Thread: pirate cannon activated by lightning box?

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hello everyone, i made a pirate cannon plumbed to a fog machine ( pics soon). i was wondering if this would work to make it realistic. hook up the fog machine and a red bulb ( inside barrel) to a lightning fx box. then have a cd playing nearby with cannon blasts, adjust sensitivity. i know the red bulb would work but would the fog machine activate? maybe if the blasts were long enough to allow the fog to heat up? thanks

One way to do it would be to split the 110VAC output of the F/X box. Send one line to the red bulb, and the other to a 110VAC relay. Hack the fogger remote to be controlled by the N.O. relay contacts. Whether or not you get a fog burst depends on the fogger being in the "Ready" state. If the blasts aren't real long (probably not) or real frequent, the fogger should stay pretty hot.

For timing purposes perhaps split the soundtracks like some do for Lightning thunder? Have the blast going to the relay a second (or less) earlier than the one going to the speakers? That way the fog would have time to blast out before the boom hits??

Good idea. The light and fogger would be on the same track, though. To get the fogger to activate first, I think you'd need two F/X boxes, one for the fogger and one for the sound/light.

I had exactly the same needs several years ago. Check out this post. Two of these could let you control the red light and the smoke, both independently (timing-wise) from the boom (using two different trigger frequencies on the same 'sound trigger' audio channel).

- Hook

I was actually thinking of light/fog on the same trigger... with cannons I seem to see the light, then fog, then hear the boom... of course I could be remembering it that way so my idea makes more sense....

thanks for the input. the sound relay module sounds like it could work nicely but right now i have so many other things to do i might try it the way i explained. im not looking for super realistic effect just enough to get their attention. thanks again

If your plan is to not have any power going to the fogger except through the F/X box, then it will be too cold to emit fog when you need it. Most machines take several minutes to warm up to operating temp. You'd need to attach the fogger remote switch to a relay or other device that closes that switch when the F/X box sends power to the light.

thanks for the advice otaku. im gonna give it a try anyway, maybe see if i dont have to much of a delay in between "rounds" ill give an update though. thanks again