Fogger Noise Issue. Quick Response needed!!!

[lighttech11]

So we're doing a production of Dracula, and we're using several foggers in the show, and we have multiple fog cues. We're using a combination F-100 and Coldflow to make low lying fog, and it's current location is beneath a 3ft high platform pretty close to the side of the stage, but its still onstage (but under a faced platform). We're then piping the fog up from under the platform up to on top of the platform using dryer hose.

The effect looks great and we're getting great visual results. The Problem is the noise the fogger makes. The scene is fairly quiet, and we weren't planning on using underscore or any sound effects to mask it. Even if we did use sound effects, the fogger would still probably produce a noticeble noise.

Soooo.... Any tips for muffling the sound of the fogger? We're going to try building a box to put over it and maybe wrap it in blankets or something. But are there any other thoughts on trying to muffle the nose? Any previous tricks that have worked? Any out of the ballpark ideas? Anything would be much appreciate. We're going into tech rehearsals and we need to think of something quickly.

Thanks!!!

[MNicolai]

Buy some dryer hose and move the fogger as far away as possible, piping the fog in as far away as is practical but not so far that the fog doesn't make it from one end of the hose to the other.

[kiwitechgirl]

Don't wrap it in blankets - you'll more than likely run into overheating issues! If you can't move it any further away, then I'd suggest building a box which leaves PLENTY of space around the fogger, with a hole cut to size for the ducting. Line the box with egg cartons - they absorb sound pretty effectively!

[Dalamar]

How about just using an MDG? It's completely quiet.

Kiwitech, I meant to ask you: how's everyone with the latest strands of earthquakes in your neighborhood?

[Dalamar]

dryer hose are fine, you need them to be wide if you are to use long lengths, otherwise you'll have a different problem : condensation.

[DuckJordan]

dryer hose are fine, you need them to be wide if you are to use long lengths, otherwise you'll have a different problem : condensation.

To help with the condensation problem you could put a low speed computer fan in line halfway between the fogger and where it needs to be put out, this would help you get as much distance as possible while still maintaining output.

[Dalamar]

To help with the condensation problem you could put a low speed computer fan in line halfway between the fogger and where it needs to be put out, this would help you get as much distance as possible while still maintaining output.

DuckJordan isn't wrong, but still be careful with that: A fan creates a vortex and ensuing turbulence, however small it is, tends to break the fog, so increased pressure might just give you the opposite effect, i.e. a dissipating cloud and fog that looks "greyish". It's a fine balance between fan speed and increased velocity, we're talking about here.

[kiwitechgirl]

Kiwitech, I meant to ask you: how's everyone with the latest strands of earthquakes in your neighborhood?

(hijacking thread slightly)
Life is returning to normal - we opened a show a week late and another show in the city got bumped by a month (they couldn't re-book the venue any earlier) and most people are back in their homes, bar those whose houses are uninhabitable. The theatre which had most of its frontage lying in the street has been made secure and will be restored and rebuilt (it was long overdue for refurbishment anyway!); aftershocks are calming right down and people are just getting on with their lives!
(/hijack)

[Cashwalker]

Are there such foggers which don't use a pump, instead using some sort of compressed gas? From my understanding of how the fogger works, all is required is to push the liquid into the vaporizer. To me, the noisiest thing about the fogger isn't the "pfft" of the vaporization, it's the sound of the pump/motor.
I recently used a fogger that had such a light trigger, that the barest press of the button was enough to get some fog going, that the motor barely had to turn on.. worked great. The backup unit made a horrible racket... in fact a couple times I decided it wasn't worth the noise for that particular cue, and claimed both units were in reheat mode.

[derekleffew]

Are there such foggers which don't use a pump, instead using some sort of compressed gas? ...

MDG FOG , the company Dalamar works for.

See also the following videos:
YouTube - MDG Fog - theONE Digital Amospheric Generator
YouTube - Low Lying Fog
YouTube - LSG Low Lying Smoke Machine