Seasonal Visions International Metal Case 400W Fog Machine Review

Seasonal Visions International Metal Case 400W Fog Machine Review

Originally recorded April 8, 2014.

In desperation when my other fog machine went dead on me out of nowhere, I ended up ordering this “no-name” fog machine for too much money so I’d have a spare.

Subsequently I fixed my old one, so I’ll hold onto this one, because one day, one of the foggers will die completely and I’ll need something as a drop-in replacement.

Fortunately, many of these machines use a reverse-IEC plug on the back for status and control. That means this new one is a drop-in replacement for my current setup, with no rewiring required.

This new unit has a wireless remote, which in theory is a great idea, but unfortunately it was poorly implemented. Fog machines have to be in their ready state before they will fog. The way the wireless receiver was wired requires the fogger be ready before it will turn on via the wireless remote. The problem is once you leave the unit running until the temperature is not hot enough to vaporize the fog juice and the heating element has to turn on again, the fog machine goes to its not ready state, which shuts/resets the wireless receiver. That means you cannot leave the unit running constantly, because once the heating element comes back on, the receiver is reset, and you have to wait for the machine to reach the ready state again before turning it on via the remote, otherwise nothing will happen.

Which, while making this video, gave me an idea. It may be entirely possible to wire in the wireless receiver in tandem with my existing fog machine timer, so I can give an extra blast whenever I want. I can shut it before the machine reaches its not ready state and the timer will automatically take over, or if I leave it until the machine reaches not ready, the wireless receiver will deactivate, leaving the timer to take over once the machine reaches the ready state.

All in all it works like any other 400W fog machine I’ve had. The wireless auto-kill is going to be a downer for most, since there’s no way to leave the machine running, but since I have a timer I may be able to add the ability to get an extra blast of fog whenever I want. Even though the product fails, I win. Cool.

10 Comments

  1. Walker Snow on November 15, 2019 at 10:10 pm

    Pretty intense for a 400 watt machine. A similar one that i bought is on the way from china. I’ll probably get it in a week. I’m very excited while waiting my fog machine.

  2. Justin Rogelio on November 15, 2019 at 10:11 pm

    Does the unit come with a wired controller?

  3. Grant Seiferman on November 15, 2019 at 10:24 pm

    I have the 400W low lying one. It keeps making the empty alarm sound when it’s fogging. It’s brand new and the box says it will go off for 3 seconds while the juice gets primed in the pump but after about 3 spurts of 15 seconds of fogging each, I’d figure the alarm would go off by now but it’s still going off and very loud and obnoxious. Please if anyone has a solution to this problem please help me out.

  4. Srg Sammy on November 15, 2019 at 10:36 pm

    The alarm on mine never stops. Store has an exchange only policy.

  5. Hanna Plummer on November 15, 2019 at 10:45 pm

    I just bought a 400w fog machine today, I have the exact one that you have and mine is terrible. I plugged the machine in to an outlet and waited for it to warm up and when the red light on the receiver turned on, I tried turning it on and smoke was coming out of not only the nozzle but the sides too. Any tips or things I should look for to fix it?

  6. kody mackey on November 15, 2019 at 10:51 pm

    what fog juce do you use?

  7. Chris Moran on November 15, 2019 at 10:52 pm

    Putting a Fog machine inside a fake "stage cannon" along with flash bulb / sound board (to send a cannon .wav file to the sound board). Showed me just want I needed without buying one and taking it apart – Thanks
    Flippin’ Guitars

  8. Irene Viorritto on November 15, 2019 at 10:53 pm

    Do you wash the vinegar out with anything?

  9. Barry Goldwater on November 15, 2019 at 11:00 pm

    Great video! I’m looking to purchase one of these for Halloween but there are SOOOO many different brands and various reviews.
    I simply want one that puts out enough fog for the trick or treaters and has a wireless remote; albeit a timer would be nice too.

    Any recommendations on a model number???

    Thanks!

  10. LSDBunnos on November 15, 2019 at 11:06 pm

    U are never allowed to run a fog machine dry 😤😡😡😡😡😤😡😡😡😡😤

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