Thread: fog chiller help! improve my chiller, and help direct fog?

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I took my first shot at a fog chiller yesterday. The cooler itself is small (maybe 32 quarts? not sure), but I had it kicking around and thought I'd give it a shot before I bought a larger unit.

I have a Chauvet 1000w chiller, and plan on using it in my graveyard - so I want to keep the fog as low as possible, otherwise it just seems to get in the way of my other lighting effects & props.

I was hoping i could get away with a smaller chiller, so I took some 3" aluminim dryer hose and I looped it around in an S shape within the cooler to try and get the fog to stay on longer. I know you can't see it well, but here's a shot with the cooler full of ice:



Like I said you can't see it well, but the hose is basically in an S shape within the cooler. In one side and out the other.

I filled it with ice last night, let it sit for a couple hours, then gave it a shot. The fog definitely seemed to stay lower than without the chiller, but still not nearly low enough for my taste and not nearly as low as some videos I've seen. Almost seems like some fog would stay low, but then other fog would rise right up.

I feel like I definitely need something more, but I'm not sure how to proceed. I've seen the trash barrel chillers, but wonder if they are overkill for my needs and my 1000w fogger, and I also wonder how well the fog goes through all that tubing!!

Anybody have any suggestions? Should I simply go with a larger cooler? Should I stick with the S shape inside? Should I skip the dryer hose and S shape and go with a wire mess host as pictured here intead?

Fog Machines - Your Guide to using Fog Machines for Halloween

Should I bite the bullet and go with a trash chiller? Or is that overkill for my fogger? How much ice is needed to fill one of those things? It seems crazy to go out and buy all that ice every night I want to run the show..

One other question - what's the trick to controlling the direction of fog? If the wind isn't blowing the right way, the fog simply flows away from my graveyard and is wasted. Are people placing their foggers in the middle of their graveyard, or is it more common to place them behind?

This is all new to me, so any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks!!

Dry ice in your chiller might get a more ground hugging effect.

As far as directing it, I've seen the long irrigation tubes that snake through the graveyard (usually in the back of the graveyard) so it seeps out and flows slowly over the ground to the front.

If you have ANY wind at all, the fog won't work and will dissapate, so understand that it doesn't matter how great of a chiller and distribution you've got if there is even a slight breeze.

If you have ANY wind at all, the fog won't work and will dissapate, so understand that it doesn't matter how great of a chiller and distribution you've got if there is even a slight breeze.

Well, that's quite a drag!!

So how do I eliminate the breeze this Halloween?

Originally Posted by Kremlar

Well, that's quite a drag!!

So how do I eliminate the breeze this Halloween?

My solution to the problem is more fog!

I have had little TOT's cry because they couldn't see in front of them!

I would try the gotfog design. Never seen that one before, but looks very easy to assemble. I don't think you have enough dryer hose to be real effective.

Just make the innards for the gotfod design and put your fog machine next to the cooler, instead of on top.

For cooling and distribution, I plan to use this:

Video of Fog test with 4" pipe - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

It's a 10', 4" perforated drain pipe filled with a dozen bottles of frozen water. I'll attach it to the outlet of my ice chest chiller and bury it in the leaves in the graveyard. The fogger is a Chauvet 1250.

Just make the innards for the gotfod design and put your fog machine next to the cooler, instead of on top.

The gotfog design uses an even smaller path inside the cooler. But, you think it might be more effective because of the wire mesh piping?

The holes I drilled are offset, so I can't use the wire mesh with this cooler. Maybe I'll try poking lots of small holes into my dryer vent before I give up on this.

It's a 10', 4" perforated drain pipe filled with a dozen bottles of frozen water. I'll attach it to the outlet of my ice chest chiller and bury it in the leaves in the graveyard. The fogger is a Chauvet 1250.

I have one of those perforated drain pipes. Though a lot of fog shoots out the perforations, a lot more comes out the other end. A you blocking it with something?

I LOVE the frozen water bottle idea. I think I may give that a shot, in conjunction with my ice cooler.

Yeah, I just closed the open end with duct tape. What you see in the vid is just the effect of the water bottles - when its attached to the chiller the fog will lay super-low.

Yeah, I just closed the open end with duct tape. What you see in the vid is just the effect of the water bottles - when its attached to the chiller the fog will lay super-low.

Mind sharing what you're doing for a fog chiller?

I'm using a modified ice chest design, along the lines of a Vortex chiller. BTW, there's a huge thread over on Haunt Forum about fog chillers and various mod's. The fog blows in through a 2" pipe and is directed up to the top of the chest. The 2" pipe sticks up through the ice layer to about 2" below the lid. The fog expands and is forced down through the ice layer. The ice is sitting on a heavy metal screen supported with a PVC pipe frame about 4" from the bottom of the chest. A 2" pipe below the screen lets the cold fog out. I use a 2" to 4" ABS adapter to attach the extension pipe (4" dryer duct) and the perf pipe. The chest holds about 60 lbs of ice and lasts all night.
Regarding GotFog chillers: I modified my GotFog design a few years back by adding a baffle to the inlet (just a circle of plastic cut from a Nesquik lid) to force the fog out of the straight-through mesh pipe and into the ice. A similar baffle was added to the outlet port so the fog had to go through the ice pack before it could exit the chiller. It basically eliminated the straight path. This made a big difference in the performance of the GotFog chiller, and didn't require any disassembly to place the baffles. I have some pix of the interior of the chiller - I'll post them on Monday or Tuesday if you're interested in taking a look.