Continuous Fog - YEA FOG !!!
DISCLAIMER this is a work in progress. Knowledge of basic electric wiring applies as well as safety.
should WILL be able to do some wiring to create a continuous fog stream.
The Idea is to use inexpensive relays ( DPDT mininum ) from your favorite discount supply house. The relays usually cost on the discount market <$2 ea, so it makes some sense to make the following circuit.
The realys coil Voltage should match your foggers supply (120vac for usa/canada)
You may also want either sockets for the relays or quick connect termilas (I used terminals, easier to rewire if needed or I decide to expand the unit to 3 or 5 foggers)
3 foggers seems reasonable for the average 15A household circuit ( will support ~1600Watts TOTAL )
RELAY CONTACTS V SCHEMATIC SYMBOL
It works with 2 foggers Fogger 1 becomes ready and fogger 2 is not allowed to fog (so far so good) Fogger 1 goes into reheat mode, and fogger 2 comes on. Fogger 2 goes into reheat mode, and fogger 3 is not there therefore in reheat, so fogger 1 kicks in When 1 goes into reheat, there is a blank no fog, but only briefly < 1 min So presumably if fogger 3 was there the cycle SHOULD continue without a break, and it does OK See for yourself with all 3 !!!
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Using other foggers (higher wattage) should yield similar results, advantage being they usually have larger capacity fluid tanks. Disadvantage with the higher wattage.... um the Wattage. You'll need to think out what is available on the circuit it is all plugged into, so as not to overload the circuit.
Finishing Touches
A couple little things I added to make life easier, and the box itself more convienient.
First I added 2 of the little stick-on magnet activated lights (the kind you use in drawers) so when you open the lid the lights come on (easier for refilling in the dark)
Second I added an edge (small wooden one) behind the foggers, and caulked it in to prevent fluid entering the back end of the unit where the electical is located ( we can be messy in the dark and misjudge when the fog tand is full.
The additional space is used to store extra fog. I may add a small fan to help disburse/direct the fog
Here you have it a basic Fog box that will house all the foggers the Continuous fog controler, and there is a bit of extra space. Generally I use the same boxes for storage, and diring the season I could have an extra fogger on standby should one need to be swapped out. I will probably add an LV power supply, and use it as a distribution point.
The Concept
Using the small $20 foggers from your local department store, youThe Idea is to use inexpensive relays ( DPDT mininum ) from your favorite discount supply house. The relays usually cost on the discount market <$2 ea, so it makes some sense to make the following circuit.
The realys coil Voltage should match your foggers supply (120vac for usa/canada)
You may also want either sockets for the relays or quick connect termilas (I used terminals, easier to rewire if needed or I decide to expand the unit to 3 or 5 foggers)
3 foggers seems reasonable for the average 15A household circuit ( will support ~1600Watts TOTAL )
RELAY CONTACTS V SCHEMATIC SYMBOL
Theory of operation:
- We know the lights on the foggers come on when they are ready
- We also know that the motors in the foggers will not operate if the light is off
- Say most of the foggers heat-up and are ready at about the same time, one will be ready first. Say this is fogger 1 So fogger 1 is ready, this will energize relay 1 thus cutting off fogger 2 from firing up. Subsequently the remaining foggers will become ready energizing all the relays and shutting motor power off to all the units, this is a startup condition. The one indicator and switch in the circuit (could be for any or all foggers) is for startup. Startup would consist of a single continuous shot from any of the foggers. This will cause the unit to go into reheat/recovery mode for a while, and during that time the next fogger will be automatically triggered and fire off till it too is exhausted , and the next does the same..... The relay in the last unit controls the first Ok so I finally got the realys in and the circuit built, (only took like 2 weeks)
So Next phase is testing (yet another fogger is down danm)...
YEA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Some Pictures so you know what I'm Talking about
It works with 2 foggers Fogger 1 becomes ready and fogger 2 is not allowed to fog (so far so good) Fogger 1 goes into reheat mode, and fogger 2 comes on. Fogger 2 goes into reheat mode, and fogger 3 is not there therefore in reheat, so fogger 1 kicks in When 1 goes into reheat, there is a blank no fog, but only briefly < 1 min So presumably if fogger 3 was there the cycle SHOULD continue without a break, and it does OK See for yourself with all 3 !!!
