I built up a light truss with some lasers and needed fog to see em. Clicked over to that giantsupermegaevil online market ran by a guy that looks like Lex Luther complete with inflatable wife and to my dismay none of the budget options under $200 had timer controls. I’m not spergy enough to spend bigly on a dumb fog machine. I saw a lot of people were asking about timer control compatibility and if anyone had figured it out. I sorted a simple solder free way that anyone can do with virtually no tech knowledge. You could do it inside the timer if you wanted to take it all apart to do it pro however you will still have to swap splice 3 pin timer plugs because one is square one is round so not compatible which is all I did. My way is safe, easy and only takes a couple mins for anyone.
What you need:
1:Fog machine WITH wired manual controller. (I don’t get advert bux so no specfic names or links to aid you here but I chose the top reviewed one. They all essentially the same tho in the low price points. Use contact form if really lost here.)
2: Fog timer controller: It doesn’t matter what one they all look & function same. Some companies brand them by putting a name on them but that’s just cosmetic. I got one from a used site that the person was selling with the fogger. I presumed the fogger was broken junk. It worked for a hour or so being old af and stored improperly between Halloweens but knew the timer would be good. All I wanted was timer so a gamble on the fogger was just a bonus. Still came out to be less then new timer on it’s own too which are usually around the $25-$30 price range.
3:Tape (electrical best or any sort of insulating kind. Scotch would work fine too or even Band-Aids if in a pinch. A few wraps with masking even would work. Its really low current. Wire nuts best if you happen to have some around.)
4: Scissors or a knife (A wire strip/crimp/cut multitool ideal here but doesn’t matter the wires are soft and easy to cut.)
All fog machines come with a manual press as need wired controller. The end that connects to the machine on that is
You want to cut that end off with a pair of scissors from the manual controller likewise cut the square plug off the timer. You can toss the square plug now as wont be needing it.
3 wires in both the 3 pin plug from the manual controller and timer controller that had the square incompatable plug. Separate em strip and twist em up tight. Don’t tape em up till you test. Mine was:
Controller Black to Round Plug Brown
Controller White to Round Plug Blue
Controller Yellow to Round Plug Black
Yours is likely same or close to that. Don’t trip if some your wires aren’t same colors as mine. There’s only 3 things that can happen if you get it wrong. 1: It doesn’t work. 2: it works but it’s backwards as in the red on button is swapped with another one like the yellow or green buttons. (theres lights) 3: it works perfectly as it should. Possibility 2 even helps get to goal 3 cause easy swap! Make sure none of the three wires uninsulated parts are touching and you also are not touching them when plugged in to figure it out with trial and error as needed.
After verifying by testing that it works tape the spliced wires together individually so none of the different wires touch each other then tape all of them together.
Other tips. If plan to mount using a pro truss clamp you’ll need to widen the hole on the bracket cause it’s a smidge too small. A boaring bit and drill work ideally but those scissors or a knife work fine too. Stick em in and shave till the bolt fits in. Easy.
Make your own water based haze/fog fluid. It’s incredibly easy and saves a ton of money from the store juice. Also safer cause you know whats in it opposed to who know where and what these sites sell. There’s tutorials online everywhere for that. You can also add scented oils of your choosing. Anything for a decanter works. Lavender, patchouli….etc. A little baby oil will make it fresh smelling. Pumpkin spice for Halloween basic thot season. Possibilities? Endless. Happy travels. Z~
