Always Ready Mod for Lite F/X Fogger
Haunting May 18th, 2007
So you spent a whole $20 for your Lite F/X fogger so you can use it in your haunt, play or whatever. You are nervous because your fog cue has to be right on time or the whole effect is ruined. The critical moment arrives, you push the button and nothing happens! The fogger doesn’t want to make fog right now because it is busy heating up.
I’ll show you a quick, easy and free mod for these cheap foggers so that you can get a burst of fog any time you need it regardless of what the heater is doing.
What You’ll Need
- Lite F/X Fogger
- Phillips Screwdriver
- Pliers
- Quick-Disconnect Splitter
Disassemble the Fogger
With the fog nozzle pointing to the left and the power cord to the right, remove the side cover that is facing you. There are 4 screws on top and 4 on the bottom that are holding it on.
Rewire the Pump
Find the red wire that goes from the pump to one of the heater terminals.
Basically all we need to do is move this red wire from one heater terminal to the other. This should be fairly easy since everything is connected with quick-disconnect terminals.
Disconnect the red wire.
Disconnect the white wire from the far heater terminal.
Go to your electrical junk drawer and find a quick-disconnect splitter.
Connect the splitter to the far heater terminal.
Reconnect the white wire to the far heater terminal via the splitter.
Connect the red pump wire to the remaining terminal on the splitter.
It should now look like this:
Note: Some older versions of this fogger crimped the red wire into the same connector as the white wire going to the heater. If this is the case with yours you’ll need to cut it and crimp on a new terminal first before installing the splitter, etc.
That’s it! Put the cover back on and you are ready to make the pump go whenever you want. You can even squirt people with a stream of liquid fog fluid if the fogger is completely cold.
Just remember that this is still an El-Cheapo fogger and won’t last very long if you try to run it at 100% duty cycle or something like that. Also, the light on the remote will now act a little goofy, but at least now you won’t miss any super-critical fog cues!
September 21st, 2011 at 2:20 AM
Hey, this is a great hack – thanks for the instructions.
Just a little question, does this disable the thermostat? If you do this rewiring and then leave the machine running for several hours will it overheat?
I’m a bit of a novice with wiring, sorry! What’s the principle behind this? The cut off is surely there to stop the machine over heating no?
I’ve been timing the intervals of my thermostat. It basically seems to switch off approx every 4:12 min and then remain in ‘reheating’ mode (with the light on) for exactly 0:30 min. I have the MODEL: 17556, which is a bit different from the one in your pictures.
Anyhow, thanks for your great post and your wiring expertise!
Ellie
September 21st, 2011 at 11:09 AM
@Ellie: Thanks for stopping by! With this mod the thermostat continues to work as normal, so there’s no danger of cooking your fogger. What it does is bypasses the part that tells it that the pump isn’t allowed to run when the heater is on.
September 26th, 2011 at 4:54 AM
Ok. Now that the wiring change has been made, what do you use to trigger the fogger to activate?
September 26th, 2011 at 11:01 AM
You still use the button/switch on the remote. It doesn’t change that at all. The only thing that should be different is that the button should now work even when the heater is on.
Did your button quit working? If so, something isn’t hooked up right.
September 26th, 2011 at 1:04 PM
have not yet made the wiring change, but the fogger has a remote that does not have buttons, only a dial to adjust the interval of when the fogger goes on
I am also looking for another remote for this type of fogger. The remotes that I have picked up online or at other stores do not seem compatible with an FX fogger. Any thoughts?? Thanks
September 27th, 2011 at 8:54 AM
Hi Ellie that was exactly what I did because the therkall switch has been intermitently malfuntioning and I can not find a replace ment. What I would like to do is buy a whole new unit but can not find one. This one is being used on a cannon prop and fits perfectly in the back and its rounded body blends in well so I realy don’t want to change brands. The plastic is starting to give up and crack as I have had this about 8 years. DO ypu know where I can get the lite fx attitude lighting fog f/x machine? It is worth more than $20 to me.
September 27th, 2011 at 8:55 AM
Oops typo thermal switch has been intermitently malfuntioning.
September 27th, 2011 at 9:10 AM
So sorry I have not completely woken up this AM (More coffee) I should have addressed this question to Scott. BTW I also added a wireless remote control I picked up last Xmas @ Home Depot.it switches a 120v relay I put inside that close a N.O. contact paralleling the wired controlers contacts. I’ll shut up now and wait for an answer.
September 27th, 2011 at 10:28 AM
@Mike: Well, you get an ‘A’ for participation today. =) I haven’t seen that style of fogger sold new in a while, and garage sale season is winding down, so your best bet would probably be eBay.
Nice idea on the remote. The Lite F/X foggers run 120VAC through their controllers, so that makes it a bit tougher to add a remote to than “fancier” foggers with low-voltage remotes.
@Chris: That’s a weird configuration with no button. While you’re taking things apart it would be pretty easy to add a button to either your timer or to the fogger itself.
What kind of additional remote are you looking for? A wired one with a button, or a wireless one, or a timer one? What style are the ones you’ve ordered? It’s been my experience that most controllers that have the right connector and just a single button or switch seem to work with the Lite F/X foggers, but timers / wireless don’t.
The wired remote that comes with the Fitco Ground Fogger does work with the Lite F/X fogger, (I have both and tried it), but that probably doesn’t help you much.
