computer Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 Hi, Anyone know how I could mobilise a dry ice machine to put on a (stage) truck? It'd probably need to be battery powered and we'd need it on for about 5 minutes. Would that be possible or could I make something to do it? The truck is about the size of 1m x 2.5m so its quite large. thanks,Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew C Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 What I'd do is heat the water in advance, and hide someone on the truck to lower the ice on cue. That said, the truck probably needs to be on stage for an hour, and there's only room for a 5 year-old on it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
computer Posted December 13, 2004 Author Share Posted December 13, 2004 well is it possible to rig something up so one of the actors can lower it in with some rope on a hook or something. could you put a kettle in it, with a lid and all and then boil the kettle just before its going onstage, wait for it to boil, take it on, then after a few minutes lower the ice? the truck will only be on for about 2 minutes before the effect is needed then about another 5 or 6 before going back into the wings where it'll be changed (For different dressing) before going back on later on... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy_s Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 how about having mains powered equipment, with the power cable running off unobtrusively upstage and a crew member to "page" it on or off as necessary, or a plug and socket arrangement so that the truck can be positioned and then a cable run out to it at the end of the scene change. alternatively, car battery with inverter to convert to 240V - inverter costs about £80 if you don't need to worry about true sine waves (i.e. it's not powering sensitive electronic equipment. I've never come across battery powered dry ice machines, but there are battery powered foggers available if that's a viable alternative.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew C Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 A 3kW battery / inverter set will be £ching and very large. However the water will hold it's temperature quite well for that period of time. In addition to "freeze-burns" and low lying CO2 pockets, risk asses the movement of the truck with a bucket of boiling water on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 As others have said, there are sundry issues with situating a dry ice machine on a truck - getting power to it, finding space for an operator to drop the ice in, the risks inherent in moving a large container of near-boiling water around the stage, etc. If the truck doesn't have to move very far, you could perhaps look at ducting the dry ice from a machine situated offstage. Dry ice travels fairly well through ducting, but watch out for water condensing at any low points in the duct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
computer Posted December 13, 2004 Author Share Posted December 13, 2004 ducting would probably work, we would possibly be able to drop a gauze a metre or so behind it so could duct from under that... what kind of ducting/tubing would you need or would anything work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomLyall Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 what kind of ducting/tubing would you need or would anything work?<{POST_SNAPBACK}> Whoever supplies the dry ice machine will supply you appropriate ducting if you ask, of course it wont fit and will need a roll or two of gaffa to make any kind of connection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickb12345 Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 How about a low fog effect. If you could get a battery powered fogger (one of the small ones) and then pump that fog through a pack of ice or something similar the fog would cool and hang on the floor. You may need more than one depending on the scale of the effect required! HTH Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lightnix Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 How big does it need to be? Why does it need to be mobile? I would definitely agree with boiling the water in advance, although five whole minutes is pushing any small dry ice machine to its limits IMHO, although the Winter may help. A battery-powered solution might conceivably work, with a big enough 12V battery and an inverter / UPS that could handle the load, but it would be a very short term solution, not to mention rather expensive. A "central" machine with a mobile duct may well be the best way to go. Years ago I used to get dry ice in pellet form from some place out on the Slough industrial estate. It may have been Distillers, but it was a long time ago... Pellets work more efficiently than chunks. Even more years ago, a mate of mine upgraded some old (very non mobile) Londoner dry ice machines, so that the hot water was sprayed on to the dry ice via a pump and a couple of shower heads. The water stayed much hotter for much longer with that arrangement and the design featured safety switches, so that the water pump cut out when the lid was opened. That was in days before Risk Assessments tho', and I wouldn't recommend such modifications these days, or building a similar system from scratch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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