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No Smoke Flash


swilly

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Hi Guys,

Our local musical society have a problem due their venue owners fitting new smoke/intruder alarms which they say they cannot over ride! They want to do Aladdin but can't work out how to produce a flash for the genie to appear that does not trigger the smoke alarm. It is claimed that the residue can remain in the smoke detector for up to nine hours and activate the system long after everyone has left.

Does anyone have any suggestions otherwise they could be doing Cinderella, Again!

Thanks in anticipation of replies.

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It is claimed that the residue can remain in the smoke detector for up to nine hours and activate the system long after everyone has left.

Not much help with the actual OP's question but if I were you I'd certainly challenge THAT statement!

The detectors can't be particularly good or reliable if they are that INsensitive as to not register an activation in a lot less than 9 hours...

Or have I misread what you posted?

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I would look at the chance of using flash paper / cotton / rope or a flash gun. I would REALLY doubt that it could set an alarm off unless its literally right under the detector. The amount that is given off is practically 0.

 

Or as Chris says, Blinders could work nicely.

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Two choices

1/ find a landlord and premises fit for purpose

 

2/ xenon flash as in camera flash or a single shot from a big strobe.

 

If you really have a multi hour delay during which activation might happen what is going to happen when you move scenery flats etc that have been in a store for a year -dust will fly and the alarms..........

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Why not break the mold and use a compelty different effect instead, obviously different aladdin scripts have different types of Genie, for instance one script I've worked with had a very camp Genie, so in your situation with this script, I would look more towards a smokeless effect like streamers or something else that has a loud report but claims to be smokeless.
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It is claimed that the residue can remain in the smoke detector for up to nine hours and activate the system long after everyone has left.

Not much help with the actual OP's question but if I were you I'd certainly challenge THAT statement!

The detectors can't be particularly good or reliable if they are that INsensitive as to not register an activation in a lot less than 9 hours...

Or have I misread what you posted?

 

I have worked in a venue, where we have disabled the fire alarm for the duration of the show, and then hours later, the duty watch, (MoD Establishment you see) were called to a fire alarm activation in the middle of the night.... It would appear there was just enough residual smoke to set off the detector heads....

 

 

Jim

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I have worked in a venue, where we have disabled the fire alarm for the duration of the show, and then hours later, the duty watch, (MoD Establishment you see) were called to a fire alarm activation in the middle of the night.... It would appear there was just enough residual smoke to set off the detector heads....

Hmmm...

Then I would say that some serious attention to such detectors is warranted!

Unless you managed to smoke the whole auditorium to saturation I really can't see that hours later there are going to be enough residual particles in the air to set off a properly maintained and calibrated detector.

That just isn't a practical situation.

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Off topic:

The detectors in our hall don't seem to bother about any smoke/haze, they may be heat+smoke but I'm not sure. The inspectors seem happy when they come and test them anyways. The problem we have is when the smoke works its way through the gaps in the ceiling and triggers the detectors in the roof space, this normally happens about half an hour after the performance has finished!

 

Back on topic:

Another vote for the strobe/blinders option but maybe add some CO2 to the mask the actors entrance as this disappears very quickly.

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.....

Hmmm...

Then I would say that some serious attention to such detectors is warranted!

Unless you managed to smoke the whole auditorium to saturation I really can't see that hours later there are going to be enough residual particles in the air to set off a properly maintained and calibrated detector.

That just isn't a practical situation.

 

Quite Possibly Tony, but as I am sure you can imagine, getting anything like that looked at, let alone changed would mean application forms filled in in triplicate, authorised, countersigned, returned, lost and finally recycled as fire-lighters...

 

Alternatively, just leave them on a train, and let the tabloids sort it out....

 

Jim

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Hi Guys,

Our local musical society have a problem due their venue owners fitting new smoke/intruder alarms which they say they cannot over ride! They want to do Aladdin but can't work out how to produce a flash for the genie to appear that does not trigger the smoke alarm. It is claimed that the residue can remain in the smoke detector for up to nine hours and activate the system long after everyone has left.

Does anyone have any suggestions otherwise they could be doing Cinderella, Again!

Thanks in anticipation of replies.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions - they are going to give them a try. The venue is a miners' welfare hall owned by the council so 'jobsworth' run riot-Cheers.

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