Turn your Fog Machine into a Heavy Fog Machine

[smogthemog]

Sorry
I meant adding broken glow stick juice to your fogger liquid
Would it make glowing fog?

Or even better, adding fluorescent liquid to fog juice

[buffo]

Hmmm.... That's an interesting idea. Of course, it would probably clog up the fogger, but it would be worth it to try on a cheap-o fog machine just to see what happens.

Cyalume fog... That could be really cool - if it works!

Adam

[Doc]

I wouldn't like to breathe anything that glowed in the dark

[mliptack]

Yeah I most certainly wouldnt try adding anything like that to your fogger.

I know dyes wont work if you try to make colored fog. Like Adam said, it will clog it.

Adam, those ultrasonic foggers are pretty interesting. Some haze units use that type of technology. The fog will linger longer if you use different fluids. Just dont stick your finger in the stream of water it creates... it HURTS... BAD.

[Pianoman]

Another really cool thing to do for short life low lying fog is use LN2. On halloween I go to a local Welding supplier and buy 10 liters for about 12 dollars. I like to get 2 deep bowls or pots, fill them halfway with water (temp. doesn't matter), and then when people approach pour a little LN2 into them. A plume of fog (water vapor to be politically correct) will burst forth in a mushroom cloud shape and then fall to the ground and spread out. The fog will continue to roll for a couple of minutes depending on how much liquid nitrogen you add. The trick is not adding so much LN2 that the water freezes...which I have never done before... . Another cool thing to do is this. Get a pot (always use metal because plastic becomes very fragile when cooled to cryogenic temps. Glass will explode if there r any tiny cracks that the LN2 can fill in and then turn to gas). Anyway submerge small pieces of graham cracker in the liquid nitrogen for a few seconds and then shake them off in the air for about 8 seconds making sure there is no liquid left (to know when it is ready, blow on it gently, ice crystals should form and any liquid should turn to gas, it will look like the graham cracker is going from wet to dry instantly). Give it to the person and tell them to chew it up quickly. Plumes of fog will blow out of their mouths as they chew, really fun and people will crack up when they see it. Try closing your mouth as you chew, you will look like a dragon. I have done this with kids in Science Demonstrations and they absolutely love it, cant get enough.
One word of warning, don't let anyone get close to the LN2, and dont ever ever touch it. It hurts. If it spills on you it will usually evaporate before it touches your skin but it's not pleasant when it DOES make it to your skin. Also, don't use plastic or rubber spatulas to submerge the crackers, just metal. I once used rubber and because the rubber is resistant to temperature change, the outside cooled and shrunk will the inside stayed warm and tried to expand. This caused a little "explosion" that sent LN2 flying everywhere. Bad idea.
Here is a link for more ideas.

http://bigbro.biophys.cornell.edu/~t...20nitrogen.htm

It's pretty cheap all things considered. You can get more fog with it than Dry ice I think. At least here, dry ice is 5 dollars a pound. There is a big supplier that's cheaper per pound but they only sell minimum of 100 pounds.

-Jonathan

[mliptack]

I have always wanted to get some LN2, but in all of my years I have never been able to. Is it really that easy to acquire? How did you get it home? Did you rent a dweller?

This place near I live is a wholesale dry ice place. In small quantities they usually just sell to me under the table since they usually deal in, like you said, hundreds of pounds minimum. But if I come in to get, say, 20-40lbs its ususally about 50-75 cents a pound.

[swamidog]

I have always wanted to get some LN2, but in all of my years I have never been able to. Is it really that easy to acquire? How did you get it home? Did you rent a dweller?

This place near I live is a wholesale dry ice place. In small quantities they usually just sell to me under the table since they usually deal in, like you said, hundreds of pounds minimum. But if I come in to get, say, 20-40lbs its ususally about 50-75 cents a pound.

i've used lN2 to make (near) instant ice cream at parties. it's always a smash hit.

[mliptack]

Yeah I've never made it, but I've had it! And it was good!

You made my mouth water.

[buffo]

Most welding supply stores will also stock LN2... Basically any place that sells compressed gasses will have LN2. You shouldn't need any special license to purchase it, but you will need something to carry it in.

You can make your own dewar out of a pair of nesting containers and some "great stuff" expanding foam in a can. Make sure the inner container has a cap that has a vent. (Drill a hole in it if you have to.) Not perfect, but good enough to get the stuff home in. Stick it inside a styrofoam cooler with some wadded up newspaper to keep it upright in your trunk.

If you'd rather not build one from scratch, you can use a simple thermos. (The all-metal ones work very well - stay away from the plastic or glass ones though.) Just be *damn* sure you have a vent hole in the cap, or you'll end up with an explosion just like one of the dry ice bombs above. (With the added hazard of having liquid nitrogen splashing all over the place when it blows.) You'll still need to put it in the styrofoam cooler to keep it upright though.

As for the graham cracker trick, while it sounds cool, I wouldn't do it to trick or treaters. There is a very small chance that a small amount of LN2 could become trapped in a bubble inside the cracker. If that happens, the little tyke that swallows it is in for a very tough time.

More LN2 safety tips

Adam

[Pianoman]

Look for a place called AirGas. They usually have smaller dewars you can rent. They rent it to me for 25 cents for the weekend. As for the graham cracker trick, I have done it hundreds of times, and as long as you give it plenty of time (8 seconds is usually plenty) no liquid will remain. I do see the potential for it to get trapped in a bubble, but as soon as you start chewing, a tiny amount like that will instantly vaporize. That's the beauty and curse of LN2. It can't survive in our atmosphere, but if you accidentally spill it on yourself... you don't want it to stick around long. I've personally spilled it on myself. While making the ice cream, luckily it instantly vaporized. It was kind of cool, my jeans had water vapor fog emanating from them.. haha.

I don't mean to sound argumentative btw, Adam, just wanted to let you know I have done it a lot myself to make sure it's safe. It's definately not safe if it's not given adequate time to warm. I heard a story about a guy who accidentally swallowed a few drops. His stomach bloated and he was belching a ton for the next minute. Besides being able to damage vital tissue, with it's expansion rate of 2000 gas per 1 liquid, it could make you "an air tight container" and poof!

Jonathan-