New Fog Machine - Made me vomit!

[ElectroMagneticFreak]

I decided to purchase a fog machine today to test my handhelds to see what power of projector I would need using fog to see visible beams in motion before I purchase the projector. I was hoping to find the brand called "The Fog Machine" as it seemed to get somewhat good reviews as a decent budget 400W for $30. I couldn't find any in that price range ($91 Canadian at Spencers gifts with smallest bottle of fog juice, they only had the big bottle) so I ended up settling on a $27 clearance 400W made by Seasonal Visions International.

Unfortunately after turning it on it absolutely reeked to high heavan of the most awful plastic smell. I don't think anything was burning and the smell wasn't coming from the fog itself. Since it was new I decided to let it sit plugged in outside for a couple hours to try and burn off the smell. A couple hours later I decided to run it in the bathroom to try it out again as to not contaminate the rest of the house if it still reeked. Even after leaving it to burn off any plastic smell it was still absolutely unbearable to be around. Unfortunately my urge to use the bathroom (we only have one at the moment in the house as it is under renovation) meant that I could not escape the overwhelming plastic stench for a couple minutes while on the can and I eventually ended up throwing up since I could not escape! It was that bad!!

Has anyone else experienced this with a new fog machine and does this smell go away after a while? Are there any fog machines that do not have this horrible smell?

What fog machines do you guys use or recommend?

:thanks:

 

[sinner]

Thats too bad, even worse with the puking.. I remember we had a similar event with a friends when we tried making a sheesha (hookah) and all the flavours were mixed, we opened up some cigarettes and added to the flavour and overloaded coal for MOAR fun.. trust me it wasnt!! We all puked that night!

 

[TheDukeAnumber1]

I'm guessing you can't return it since it was on clearance. Either call the manufacturer or open that beast up. :yh:

 

[MarioMaster]

Definitely not normal, you may get some of that "new heating element smell" for a few minutes when you first fire it up but that should go away quickly.

Do you notice the heating element cycling on and off? If the thermal switch was defective it could be overheating which would explain the burning plastic smell.

 

[Cyparagon]

Since you probably won't be using it again, you should take it apart and tell us what went wrong.

 

[billg519]

I got two fog machines from the local Walmart. The small 400W one was $30 CDN, the large 1000W one was $50 CDN. Neither one made this smell, even on the first use. They both worked normally, and the fog juice made no foul smell either. There was a loose hose in the small unit, I tightened it, nothing strange for chinese manufacture. I just checked the 400W walmart one, it is called "The Fog Machine". The big black 1000W one is my favorite, though. Its a fog cannon.

 

[ElectroMagneticFreak]

Thats too bad, even worse with the puking.. I remember we had a similar event with a friends when we tried making a sheesha (hookah) and all the flavours were mixed, we opened up some cigarettes and added to the flavour and overloaded coal for MOAR fun.. trust me it wasnt!! We all puked that night!

Oh man, sorry to hear you all got sick, puking is one of my least favorite things! I really like the intricate look of the hookahs. I haven't tried one before (don't smoke tobacco) but it looks really relaxing and all the different flavors sound good but not all at once I guess as you mentioned.

I guess it's pretty different from regular tobacco? There is a Muslim family who live near me who take their hookah to the beach and have a picnic. It looks really cool and is quite ornate.

I'm guessing you can't return it since it was on clearance. Either call the manufacturer or open that beast up. :yh:

Yeah you are right, I got it from Zellers which is going out of Business and is being replaced with Target. The box was opened up too so I wonder if someone returned it because of the smell... :thinking:

Definitely not normal, you may get some of that "new heating element smell" for a few minutes when you first fire it up but that should go away quickly.

Do you notice the heating element cycling on and off? If the thermal switch was defective it could be overheating which would explain the burning plastic smell.

That is a really good question, I will have to check. The unit starts warming up automatically when you plug it in and then when it reaches the appropriate temperature the corded fog release switch lights up. I guess I should listen to see if I can hear the thermostat click on and off. If it was overheating, would I be able to tell by the fog becoming composed of acrolein from decomposing glycerin? So far the fog seems to smell normal though at least which is good.

Since you probably won't be using it again, you should take it apart and tell us what went wrong.

I guess I could just to see any indication of what might be breaking down to produce the smell. It doesn't seem to have any trouble producing fog though so the functional part of it does work. I will probably try and give it one more go of sitting outdoors for a few hours and see if there is any chance of burning any more of any possible excess plastic residue off. It could just be poorly designed though and allow for the too many plastic based parts to get excessively hot if they are positioned too close to the heated metal components maybe.

