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Fogger Chiller


TJ Hvasta

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You've seen movies and halloween yards where the fog coming out hugs the ground, rolling along as a slow pace, instead of rising and disappating rapidly??

Thats accomplished by making a Fogger Chiller. Done many ways, the basic premise, is that chilled fog (with normal, or dry, ice) makes the fog heavier than air, more dense, causing it to sink and roll along the ground.

They can be made from plastic trash cans or large coleman coolers (what I used) or even styro, if large enough. The idea is to route the fog inside of a container that is chilled, then let it escape.

1) Obtain some type of container.. can be a trash can, large box, cardboard is ok), cooler (either camping, or styro). The Coleman cooler I got was $5 at Goodwill.

2) Some sort of 3" or 4" dryer ducting (prefereably metal for better temperature transfer), and about 10' is a good length. HomeDepot was $10 for this.. you might find it at Goodwill, or Habitat For Humanity ReStore, DAV, etc..

3) Ice, either regular cubed, or dry ice. A couple bags.. 10lbs of normal ice, if you use a cooler or trash can will last the whole night.

Construction:

Take your container, and the ducting. cut a hole in the bottom side of the container, (box, cooler, trash can) the size of the ducting for the fog exit. Feed that ducting into the hole. coil the ducting INSIDE the container. Cut another hole for the duct entrance.. this is ewhere the fogger will "plug into" the ducting, so make it so the fogger has someplace to sit (either on a box, chair, stump, someplace its sturdy. If you use a large trash can, you may be able to lace the fogger inside the trashcan, on a dry plywood platform, placed on top of the ice so its all self-contained.

Once the ducting is in place, you can seal the duct with GreatStuff expanding foam if you desire, just keeps the cold in. It isnt really nessessary, but it helps. Fill the can / cooler / box (if you use cardboard box, put the ducting and ice in several large trash bags to help insulate the paper) withthe bags of ice.. it isnt even nessessary to take the ice out of the bags. Fill the container with the ice, close it up.

Place the fogger next to the container, and slip the fogger nozzle into the Chiller inlet. It should look like fog goes from the fogger, into the cooler, swirling around the ice-covered duct, then exiting out along the ground.

You can see how it looks, starting @ 1:18 to 2:10

post-4454-0-83098000-1345254401_thumb.jp

post-4454-0-26923400-1345254402_thumb.jp

Edited by TJ Hvasta
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It's still a big challenge in Wisconsin to get a good fog for Halloween. We have cool nights, so getting the fog chilled below outside temp takes twice as much ice. The other problem we have is getting the fog machine warm enough to work on demand. Our fog machines have to be 1000W or better to get ok results. Burger King is the best place to get ice, $1 for about ten pounds. I go through 40# in a night, two foggers. I tried dry ice, wasn't worth the expense and hassle of getting it. I think I paid $10 for 25# with no noticeable difference, and the ice lasted longer.

Does anyone recommend a particular type or brand of fog juice, or want to share an easy recipe?

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TJ, I just noticed the extra photos under the video, I see why you use less ice than I do. I have a 3" PVC pie that goes through the cooler and is slotted inside the cooler, so that the fog breathes through the ice. It cools it better, but melts the ice faster and a lot of condensation in the pipes.

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Yeah Jim, that would tend to melt the ice faster running warmed fog thru it.. and the fog temp drop here (Halloween Night is still in the 80's) is significant so it stays low.. For colder climes, I can see that dry ice and a longer duct is a must to keep the fog in the colder ice area longer so it colder than ambient air temp..

As for fogger juice, I havent tempted fate yet and used an off brand.. truth be told, I'm on my original bottle I bought when I got these three yrs ago :o And now I just bought a Fitco snow flurry (soap flakes) machine, it's fluid is twice the cost of fogger juice.. THAT one I may make my own.. :ph34r:

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The other problem I have is that I have a large open school yard across the street. Even with no wind, the air current disapates my fog pretty quick. The fog juice at Party City works the best so far. Last year I tried an off brand low lying fog and wasn't impressed with it. There's a number available fogs online, but don't know which to get or stay away from.

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I've got the plastic halloween skull fencing along the yard line, so it tends to hold in the fog, makes it look like a pond..

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I can see that as an advantage. I had an actual ground fogger last year and was refilling the thing every 30 minutes or so. I'll probably get the Frogjuice ground fog too.

Torqumada

Edited by Torqumada286
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Hey TJ Havsta, have a question for you about the fogger...

Ive played with ground foggers (400w - not effective) and a 1000w fogger that I built a chiller for using a scrap metal 50L pot - which worked out ok.

What I noticed though with yours, is i think yours is integrated into your display - is your LOR unit controlling it?

Ive only got 16 channels, but, i'd definitely be willing to give one up for that if i could figure out how

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The foggers you see are 400w models.. it worked perfectly. I didnt get the 1000w until this past March..

The haunted playground video, the two foggers are in the front yard, behind the tombstones,

In the Pirate Ship video, it's the cannon smoke, piped thru a 2" pvc manifold to each cannon.

I did not have the foggers controlled by LOR then. They were both on handheld timers.

I wrote up how to wire in the relay here: http://forums.lighto...00/page__st__35, begins with post #49

Edited by TJ Hvasta
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I just used an old ice chest cooler that I had. I also get a couple pounds of dry ice for Halloween night. Weather has a lot to do with it all. if its windy - I dont even bother.

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I'm amazed, that while I'm using an old ice chest/cooler, and the warmed fog runs thru the ducting thats snaked inside, in Phoenix, a 10lb bag of plain ice lasts all night, and its still very much ice the next day. I have seen chillers that dumps the warm fog right onto bare ice (or bag) then it exits out the bottom, so I can see how plain ice might not last long.

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I have build my fair share of chillers and I know where you live and the current weather conditions make a big difference but I have had the best luck with the vortex style chiller. Regular ice and salt. http://www.halloweenforum.com/tutorials-step-step/71815-build-your-own-vortex-fusion-chiller.html Cheap to build and for those who don't want to look at their decoration year round easy to store. If you read the directions the grate was the hardest thing to find but I simply used a paint roller screen thingy...http://www.lowes.com/pd_40315-159-BR002_0__?productId=3033122&Ntt=5+gallon+paint+roller+screen&pl=1&currentURL=&facetInfo= just pry the hard metal pieces off the side and it worked like a champ.

Last year I had the perfect creep across the lawn and driveway until all those kids showed up and them walking though it.

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+1 on the salt!!! One of my coworkers uses it in his cooler for water bottles and I was impressed at how much colder they were. Also when I put my hot ones in the cooler they got cold faster.

His formula is 2 tbs salt to 8# bag of ice.

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I've seen the salt chiller too.. it does work very well.. Shaggy, are you HF member too? I was on it for the longest time,.. then FB was created.. you know the rest =)

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+1 on the salt!!! One of my coworkers uses it in his cooler for water bottles and I was impressed at how much colder they were. Also when I put my hot ones in the cooler they got cold faster.

His formula is 2 tbs salt to 8# bag of ice.

I wasn't aware of a formula. Mine was fill it up with ice and dump salt in... :)

I've seen the salt chiller too.. it does work very well.. Shaggy, are you HF member too? I was on it for the longest time,.. then FB was created.. you know the rest =)

I don't know if I would consider myself a member, more of a lurker.

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