TEST RESULTS
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Conclusion:
Yes Cascading realys works with the inexpensive foggers. The cost in parts including foggers should not exceed about $70 (estimate using $20 foggers ), making this a quite reasonable solution without excessive cost.Using other foggers (higher wattage) should yield similar results, advantage being they usually have larger capacity fluid tanks. Disadvantage with the higher wattage.... um the Wattage. You'll need to think out what is available on the circuit it is all plugged into, so as not to overload the circuit.
Packaging it all up
Now to wrap it all up in a tidy 'Rain Proof' unassuming box (with access and 'work lights' for refills )
Finishing Touches
A couple little things I added to make life easier, and the box itself more convienient.
First I added 2 of the little stick-on magnet activated lights (the kind you use in drawers) so when you open the lid the lights come on (easier for refilling in the dark)
Second I added an edge (small wooden one) behind the foggers, and caulked it in to prevent fluid entering the back end of the unit where the electical is located ( we can be messy in the dark and misjudge when the fog tand is full.
The additional space is used to store extra fog. I may add a small fan to help disburse/direct the fog
Here you have it a basic Fog box that will house all the foggers the Continuous fog controler, and there is a bit of extra space. Generally I use the same boxes for storage, and diring the season I could have an extra fogger on standby should one need to be swapped out. I will probably add an LV power supply, and use it as a distribution point.
Tags: continuousfog, fogger, wiring
Comment
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Comment by Chris L on July 5, 2010 at 5:04am - SUCCESS!! Took another closer look at your wiring picture and was able to deduce how to wire up the #1 fogger, then just copied shifting one relay to the right, and BLAMO continuous fog! Thanks again for the writeup, I'll stop bugging you now :)
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Comment by Chris L on July 3, 2010 at 12:37am
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Hey Pete, any chance on getting those numbers from the schematic transferred to the associated wires on your drawing? I tried hooking this up tonight with no luck, i'm pretty sure I have something backwards and am afraid to go further at risk of frying my foggers :O
Thanks again!
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Comment by Chris L on May 15, 2010 at 12:53am
- Pete thanks for the reply. I think we're getting somewhere now with the relay drawings. That is what I was looking for, sorry I didn't ask clearly enough. If you added terminal numbers to your drawings I think that would help a lot as well. Thanks again!
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Comment by Pete on May 14, 2010 at 10:16pm -
Not exactly ehat I expected, but should help. I added it into the post.
Perhaps I should add some terminal numbers on the drawing ... ?
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Comment by Pete on May 14, 2010 at 9:34pm
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Hmmm ..
I'm having a problem dtrying to visualize what you are asking for ...
Lets break it all down by looking at One fogger, lets say Fogger #2
The Green Wire is the Ready Light, and becomes active when the fogger is ready. We use the Green and the White to power the coil Next relay in the series.
The Black and Green are teh Switch on the wired remote, and in this we use these on the normally closed contacts of the first realy.
When the fogger becomes 'Ready" it powers on the realy that controls the next Fogger (#3). Powering on this realy Opens the realy contacts that controls the 'switch' (eg off position)
Ah ... now I have it. A picture that realates the realy to the schematic ... I'll have to draw one up perhaps that will help translate the diagram wiring ...
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Comment by Chris L on May 14, 2010 at 6:22pm
- Guess I'll jump in here and revive the post yet again. I'm planning on trying this, and have already received the #RLY-453 relays as listed below. I understand the concept and operation of relays in general, but like Doug said am having trouble making out your wiring schematic. Any chance of a different or detailed one? Thanks, and keep up the great work :)
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Comment by Pete on March 13, 2010 at 10:15pm
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Todd .... doh .
I get about 3 hours out of them. But you are absolutely right, tube em all together and feed tehn with a Gallon jug. Fill once (prehaps for the season) done
Thanks
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Comment by Todd W. on March 13, 2010 at 3:45pm - Yeah I know, old post, but I was looking at things and had to wonder... Why don't you rig it to a larger fill tank? I mean why not crack open the foggers themselves and hook all three up to a larger "common tank"? That way you can do away with refilling in the dark and leave it to run?
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Comment by Doug on October 24, 2009 at 8:19am - Old post I know...I want to build one of these bad! I'll probably try a 2 fogger version. I get the concept, not sure if I know how to read your schematic though...
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Comment by Dana on September 27, 2008 at 6:11pm - Nice job. I wish I had thought of cascading relays like that it would have been much easier than what I did. I created a circuit based on a LM556 that toggles back and forth between two fog machines. This way the foggers never really get exhausted. The circuit has two pots so I can adjust how long each of the machines stays on if necessary.
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