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Fog machine help!

Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 1:08 pm
by iPaintball
I have a a small Screamer 400 watt fog machine and I need to remove the ground pin in its plug to use it for my application. It hase a fuse, my question is whether or not I can remove the ground pin and still operate it safely. ANY help will be greatly appreciated.

Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 6:45 pm
by iPaintball
Anyone?

Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 6:49 pm
by jrrdw
Any 110 ac without the ground is dangerous! If the ground through your body is better then any other available ground, (in case of discharge), you will get the shit shocked out of you. 110 kills more people then 240 and higher.

Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 6:53 pm
by iPaintball
K. Thanks. I'll see If I can find me a small grounded power strip in my house.

Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 7:47 pm
by WOW!!
I cut the ground plugs off of my stuff when i have to. Nothing has happened yet(knocks on wood table)

Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 8:44 pm
by iPaintball
I just don't want my fog machine to burn out. I still think a fuse will do the trick, but I'm not sure...

Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 8:56 pm
by paaiyan
Well the ground plug doesn't actually do anything unless the thing shorts. If you're leaving it sitting on the floor or something where you aren't touching it, you'll be fine. The thing may fry, but again, that's only if something actually happens. If you were talking about a hand drill, that'd be one thing, but this should be fine.

Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 5:08 am
by WOW!!
paaiyan wrote:Well the ground plug doesn't actually do anything unless the thing shorts. If you're leaving it sitting on the floor or something where you aren't touching it, you'll be fine. The thing may fry, but again, that's only if something actually happens. If you were talking about a hand drill, that'd be one thing, but this should be fine.
Unless you toss some water on it, you will be fine.

Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 2:25 pm
by jimmy101
Very bad idea to be cutting the ground prong off a device that came with it.

Look around you house. 90+% of the devices with cords do not have ground plugs. A few devices, including your smoke machine, have ground prongs.

Why do you think that is?



You put liquid in this thing right? Basically a gallon of water right? (Most bulk smoke mixtures are basically water.)

And you are wondering if it is OK to remove the ground plug?

Go down to Kmart and get a grounded extension cord for $5 for christ's sake.

Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 3:06 pm
by paaiyan
jimmy101 wrote:Very bad idea to be cutting the ground prong off a device that came with it.

Look around you house. 90+% of the devices with cords do not have ground plugs. A few devices, including your smoke machine, have ground prongs.

Why do you think that is?



You put liquid in this thing right? Basically a gallon of water right? (Most bulk smoke mixtures are basically water.)

And you are wondering if it is OK to remove the ground plug?

Go down to Kmart and get a grounded extension cord for $5 for christ's sake.
Eh, you're right, he could go and get a cheap extension cord, but you really don't have to be so overdramatic about the whole thing. I've got a couple things that my dad and I had to remove the ground from and we've never had problems with them at all.

Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 3:25 pm
by WOW!!
jimmy101 wrote:Very bad idea to be cutting the ground prong off a device that came with it.

Look around you house. 90+% of the devices with cords do not have ground plugs. A few devices, including your smoke machine, have ground prongs.

Why do you think that is?



You put liquid in this thing right? Basically a gallon of water right? (Most bulk smoke mixtures are basically water.)

And you are wondering if it is OK to remove the ground plug?

Go down to Kmart and get a grounded extension cord for $5 for christ's
sake.
Unless you are throwing that gallon of water on the plug you will be fine. Its not the big of a deal. Unless you are Aqua Man, then it might be bad for you, but hey, your Aqua man.

Posted: Wed May 30, 2007 12:45 pm
by jimmy101
OK, folks fine.

The gene pool can always use a bit more chlorine (or 120 VAC @ 15 Amps).

Unless you are throwing that gallon of water on the plug you will be fine.
Riiiiiiiiight, the only reason the manufacturer put the ground in was because someone might pour water on the plug.

How about if someone trips over the thing while is it plugged in? Na, never happen, people have no problem seeing an object that creates its own smoke screen.

Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 2:28 pm
by WOW!!
jimmy101 wrote:OK, folks fine.

The gene pool can always use a bit more chlorine (or 120 VAC @ 15 Amps).

Unless you are throwing that gallon of water on the plug you will be fine.
Riiiiiiiiight, the only reason the manufacturer put the ground in was because someone might pour water on the plug.

How about if someone trips over the thing while is it plugged in? Na, never happen, people have no problem seeing an object that creates its own smoke screen.
They are all what if. I have never had a problem with anything before and I have done it. And the reason the companys put the grounding prong on there is becuase it is required by UL to pass there insprction so it can be ceritifed by them, and they cant get sued if some one gets shocked.

And let me ask you another question, why dont hair driers have grounding plugs in them? And I am talking about the ones with out the GFCI protection.

Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 2:48 pm
by Fnord
Isn't the stuff that you put in a fog machine basically mineral oil(aka non-conductive)? I've never heard of a water-based fog mixture.

The times I've closed the circuit between hot and ground(with myself) I've noticed that how badly you get shocked depends on how well you contact the ground (Getting shocked with damp shoes hurts more than bare feet:). Not sure if my experience applies to the current senario.

Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 4:04 pm
by WOW!!
Fog juice is water based(I looked on the side of the bottle). And yes, if you are standing on a rubber mat with rubber shoes you wont get shocked as much as if you were touching a metal pole going in to the ground.

It is all based on how which path is the shortest for the electricity to travle.