September 27th, 2011 at 4:27 PM
Okay, I’ve figured out why it’s so hard to find a remote that works with these foggers. Look here for an explanation and a quick mod to fix the problem:
http://www.modd3d.com/articles/item/make-timer-wireless-remotes-work-on-lite-fx-fog-machines
September 27th, 2011 at 7:56 PM
I am looking at the link you gave and the wiring in mine is totally different maybe because it is older than I thought. Its manufacture date is 03. The common between the light and button is neutral = o = green wire connected to the neutral inside and the other side of the light is hot = L = black wire. The switch leg back to the pump is N = white wire. So this unit is actually switching the neutral not the hot. I mounted a C14 plug from an old pc power supply in the rear plate to plug the remote controlled outlet into with a pc power cord (reverse style of the controller C13). Then I connected the C14 to the coil of the relay I mounted inside the unit and tied the neutral to the NO contacts to switch the pump. Oh and the other leg of the pump to constant hot. Now when I push the remote button the juice flows every time. There are two plugs on the remote unit so the second one turns on a red light inside the cannon barrel which lights up the fog as it shoots out the end of the barrel. Any how the $10 remote from Home Depot works great with some spare parts added in.
September 27th, 2011 at 9:13 PM
So what you described is basically exactly the same as the Lite F/X schematic in the other article as far as the wiring in the remote goes, but the Line, Neutral and Output are hooked up differently in the fogger itself? Wow, they really can’t make up their mind. At least older/newer remotes should be compatible with each other.
Of course none of this helps you find a replacement fogger. Would it work to get one of those really tiny ones? They’re square and not round usually, but maybe it would be small enough to fit with some added support?
September 28th, 2011 at 8:25 AM
I opened a new 400 watt backup fogger I have had in storage and the heating unit is incredibly small I don’t think it will handle the job and my 1000 watt is just to large to fit on the cannon prop. So I’ll keep looking. If the plastic case wasn’t taking a crap I would try to retro fit other parts in to it mainly the thermal switch that does not reset s soon as it use to or maybe I can make a case out of some large ABS or PVC pipe (at least 6″> I.D.) slot it for ventilation mod some plumbing and paint it flat black but that is a lot of work before Halloween considering all the other things on my list. I am adding a cave seen in the garage for my pirate haunt this year. It will have two Buckies w/3axis skulls and I am trying to polish up the programming. None the less we’ll make it work we always do right.
September 28th, 2011 at 4:25 PM
Instead of opening up the remore and switching the white and green wires (whch requires some soldering), could I just cut open the cord, cut the green and white wires, then splice the green wire to the white wire?
September 28th, 2011 at 4:40 PM
Actualy Chris as long as you use only the one remote for this mod you can open up the fogger and swap the two on the back side of the plug with out any solder or cutting you cord. They just plug in with female spade terminals.
September 28th, 2011 at 5:49 PM
Yes, all these ways would work. You just need to decide A: what method is easiest for you to do, and B: which device do you want to no longer be compatible. By that I mean if you modify the remote then it will only work with Lite F/X foggers. If you modify the fogger then it will no longer be compatible with the stock remote.
I modified my remote because all my foggers with that connector are Lite F/X, and soldering to a PCB is easier/cleaner than splicing wires for me.
@Mike: Your haunt sounds pretty cool. You have a web site?
September 28th, 2011 at 6:11 PM
No Scott I have been doing the pirate thing for about 5 or 6 years now and became a member of Halloween forum last Sept. Not gotten into the web site thing yet. But have electrical and electronics background, love Halloween and the children’s reaction to it all. I try not to make it to scary but more an awe factor! My wife, Kids and I all dress up and now neighbors are dressing up to so they can hang out in the haunt where “the Rum is never gone”.
July 23rd, 2013 at 3:22 PM
Speaking of understanding the op’s topic I agree with the above as it is true and it’s nifty to see a web guy that’s telling stuff such as this on the net to review
January 9th, 2014 at 8:55 AM
I bought a new Heshan FM-400 watt Fogger, but I got it for $2.00 and I guessing because it was not wired right. The pump would not turn on at all. I can make it work but the light on the switch is wired wrong. I need help getting it wired right. if I could get some large pictures of how it should be wired this would be great. I looked at the pictures you have on here but they are too small and it is hard to make out the different wires. My model has no circuits, just the simple heating element, pump and switch with a light that is suppose to come on when the thermostat turns off. Is it possible you could take some pictures and e-mail them to me? Thank you so much.
January 9th, 2014 at 9:06 AM
@Shane: Unfortunately I don’t have that model of fogger, so I can’t help you with pictures. Maybe someone else here can?
January 14th, 2014 at 8:00 PM
Doesn’t matter. The fogger you have on this web site looks close enough. Can you get better pictures or a video of the wiring of that model?
February 13th, 2014 at 3:51 PM
You can also choose to have your blog viewable to “Anybody,” “Only people I choose,” or “Only blog authors. Open your mind map program on your computer, or get out a piece of paper and a pencil.
June 22nd, 2014 at 6:50 PM
this mod bypasses the thermostat shutdown of the pump.
if you send liquid through the chamber while it is heating, you will cool the chamber and create even less smoke before the stream turns to liquid.
June 23rd, 2014 at 12:46 PM
@cara: It’s true, if you hold the button down long enough, the fog output will become less and less until the fogger turns into a fog fluid squirt gun. The idea is to have fog exactly when you want it, not to have forever fog. The heater turns on long before the unit has cooled below the making-fog point, though. If you let it get warm and then hit the button, even if the heater is on, it will still make fog.