Thread: how do you like fog chillers?

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I have 4 chillers in my haunt at present, with plans to make two or three more this year. I have three kitty litter pail chillers, and a 55 gallon drum chiller that works on the same principle as a cooler type chiller. We use one of the kitty litter pail chillers to operate a fog curtain, causing it to work great. I consistently get between 1"-1 1/2" deep fog through out the haunt. I don't currently have any pictures, and everything is in storage at the moment, but I will try to get out there this weekend and pull out a chiller and a fogger, so i can get you some pics. I use froggy's freezing fog juice in all but the drum chiller. I use Froggy's swamp juice in that one, because it is so much thicker. I will never haunt without a fog chiller again. I swear by them, and they are very simple to make.

Up until this last year I had always used the cheap 400w foggers with the cooler designs. I've tried different configurations in the coolers such as the chicken wire, dryer ducting, and straight ice with not much difference. This year I stepped up and bought a American DJ Fog Storm 1700 HD fogger. The amount of fog and force that this fogger shot the fog out made the coolers pretty much useless. I then began experimenting with the trashcan design starting with the dryer coil configuration inside. It was better but still not great. I finally ditched most of the tubing and went straight through the ice with awesome results. I still ended up having to seal up the locking top with rubber gaskets due to the pressure at which this fog machine shoots out the fog. Here's a couple of pictures of it during the build. I wish I had pictures of it in action but Halloween night is too chaotic to worry about pictures.

I use a large tupperware container glued on some pvc pipe for the mouth and have a steel dryer vent running through the middle, the exit hole is a small rectangle cut allowing the fog to chill more. Also built one just like I said above but on the exit I used drainage pipe capped off filled w/ ice and frozen bottles. That worked extremly well.

Originally Posted by Trex

Picture is from last Halloween using our homemade fog chiller. Our cooler is simialr to above, has 4" tubing coiled 2-3 X's inside. We used dry ice in the tubing, in the cooler cavity and dry ice in the peforated 4" hose running through the back of our cemetery. We also use good quality fog juice. I suspect we may have somewhat of an advantage being so far North, it is chilly outside any Halloween night, this helps fog creep. I love how ours turned out and we will continue to use our homemade version.

That is a great picture!

Hacked by Barney ...

i have found some plans to make my own fog chiller, seems cheap and easy. my question is how well do they work. is it a "must have" or not.

In my mind, a chiller is a "must have." You can't beat the creepy factor that low-lying fog gives to your haunt, however you choose to manufacturer it. The true enemy of fog though, is wind. I've learned to control how wind enters my haunt in order to maximize the fog effect.

I think I've posted this pic before, but here's my chiller, based on 4 decades of evolutionary trial-and-error. Powered by a 1200 watt fogger and a water feature pump sitting in a cooler of ice water. 50' of 3/8" copper tubing coiled inside a 6" HVAC tube 6' long, then to a distribution pipe.

I always wondered if a refrigeration coil system might work. Great, now I get to build something else.

I'll share a trick I learned in building this - Get a short piece (2 foot long or so) of 3" diameter PVC pipe and clamp it in a vise. Wrap the copper coil around the pipe and build coils that way. Saves your hands. Use zip ties to suspend the coils inside the HVAC pipe every foot or so.

This device is the most efficient and inexpensive method I've found to chill fog (I've tried them all). It recycles the water, it's expandable (in the ice chest photo you can see two pumps with separate feed and return lines for a 2nd chiller) it's easy to hide and it's no maintenance during Halloween. Set it up, turn it on and leave it alone.

After the initial cost to build, one 20 lb. bag of ice and 3 gallons of water is all it takes every year.

I think if you want fog, than a fog chiller is a must or a really expensive low lying fog machine. I have two 1000 watt fog machines. I have a very basic styrofoam cooler fog chiller and I attach a dark trash bag on the end that is staked down and also has ice cubes laying in it. My biggest problem is the amount of wind blowing through my yard. The chiller does okay when the wind stops. I'm thinking of using a long black PVC pipe with holes strategically placed for the fog to cover a greater area. Has anyone tried this or have any thoughts or ideas that might work better?

I used the slit drain pipe you find in the PVC isle at Home depot. I used 2 8 feet sections, taped them with duct tape, and sealed the one end with the same. Worked better then my chillers because you can wind and bend the pipe to where you want it. The slits are small and the fog just creeps out slowly.

Depending on budget constraints, you can also fill the bottom of those slit drain pipes with ice and that will keep the fog cooler, as well.