2 with special regulators designed for the pressure and the product. There are fog machines on the market that use LN2 (liquid Nitrogen) and also liquid air (80% LN2 and 20% liquid Oxygen). There are advantages and disadvantages. The machines that use liquified gas are more expensive than comparable dry ice units, but, depending on the cost of the gas or the cost of the dry ice in your area, the LN2 is often far cheaper. When working as TD at the Meadowbrook Theatre a few years back we purchased an LN2 machine to replace a dry ice unit and wound up saving several thousand a year in dry ice costs. The annual Christmas Carol runs over a month with IIRC 10 and sometimes 12 performances a week, each performance using, again IIRC, (it was a couple of years ago) about 100# of dry ice. The LN2 comes in a large dewer that lasts 4 or 5 days, no one ever handles the cryogenic product, no daily trips to pick up the dry ice or to lose 20% when trying to store it overnight. Very large venues like theme parks can pipe the LN2 or liquid air to the machine and have 500 or 1000 gal tank outside the building that gets refilled by a tank truck. One big advantage is the fog can be continuous for hours on end if need be as the liquid can be fed continuously into the machine at any rate you desire.

The LN2 has no related health hazards as it is essentially the same as 80% of the air you breathe, however it does displace oxygen so performers can not be totally immersed for more than a few seconds. Liquid air is even better (but far more expensive) because you can have performers totally immersed for any length of time. This prompts a word of caution, when using dry ice or LN2 fog, if you have an orchestra in a pit, you must prevent the fog from cascading over the front of the stage and filling the pit as you are now suffocating you musicians.

The liquid machines all work by spraying a mist of the cryogenic liquid over a surface of hot water and the result is the same highly condensed white vapor that is heavier than air, is chilled and dissipates before it rises. The cold fog flows down hill like water and will not rise as it warms up. Fog created by chilling the output of a machine that heats up fog fluid will always begin to rise as it warms up. Fast dissipating fluids are the best way to counter this but there will still be some degree of rise.

Generally the liquid product machines are cost effective if you are using a lot of dry ice and do a lot of fog. for smaller amounts or one shot FX for a short time, the dry ice machines or a chiller on a fog juice machine are usually a better choice. 

one of the best commercial dry ice machines I know of is the City Theatrical SS6000 dry ice fogger City Theatrical (click on dry ice fog on the menu at the left) , but at a list price of $8250, it is pretty steep for most budgets. The best small commercial machine IMHO is the Lemaitre Pea Souper, don't know the cost of that one right off.


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