Lighting and Effects Answers

Question: What is "candle power"?

Answer: The candle power of a light is a measurement of light output taken at the source of the light, rather than at the object the light falls onto (as with a foot-candle). Candle power is measured in candelas.

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Question: What does "rpm" mean?

Answer: RPM stands for rotations (or revolutions) per minute. This is a rating on beacon lights and indicates the number of times the light rotates in 60 seconds.

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Question: Why does my black light set off my fire/smoke detector?

Answer: You are probably dealing with a UV-style detector, which is designed to detect and be triggered by ultraviolet light, such as that produced by a black light device. UV detectors are generally only used in industrial applications.

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Question: What does "cfm" mean?

Answer: CFM stands for cubic feet per minute. This is a rating on fog machines and indicates the fog output for that machine.

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Question: How can I make the fog smell better?

Answer: There are some fog juices with scent added, and some companies sell scent additives for fog juice. If you absolutely have to have scented fog, use those products, in the manner indicated by their manufacturer. Adding anything not specifically designed for your fog juice and fogger is likely to clog and/or damage the fog machine. RadioShack does not presently sell or have a source for scented fog juice or additives.

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Question: How do I change the fog's color?

Answer: Presently, we are not aware of any fog juice which can produce colored fog. As with changing the scent, adding materials to the fog juice can and generally will clog and/or damage the fogger. However, you can create the illusion of color using colored light sources.

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Question: Will the fog machine set off my fire alarm?

Answer: Generally, fog machines will trigger optical fire/smoke detectors. These detectors work by looking for interference in a light beam within the detector. Other detectors, such as ionization, infrared (IR), heat, UV and CO detectors, generally will not be triggered by fog machines. However, infrared detectors may be triggered by the heat produced by the fog machine itself.

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Question: Why does the fog machine take several minutes to start working?

Answer: Glycol fog machines, such as are sold through RadioShack, need to warm up before they will do anything. Generally, there will be a light or other indicator to show when the fog machine is ready to produce fog.

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Question: Why does the fog machine work for a while and then stop?

Answer: The fogger will only operate as long as the heat-exchanger is hot enough to vaporize the fog juice. The initial warm-up time is dedicated to this task.

But as soon as you press the button, generating fog, that heat is used up, and the heat exchanger cools down. If you have a low-wattage machine, a good long fog burst will cool the machine enough that it will have to stop and reheat.

Non-commercial grade glycol foggers are generally not capable of continuous fogging.

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Question: If it won't work continuously, how do I get the fog machine to maintain a continuous fog level?

Answer: In order to produce and maintain a continuous level of fog, you will need to use the fog machine for periodic short bursts, allowing it to rest between bursts. Some of our fog machines have a timer which allows you to program for this.

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Question: Why doesn't the fog machine put out as much fog as it used to?

Answer: The fog machine probably needs cleaning. Follow the instructions that came with your fog machine for details.

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