Who uses a snow machine?

[TJ Hvasta]

How many use a snow machine for your display? I've been to a couple homes here in the Valley and out of.. 10..3 use it to blow fake snow over the viewers.. I like the effect and started looking online for one.. the lower end machines look like the foggers I have... abt $55.. I dont run DMX so Chauvet's not an option.

[-klb-]

At least DMX is a lot cheaper than it has been in the past. You could do it with a USB485 and a correctly wired rj45 to XLR cable.

[Will Sanders]

Chauvet has discontinued the snow machines. You might find one on ebay. I too have been looking at snow machines for the last couple of years but haven't made up my mind which one to go with.

Will Sanders

[thevikester]

TJ Hvasta wrote:

How many use a snow machine for your display? I've been to a couple homes here in the Valley and out of.. 10..3 use it to blow fake snow over the viewers.. I like the effect and started looking online for one.. the lower end machines look like the foggers I have... abt $55.. I dont run DMX so Chauvet's not an option.

TJ, aren't the snow machines several hundred dollars?? I looked once a couple years ago, and it seemed they were up in that range, for a "decent" one...of the displays you went to, did you talk to anyone about what they were using and the cost associated with it?

[TJ Hvasta]

No, the houses we saw were actually unattended surprisingly enough.. but there are several on ebay that are $55 BIN so they're right there with the low end foggers..

[PaulXmas]

Why does that make someone from central Alberta LAUGH?

[beeiilll]

I have a huge snow machine.

It's called mother nature and boy can she crank out the snow when she wants too!

Seems that this year she is on break though since it is the 14th of December and it is in the mid 30's and the ground is bare.
We "usually" have anywhere from a few inches to over a foot by now but this year the climate is weird here. Oh well it will be too deep all too soon and then I have to shovel it!
Bill

[AndyK]

Well I doubt this will work in AZ but I plan on trying this in Jan/Feb here in NC when it finnally decides to drop below freezing - not cold enought during December here to be able to try it with the light display. http://www.snsnowmaking.com/2011/

[goduke21]

I use the American dj one and it works great for around $140. This is my first year with and I can't go back. The kids just love it.

[Denise Brunner]

Would you say the american dj does a good job or a great job??? What kind of coverage do you get ?? I have a 60 ft front and am thinking of two machines??

[Max-Paul]

Just for giggles I looked up the American DJ Snow making machine. Looks like you get between 11 and 16 minutes of snow on high, using a quart of fluid. And they sell a gallon of fluid at 20 bucks. And I thought my lights cost a fair amount. Good for you if you can afford it, but a bit rich for my blood. Though I can see how that would be cool to run during part of my display. Could maybe buy a gallon or two and just horde it till the week before Christmas. And not the whole lighting season.

[Steven]

Max-Paul wrote:

Looks like you get between 11 and 16 minutes of snow on high, using a quart of fluid. And they sell a gallon of fluid at 20 bucks. And I thought my lights cost a fair amount.

I suggested one of these: to my neighbor who ran a snow machine in his display. He hooked it up to an input on a controller, which ran a "magic toy" sequence that turned on the snow machine for 30 seconds. With all the kids he got, he collected $10-$15 per weeknight and about $20 each weekend night. This came to about $400 for the season (in quarters!)

He also said this solved the problem where kids would always interrupt him when we was talking to visitors, asking when the snow would fall again. After the coin machine, it was obviously up to their parents.

[TJ Hvasta]

I like the coin idea.. could pay for the juice... I was told by Brian McNamara that you can make your own snow juice, distilled water, dish detergent and something else (cant remember what), mix it together, fill the tank and go.. you can probably google "home-made snow machine juice". I just picked up a 1000w fogger at a local Goodwill for $13.. I was hoping it was a snow machine, but I'm still happy.

[Redbirdruss]

goduke21 wrote:

I use the American dj one and it works great for around $140. This is my first year with and I can't go back. The kids just love it.

