Thread: Making fog juice

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Hey all,

Well.. ran into a problem.. got my new Chauvet 1250 today.. poured the rest of my Froggy's juice I had from two years ago in the tank.. didn't fill it up (big tank), so I looked in the tank to see how full and found a bunch of odd black chunks floating around. I figured this is definitely not a good thing.. and I don't want to turn on my new fogger till its clean... so I will have to dump it out.

Thing is.. I want "quality" fog juice. I was thinking of making my own rather than chance some generic halloween store crap.. but not sure if that is any more advisable than just using the crap juice in my fogger.

I've seen the online stuff of making juice.. the water and glycol mix. I am sure Froggy's and maybe even Chauvet's own use something else... is there any chance I can make my own "good" fog juice.. does anyone know of a better formula that is good for the higher powered machines that will produce good fog as opposed to haze like output?

Or.. I don't mind buying some.. but with two days to go.. I don't want to spend $50 on overnight shipping costs + $20 for the gallon.. way too much. I have a Guitar Center near by.. they may have some Chauvet brand.. going to call them soon. But otherwise I have Party of America, Halloween Spirit... that's about all I can think of.. oh.. and Fry's Electronics, that would sell the juice. Fry's only has 1 qt sizes tho.. I want a gallon.

Thanks.

In short, no. source from Fog Machines - Your Guide to using Fog Machines for Halloween
,
CAN I MAKE MY OWN FOG FLUID?
We highly recommend against trying to make your own fog fluid. Manufacturers design the chemical content of the fog producing fluid around the specific fog machine they manufacturer.

Home made fog machine juice - Very Dangerous!Water/Glycol based fog machine fluids are usually a mixture of 99.9% pure, pharmaceutical grade propylene glycol, triethylene glycol, and distilled water. I have also heard of glycerin and distilled water being used in home-made fog machines (very dangerous), but again we recommend against this.

There are many variables to be considered including the temperature range of the fog machine's heating element and the correct proportions of these chemicals. If not created within the proper range for a specific fog machine, it is possible that the fog fluid could oxidize and produce toxic fumes, including formaldehyde, which is a definite health hazard.

Also, you could damage components in the fog machine, such as the heat exchanger, pump and exit nozzle. Plus, you will most likely void the warranty on the fog machine(s). I know I want the fog produced to be as safe and hazard free as possible for my family and guests. To me one of the most important things is that the company manufactured the machines using scientific research and engineering to produce a machine that is safe as possible.

fog machine fluid I don't believe that any home-made fog machine or fluid will be as safe, clean and efficient as a commercial version. It's simple not worth saving a few bucks to take a chance. The risks simply do not out-weigh the price of a commercially designed and manufactured fog machine. Plus, buying fog fluid from places like Halloween Effects at low prices simply makes sense.


I like my spirit fog (I have a spirit 700W). Though I have never used Froggy's fog.

What thelonelymerginglane said.

Don't try it. At the very least, you'll ruin your machine, at the worst, you'll ruin your machine AND cause a toxic cloud of fog and smoke.

Ok.. haha.. you convinced me. Plus.. the time running around to find the components and mix it.. I would agree.. not worth it. My concern primarily is.. if the "cheap" stuff at Halloween spirit for example will damage my new fogger because maybe it's cheap juice.. and might not be as good as what I could make... but if home made stuff is worse.. than not worth it.

So Guitar Center has Black Label (jesus.. isnt that a good drink?) fog juice.. any good? Worth the extra 1 hour round trip to go buy a gallon over the Spirit or Party of America stuff? Again.. want to keep my brand new expensive Chauvet working for many years...

Thanks.

Haven't had any problems with the spirit stuff in my fogger. But after becoming a member of this forum I hope I use it all up these year so I can stock up in froggy juice. No clue about this "Black label" stuff. Oh, and it looks like GC does carry Chauvet fluid.

Lighting Fog Juice and more Fog, Bubble and Snow Effects at GuitarCenter.com.

Another voice saying "don't do it!!!!!" - chances of you making a mix of fog juice that won't be potentially dangerous to health and machinery is painfully low...

Check around at Target / KMart / Lowes / Michaels crafts / JoAnnes / Ace Hardware / supermarkets in your area - many, many places are carrying fog juice that will at least work in your fogger, won't turn into formaldehyde, and won't crud up the works of your machine (too much, if they do at all).

Oh, and chances are, that black crud in the old juice was mold - I've seen some previous threads in which people have encountered their old, previously opened and then stored fog juice molding.

I never tried the Black Label juice, but since GC is close it may be worth a shot. We already know that the Spirit juice is pretty anemic stuff - you should have seen the difference when I did a comparison test run with Spirit vs. Froggy's Swamp Juice. Like night and day. If you decide to try the Black Label stuff please let me know how it turns out.
P.S. - you probably already know this, but don't use the Fitco brand juice. I bought a couple jugs a few years back on sale, and the bottle had chunks of weird stuff floating in it, kinda like the glycerine had precip'd out of solution. Got my money back, though.

You know what I am highly impressed with the knowledge of this forum right about know. I have this argument ever single year at the Christmas forums. Usually I am the only one debating to NOT make your own fog juice. So I echo what the others are saying, and take it from someone who was in the concert production industry for a long time. Making your own juice is NOT a good thing. Don't try it, don't even think about. It might work for a few days or seem to work overall. But in the long term it will damage your machine. I have seen it over and over again from people who try to make there own stuff. Yes it might sound simple, but there are also other additives in the juice that the professional manufacturers put in it to prolong the life of your machine.

So if you have a Guitar Center by you then I highly recommend going and getting there American DJ juice or whatever high quality juice they might carry if you are not wanting to order more Froggys this year.

Originally Posted by Otaku

I never tried the Black Label juice, but since GC is close it may be worth a shot. We already know that the Spirit juice is pretty anemic stuff - you should have seen the difference when I did a comparison test run with Spirit vs. Froggy's Swamp Juice. Like night and day. If you decide to try the Black Label stuff please let me know how it turns out.
P.S. - you probably already know this, but don't use the Fitco brand juice. I bought a couple jugs a few years back on sale, and the bottle had chunks of weird stuff floating in it, kinda like the glycerine had precip'd out of solution. Got my money back, though.

Can I have a link to this thread? If this is true I know what fog I'll be buying next year.

I didn't get a video of the comparison test, but here's a short demo of a Chauvet 1250 with Froggy's Swamp Juice. I ran the fog into a 10' length of 4" perforated drain pipe (available at Home Depot for ~$6), filled with frozen water bottles. The open end of the pipe was closed with duct tape. I plan to run this pipe down the center of my cemetery display with leaves covering the pipe. I still might use an ice chest chiller to cool the fog before running it into the pipe.

Video of Fog test with 4" pipe - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting