Remote Fill Fog Jets

After Denver cracked down on CO2 permits, securing clearance for an indoor cryo system became legally impossible. I adapted six Antari fog jets using fast dissipating fluid to simulate the massive cold blast the client wanted. With 16ft ceilings, staff couldn't reach them for manual refills. I set up a 55 gallon drum in the dressing room. Two ground pumps pushed fluid to two header tanks in the ceiling, feeding three jets each.

The 30 pound jets lacked a built in way to hang upside down. I built adjustable mounts using strut channel L-brackets and bolted them to the ceiling grid from a scissor lift. They required new dedicated circuits and remote booth switches. During the initial power up, one header tank started pouring fluid from the ceiling. A factory float valve was wired backward, signaling the pump to continue filling an overflowing tank. I sprinted to the dressing room to kill the power, then pulled the tank down for a replacement.

I patched the rig into their ChamSys console. The wash LEDs built into the jets colored the blast and sold the cryo illusion. It worked exactly as intended mechanically, but the vapor condensed on the stage poles. The steel became incredibly slick. The dancers commented, and the only remaining option was for the staff to wipe the poles down between sets.