Thread: Fog chiller question

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I going to be making a fog chiller this weekend. I'm making the kind that you use a garbage can. So the question I have is how many dryer vent tubing should I purchase. Also what is the best way to seal the tube in it's hole? I hope this makes sense.

Are you going to be putting the tubing inside the garbage can? I would suggest skipping that step. If you just let the fog linger in the can with the ice, the next puff of fog pushes out pretty much the same amount, leaving fog in the garbage can to chill until the next puff. If you put tubing in there it pretty much just rushes through the tubing and doesn't really get a chance to chill. I just put and inlet tube that went in a few inches and an outlet tube that went in a few inches as well. Good luck on the chiller. They are a fun project to build. So many different ideas you can try.

I agree, no tubing. My trash can chiller allows the fog to enter the can, expand and then contact the ice at which time it exits the can. The tubing does not allow the fog to expand or have as much contact with the ice.

Last year I attempted to build the garbage can ice chiller. Once I found that I did not purchase nearly enough dryer vent tubing (3 feet or so) I ended up just pumping the fog through the tubing.

I ended up taking a ton of duct tape and sealed off one end of the dryer vent, then poked a hole in the centre of it, shoved a paper towel roll in the hole and sealed the other end of the paper towel roll around the output from the fog chiller.

Over all I wasn't too happy with the results. It seemed like it was working ok at first but later on the fog stopped chilling just ended up rising.

This year I'm just going to use a PVC tube full of ice. I don't want to mickey-mouse with the connections to the fog machine this time around.


A question I have for other haunters is why is it important for the fog to expand before contacting the ice?

I don't know about the science of it, but I do know that if you don't use the tubing and just let the fog go directly in with the ice that you have more capacity for fog, it has more direct contact with the ice and stays in contact with the ice longer. There are lots of ways to build a fog chiller. Even more "opinions" on how to build a fog chiller. Basically what it all boils down to is that most of them "work", its just how much you are willing to spend. I have watched lots of videos of fog chillers in action. From cat liter bins filled with ice to $4000 professional fog chillers and to be honest most of them produce a ground fog. Personally I think the fun part is building one.

Yardhauntjunkie & Homestead Haunt - so basically what you are saying is to have part of the dryer vent on one side where the fog machine is and another on the other side. Then fill the garbage can with ice, and that should do the trick? How much ice do you put in? Also should I still be using dryer vent tubing or something else?

I think the vortex chiller has the fog coming into the garbage can at the top, then the fog exits on the opposite side of the can at the bottom. I don't think you'd want to fill the whole can with ice. There wouldn't be room for the fog to expand. Probably just ice at the bottom with your exit hose just above the ice? I'm guessing here, if I'm wrong let me know.
I was going to make one of these this year with the dryer vent hose, but if you say I don't really need it that's great! I can use that money elsewhere. LOL

I personally use a cooler with 3 inch pvc on one side and then another short piece on the other side. I put a rolled up piece of chicken wire to connect the two and then filled it 3/4 of the way full with ice.

If I were to do the garbage can idea I would suggest the vortex method of having and inlet(which could be dryer vent that ran from the bottom up though the center of the garbage can and leave about a foot of space at the top. Then put your short outlet tube on the other side on the bottom of the can. then fill it about to the top o the hose leaving space at the top for it to expand or whatever it does up there. To be honest one of the cooler ones(and better working ones) was very similar to this concept. But, it requires a lot of ice.

Another one that seemed to work well was a guy that used a kitty liter bucket filled with ice. 3 inch pipe inlet on one side and another on the other side. Made some pretty good ground fog in my opinion and it was super cheap(something I always like).

13mummy, DaveintheGrave is on the right track. The garbage can is devided into 2 sections (top and bottom) there is a grate going between the 2 sections. The top 1/2 gets filled with ice. A fog machine inlet is plumbed going into the garbage can at the bottom side but a pipe carries the fog to the top of the can where it is released into the can. The fog expands and cools and drops down throught the ice where it exits out a 2nd openning in the bottom side of the can. I can take a picture of mine if you would like and post it.

Homestead Haunt, I'd love to see a photo. Having a bit of a hard time wrapping my mind around this one. Pictures will help.