Fog Machine and School Gym?

The only thing that I found that works, is not to use it.

You can try a dry-ice fog machine, but then if the room temp is too high, the fog will disappear quickly.

i've used a real small fog machine right in front of the lights just to get that 3d effect....and well...it didnt work as good as normal cause the 3d effect went away in like 3 or so minutes after i shot the fog.... but it didnt trip any fire alarms cause i dont think the fog spread too far.... a waste of time some might say.... but it was just to get a little more out of the lights....

i'm determined to use a fog machine in this place, fog to lighting is like telling a dj to play music with out electricity... I wonder if it's possible to disable the fire alarms in the area i'm going to be using it? Any idea what the legal issues might be with having a janitor disable the fire alarm for a couple hours?? For some reason I believe its ok as long as someone there can call the fire department in case of fire. Can someone back me on this or tell me i'm downright wrong? I'm in NY state. Thanks guys.

In my 'day job', I work for a school (in NY, as a matter of fact).
No, they cannot disable the smoke alarms. You can ask, but I doubt it.
I can tell you, that if you do run the fog machine anyway, and the alarm goes off, BY LAW everyone must evacuate the building until the fire department shows up.
I think your analogy is a little askew, though. Lights without fog still look ok. I've done many shows without fog (for the very same fire alarm reason). And it doesn't look terrible. Of course, it depends on the lights you have, too.

well i value your input, I'm running 4 dj spot 250's, 6 dj scans and a bunch of par 38's along with 4 snap shot 2's, and I really wanted to use a laser machine i own there but without a significant amount of smoke it's worthless. I guess i'm going to have to play it safe and not use it, which I think is really a shame, I still believe with the fixtures i'm running that smoke enhances the effect a 100x over. Again thank you very much for the information...

No doubt, smoke does enhance any effect. And with out smoke, a laser is almost useless.

iv done lots of school dances and never had a problem with the alarms, I believe school alarms are heat activated (so I was told) we fog the living **** out of those gyms. last week they told us to cut down on fog because they couldnt see the id's at the door, so that goes to tell you around here anyway fog doesnt set the alarms off.

It is too late for your show, but for some future information:


Having worked in schools as well as fire departments, I can tell you that the Fire Code requires heat sensors in educational institutions (schools). A fog machine should not set off any fire alarms, unless there is a malfunction and the temperature rises above 250 degrees Fahrenheit at the ceiling level where the sensors are located. (It is against the law to disable a fire alarm, especially in an assembly area, unless the alarming system is being worked on.)


Hope this helps.

Thats interesting that you said that because I did a dance at my school a couple years back and sure enough I set the alarms off! Maybe somehting wrong with the system you think? I havnt tried it again, cost the school som moola for the flase alarm. Luckily the FD didnt show up.

-AMP

It depends on the age of the school and the arlarm system they used basically

I've stayed in hotels that have plasctic bags over the fire alarms. That would probably not be a safe way to overide it but it might work if there's one in particular that you think will go off.
Back in high school there was a play that they used the fogger a lot and they simply covered the two detectors nearby.

quote:

Originally posted by DJ Nexus:
[qb] I've stayed in hotels that have plasctic bags over the fire alarms. [/qb]

hehehehee..... i used to think that those were just the way they were made.... ((all the dorm rooms have plastic over them ))

Hey, guys, When I was in eigth grade, I broght my Walmart fog machine :wink: and my Mini-Fog, Well, lets say the Principal was not there and the teachers like clubs, so, It worked out pretty well.
We had the place soo fogged up, You couldn't see where you were going, and I guess,a cop was .
Passing by outside, and saw the fog and thought it was smoke, and called the FD.

What is up with all this format junk? It is not letting me hit space at the end of some lines in the little white, box. I keep having to hit [Enter]?

just as a follow up.... the reason the alarms didn't go off were because the dance was held in the "old Gym" of the school. There were no smoke detectors installed in this area because it's a fairly old gym. However, the school has recently had huge additions put on it including a brand new gym. These areas have had smoke detectors installed.... just in case any of you were wondering still how i got away with the alarms not going off.

Get a amj hazer and run it about 1hr 1/2 before the show.Keep all doors closed.It will fill the room with a good haze.Run the machine all night till the end of the night.I use the hazer where the fog machine sets off alarms.Works great everytime.
Marcus