I got two fog machines from the local Walmart. The small 400W one was $30 CDN, the large 1000W one was $50 CDN. Neither one made this smell, even on the first use. They both worked normally, and the fog juice made no foul smell either. There was a loose hose in the small unit, I tightened it, nothing strange for chinese manufacture. I just checked the 400W walmart one, it is called "The Fog Machine". The big black 1000W one is my favorite, though. Its a fog cannon.

Thanks Billg519, those sound like the ones to look for if mine ends up being unusable. That is amazing that they had no smell when first turned on. Hopefully I should be able to find that same model near me in a Walmart since you are in Canada as well.

Did you buy them around Halloween? Seeing as stores usually get seasonal items months before hand, it should have been in stock maybe in August.

 

[sinner]

Here it's very popular & common, like beer or a soda.. its a kind of tabbacco, I dont have much knowledge about how its different from the other ones but its comparitively very smooth to inhale, and relaxing maybe due to unique nature of the odour and taste of the flavours and all the particle-free smoke being filtered in the water, that is nice and dense to exhale!!
The smoke is so dense, its like exhaling clouds the room gets nice and even smoke after use.. so we got a fog-machine built in!!

 

[ElectroMagneticFreak]

That is cool how they are popular over there, I really like all the various intricate designs they come in and I bet some are very expensive! That is a good idea Sinner, I should invest in one instead of a fog machine so when friends come over we can relax with the hookah while we enjoy a laser show (once I get my projector.) Sounds like it would smell much better than my plastic-y fog maker.

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

Sorry to hear about your experience. I'm shopping for a small fogger myself right now. This is definitely a cautionary tale. I don't think I ever threw up just from smell, so it much have been truly awful.

Here's a bit more info on the hookah, shisha, narghile, waterpipe, goes by any number of names...

I don't smoke on any kind of regular basis, but do own a hookah, and use it once in a while (probably once every couple of months or so). It is a very relaxing a social activity.

The way it works is you put some flavored tobacco into the bowl. A piece of foil is wrapped over the bowl, and coal is placed on top. Obviously there are holes in the bottom of the bowl, and you need to make some on top. Don't pack int he tobacco too much, and it also helps to poke a hole directly from the top, through the tobacco&foul, into one of the bottom holes.

A pipe extends from the top, where the tobacco and charcoal sit, into the water. On top of this, above the water, usually there is a pressure release valve on one side, and from the other, the outlet for the hose.

When you breathe in, you are pulling air out of the cavity with water. From there, to equalize pressure, you end up basically pulling in air through the coal&tobacco. Before this smoke/air enter the cavity with water, it obviously pass through the water.

The water acts to cool the smoke, and filter it.

Idk about Canada, but in the US you can find them starting at ~$30. The tobacco is also cheap. For coals, you have two options, you can use real coals, which is better, but kind of a pain in the butt, or you can buy charcoal tablets, which are much easier to light... just light it, let it sit for a few minutes, put on top of hookah, and start smoking.

A hookah will produce more than enough smoke/particulates in the air to bring out laser beams, but it's not really practical... and you will get tired of the smoke smell the next day.

Btw, you don't have to use water in the bowl... try some red wine, or cranberry juice instead for a little bit of a different flavor. If you go to a hookah lounge, often times you might also be offered to have a "premium" pineapple hookah. All that it is, is they use a pineabple, with the center carved out, as the bowl. This does surprisingly little to affect the taste though, at least after the initial few puffs.

Have fun smoking.

 

[daawood123]

You can get lovely little hookahs off ebay for £5 with all the items needed to start straight away and also they come in a 3 colour selection, very good deal.

Personally I'v never done hookah, I am muslim and I think it's considered sinful, not really researched it too much.

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

Don't get the super cheap, very small hookahs... you want some volume of water in that bowl.

 

[jeffreythe00]

Sorry to hear about your uhm... problem.

I agree with others. Take it apart and see what could be burning. Mine had stopped working at one time and I took it apart only to find a bunch of paper clogged in the filter on the hose. Fog machines are very simply built. There's practically nothing to em . Maybe a wire was touching the element or something? If you are getting that pungent of a smell you should be able to pinpoint the problem right away. Anyway let us know what you manage to find.

 

[Cyparagon]

I don't smoke, but do own a hookah, and use it once in a while

Obviously there are holes in the bottom of hole

 

[jcranmer]

Btw, you don't have to use water in the bowl... try some red wine, or cranberry juice instead for a little bit of a different flavor. If you go to a hookah lounge, often times you might also be offered to have a "premium" pineapple hookah. All that it is, is they use a pineabple, with the center carved out, as the bowl. This does surprisingly little to affect the taste though, at least after the initial few puffs.

Have fun smoking.

Ah, this brings back memories of my youth. We didn't call it a hookah and we weren't using tobacco :angel:

Wait; what were we talking about again?

 

[billg519]

@ElectroMagneticFreak - Yes, I got them near Halloween. Walmart had lots of them, and extra fog juice as well.