Smoke Machine / Fog Machine?

Configuration
1

Has anyone found an easy solution for connecting a smoke machine to HA?

I’m in the process of setting up my Halloween experience, which includes motion sensors. audio and ESPHome-controlled LEDs.

I have a smoke machine that is controlled via an RF remote. I built an ESP8266 relay for it but it wasn’t reliable. Malamaker has a good one but it requires a PCB.

Anyone seen anything simple?

2

Surely just a WiFi / ZWave / Zigbee socket will do the job? (unless it powers up in standby mode of course)

3

Yes, it powers up in standby.

4

I only know about the USB RFXTrx433 stick, for sending commands to RF devices. It will depend on what frequency the RF remote runs on to start with, then you would need to look at options like the Sonoff RF Bridge maybe?

5

Why aren’t you just using something like one of the Broadlink RF Hubs to control it. Learn the RF buttons from the remote and then you’ve got complete control.

6

Thank you both. Yes, I’d considered a Broadlink and similar but they’re double the price of the smoke machine itself.

The Sonoff RF would be perfect but unfortunately doesn’t support the smoke machine’s frequency. It took me two devices and many hours before I figured that out!

7

Have a look on eBay. I’ve picked up a few of the older model Broadlink RM Pro’s on there for $20 and they’ve been brand new sealed in their original packaging

8

Good tip. Thanks. I’ll try that.

9

Funny - I looked online to see if anyone had done a similar thing - converted a cabled remote controlled cheepo fog machine into a wifi controlled one. Then I discovered that the cable remote is in effect AC thus not easily modded.

(answering Andrew in a bit more detail - as per the malamaker device, these fog machines have two circuits - one to heat the fogging element which is powered all the time, and one to run the pump that pumps the fog mixture through the element and then out the nozzle. The pump circuit of course only runs on demand)

10

Revisiting this - my manually controlled cheapo nasty fog machine uses the same remote as the lite f/x here http://www.modd3d.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/fog-machine-remote-schematic.jpg - running 240v mains across the cable, and using the switch between live and “earth” to actually run the pump.

I’ve got a sonoff basic - and want to use it to by pass the switch - any ideas how to wire it?

1 Like
11

I just got a cheap off-brand fog machine from eBay with the same controls and am trying to determine options as well. If you have a smart plug lying around that can monitor power consumption you could use that to determine when the machine is ‘ready’ as the wattage should drop from around whatever your machine is rated at to near zero once the machine reaches the desired temp. I’m going to throw together some sensors in Home Assistant today and test that against when the light on the machine turns on indicating that it’s ready just to make sure it’s reliable.

12

I ended up buying a Broadlink Universal Controller. The RM4 model I think. I learns RF codes from pretty much all devices and then can be easily integrated into Home Assistant to control them.

13

Here’s a potential solution for connecting simple fog machines with wired remotes to HA with a Shelly switch: Automating a cheap fog machine

1 Like
14

I got a Hakuta smoke machine working in HA using a Sonoff RF Bridge R2 flashed with Tasmota (release-sensors). Learned the remote’s buttons into RfKey1/RfKey2, then called them from HA with simple MQTT scripts. Sometimes it needs two presses (typical for budget 433 MHz).

Hardware:

  • Sonoff RF Bridge R2 → flashed with Tasmota Sensors (I’m on 14.2.0 (release-sensors))
  • Hakuta smoke/fog machine with 433 MHz remote
  • (Link to my smoke machine): https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09WTGNP3M

1) Flash + basic setup

  1. Flash the bridge with Tasmota Sensors.
  2. In Tasmota: Configuration → Configure Module → Sonoff Bridge (25).
  3. Configure Wi-Fi and MQTT (broker IP/port/user/pass).

2) Capture the remote’s RF codes

Open the Tasmota Console (web UI → Console) and press the Smoke and Stop buttons on the physical remote. You should see lines like:

{"RfReceived":{"Sync":23146,"Low":726,"High":2212,"Data":"45550C","RfKey":"None"}}
{"RfReceived":{"Sync":23122,"Low":724,"High":2208,"Data":"455530","RfKey":"None"}}

For my Hakuta remote:

  • 45550C = Smoke
  • 455530 = Stop

(Your hex may differ; use whatever you see in your console.)

3) Learn the buttons into RF key slots

Put the bridge into learn mode and press each button twice (first press shows a preamble A0 55, second press captures the real frame):

RfKey1 2   // then press the Smoke button twice (within ~10s)

then

RfKey2 2   // then press the Stop button twice (within ~10s)

You should see "RfKey1":"Learned" and "RfKey2":"Learned".
When learned correctly, pressing the physical remote later will show RfKey:1 for Smoke and RfKey:2 for Stop in the console.

Quick local test:

RfKey1   // sends Smoke

then

RfKey2   // sends Stop

Tip: for first tests, hold the bridge within ~0.5–1 m of the fogger; TX range is weaker than RX sensitivity.

4) Home Assistant scripts (MQTT)

Create two Scripts in HA (YAML) that publish to your bridge’s command topics.
Replace tasmota_D3A2FA with your device’s topic

sequence:
  - action: mqtt.publish
    metadata: {}
    data:
      topic: cmnd/tasmota_D3A2FA/RfKey1
      payload: ""
      qos: 0
      retain: false
      evaluate_payload: false
alias: Smoke Machine - Smoke
description: Send the Hakuta SMOKE command via RFBridge

sequence:
  - action: mqtt.publish
    metadata: {}
    data:
      topic: cmnd/tasmota_D3A2FA/RfKey2
      payload: ""
      qos: 0
      retain: false
      evaluate_payload: false
alias: Smoke Machine - Stop
description: Send the Hakuta STOP command via RFBridge

In my setup, sometimes I need two presses but I think that’s normal with some 433 MHz receivers (they expect longer/ repeated frames).