Just curious but how do you have it integrated into your show. Can you designate a LOR Channel to turn it off and on? I was considering using it at theend of one of my shows for the finally with strobes etc.
Thanks for any advice.
Russ

[thevikester]

Steven wrote:

I suggested one of these: to my neighbor who ran a snow machine in his display. He hooked it up to an input on a controller, which ran a "magic toy" sequence that turned on the snow machine for 30 seconds. With all the kids he got, he collected $10-$15 per weeknight and about $20 each weekend night. This came to about $400 for the season (in quarters!)

He also said this solved the problem where kids would always interrupt him when we was talking to visitors, asking when the snow would fall again. After the coin machine, it was obviously up to their parents.

Steven, I would be interested in this set up..does your neighbor use LOR? I know you are electronically inclined, much more so than I...any ideas on how to hook this up to make it work with LOR?? Thanks a bunch

[TJ Hvasta]

The coin drop would close a contact that would trun on the activate relay (trigger) for the snow maker. You wouldnt need to put it on a controller channel, just run a seperate power line to it and the coin would close the contact and turn on the blower.

I've looked on eBay over the last week or so for snow makers, finding several, both DMX and non.. I have no desire to get into DMX and have to get the dongle and learn more programming for it, so the non-dmx machine would be my choice.. plus.. non-D is abt $70 while dmx-run machines start at $300.. makes that decision easy..

[thevikester]

TJ Hvasta wrote:

The coin drop would close a contact that would trun on the activate relay (trigger) for the snow maker. You wouldnt need to put it on a controller channel, just run a seperate power line to it and the coin would close the contact and turn on the blower.

I've looked on eBay over the last week or so for snow makers, finding several, both DMX and non.. I have no desire to get into DMX and have to get the dongle and learn more programming for it, so the non-dmx machine would be my choice.. plus.. non-D is abt $70 while dmx-run machines start at $300.. makes that decision easy..

So as opposed to having a set sequence run with it...just let it shoot snow irregardless of the sequence...I"m electrically challenged so when you talk about turning on the relay for the snowmaker, I get a little fogged as to what that looks like. Any chance of drawing a little schematic ?? If you are okay with that TJ, you can just shoot it to my email eshupe AT kqrsrocks. com if not, thats cool too, I can keep researching based on what you are saying, and I appreciate the input.

I agree, NON DMX for me as well, thinking perhaps two of the American DJ for 260 bucks, would do the trick for me.

[TJ Hvasta]

and I'm artistically challenged, so I cant draw anything that would look like anything other than spaghetti.

There are a couple pins on the coin thing that wuold be closed by the coin hitting a bar that shorts a couple pins, you have to connect the snowmaker control across those pins..

[thevikester]

TJ Hvasta wrote:

and I'm artistically challenged, so I cant draw anything that would look like anything other than spaghetti.

There are a couple pins on the coin thing that wuold be closed by the coin hitting a bar that shorts a couple pins, you have to connect the snowmaker control across those pins..

A fine pair we make TJ, a fine pair indeed!

[Steven]

thevikester wrote:

Steven, I would be interested in this set up..does your neighbor use LOR? ...any ideas on how to hook this up to make it work with LOR??

The neighbor's snow machine was (electrically) very simple: It was a small fountain pump and a blower. It didn't use heat (like a fog machine) so it required no warm-up. He simply left the switch in the "on" position and plugged it into a LOR channel. When it was time for snow, that channel was turned on for 30 seconds or so.

In its first few years, he made it snow at select times during certain sequences (including "White Christmas", of course). The big issues were that it was difficult to time the snow to coincide with the largest number of viewers with children. When he was talking with visitors outside, the children would constantly interrupt and ask: "When will it snow?" Since the snow machine was mounted on the roof under Rudolf, he would say the Rudolf controlled the snow, which didn't always go over very well. The coin slot solved that problem by moving the responsibility to the parents, who of course supplied the quarters.

The coin slot briefly closes a switch when a coin is inserted. This is wired to an input contact on a controller, which runs a "Magic Toy" interactive sequence in LOR S2.

The coin slot is powered (with a wall wart). When a coin is inserted when its power is off, the coin will drop to the coin return and nothing else will happen. I believe the power also shows a light on the slot. This power supply is plugged into another LOR channel that is turned on whenever the show is running with a background sequence.