I have decided to use some inexpensive single position single action air valves for actuating the two air rams this prop takes. Because of this I will need a way to bleed off the air when the rams reset. In the picture here you will see a short length of 2" PVC pipe that I will be using as a muffler for that bleed off. In one side I will drill and tap two 1/4" holes for air line slip fittings as shown already installed after tapping the threads with the tap we made in the previous section. Then the chunk of foam rubber shown above will be inserted inside the pipe and finally two 1" long screws will be inserted into each end of the pipe to keep the foam from slipping back out. The two fittings are needed since if I put a Y from the two air lines going into the muffler, it would effect the back pressure to each of the rams depending on where the other was at in it's cycle. In the assembly shown here on a removable board (so I can get to all the components for maintenance), you will see I have installed dedicated air regulators. Each one then goes to it's own air valve, then to a T fitting to feed each air cylinder and the other line goes to an inline air valve before finishing it's run going to the muffler. The regulators will work in tandem with the inline valve to determine how fast the air cylinder will actuate and then reset. You can find out much more about this assembly by going to the how to Air Trigger where you can learn how you can use something as simple and inexpensive as a washing machine water valve to trigger your props. 

   For the electrical needs of the chair I have decided on a bank of three power strips tucked in tight side by side that will fit between the fog juice bottle inside the pedestal and the wall. This will be removable just like the air assembly on the opposite side of the fogger. I will be running the electricity into the right chair back post through flexible conduit, so this is the logical placement. These are held in place with screws that each strip locks into in the back. Once I have placed all my power supplies and timers on board I will drill holes through the 3/4" wood base they are attached to and zip tie them all in place. In the close up you can see I have snipped the cord off of each and fitted bullet connectors. I will be fitting the incoming electrical cords with the female counterparts so this entire assembly can be removed from the chair completely if needed later on. Plus, the cords will then be small enough at the ends that they can be removed from the conduit housing if something happens to damage the conduit. One of these strips will be on one power leg and the other two will be on another that will have constant power going to them to keep the fogger hot, the speaker power on etc. As shown in the build for the Lynching, I will be using a 110 volt relay to trigger different elements of our animations. Each leg of this goodie is isolated from the other, half are normally On and the others are normally Off. You can pick and choose what type of connection your need  this way which can be helpful. These lines will be triggering different elements at the same time, as I am feeding power to the relay with the manual press of a button. It could just as easily be automated using a beam-break or motion activation, but since this is such an elaborate event, I wanted to retain it's activation to a live actor. In the photo here of the completed electrical assembly you will see two VariPET timers from Cowlacious Designs, a 20 second sound recorder device from Radio Shack, item # 276-1323 that has been mounted inside a protective box and some miscellaneous power supplies to run the speakers, the recorder and  the timers. Also if you look close you will see a line coming from the relay to the hand control of the fog machine. Inside the hand control box I have soldered the wires on to each side of the button so when they are connected, the fogger is engaged, sending fog out to the ducting.

   Here is a shot at the outside port I used to bring the power into the chair. This is a 1/4" thick steel plate that I have mounted flex conduit connectors to and then bolted to the chair with 1/4" lag bolts. The other end of these two power cords were fitted with turn-locking fittings you would find on high powered machinery such as a welder. You can see the power outlets feeding them are mounted to the bottom of a small utility box that I decided to use as the executioner's power panel. The third leg on the right is the incoming power to the box and is mounted directly and hard wired in.  The cover of the panel was fitted with three power buttons that look industrial keeping with the theme of the prop. Above each are different colored warning lights I have decided to use to illustrate different stages of use similar to a rocket launch. Looking inside the box you will see a piece of plywood was used to mount some 110V gang connectors to that will serve to make this steel box a power panel for the chair. The box was mounted to a stand that I quickly slapped together and then mounted a 110 V police rotating light. When the first button is pushed (on the far right), the green light is illuminated to show that power is now going to the chair, warming up the fogger and turning on the transformers. The next one in the middle will trigger both the yellow warning light on the panel and the red police light on the post. It is during this time the actor would announce the death sentence with the light flashing, building anticipation. When the final button is pressed it lights up the final warning light which is red and also sets off the sound of frying skin and our brave criminal screaming like a little girl. Also the fog is triggered as is the chest vibrating, and the two PET timers which then send the legs and torso through their motions which match the same 20 seconds that our sound device cycles. At which time the executioner presses the red button once again to remove all animations. Since it is set up to be manually triggered, everything except the PET timers can be triggered at any time with this button. The timers however are set to remain off for at least 45 seconds, giving the fogger a chance to re-heat back up for another cycle.

   Here you can see what the rear of the chair and pedestal look like with the panel assemblies slid back and the hinged door up. At the top of the door notice the notch that will allow a 3/8" air line to pass through while the door is closed. For more info on setting up the use of sound and timers, go to Motion Trigger.