Thread: Fog Chiller Tips Please

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I'm about to dive into my first fog chiller. I just bought a 70 quart ice chest. I thought to pipe the fogger by zig-zagging pvc through it to keep from direct contact with the ice and reduce melting.

Also would too many elbows back up the flow? If so would a 80mm pc exhaust fan help with the pull placed at the exhaust end, or would it dissipate too much? Does dry-ice make the pvc too brittle and cause cracking, or a mix of it and water ice the way to go to keep the water ice from melting and restocking so much? Is pvc a good enough heat and cold exchanger?

Questions, questions, questions... LOL.

All tips and suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Too many elbows will reduce flow,and I am not sure if it will cool very much thru pvc.

Okay no one wants to step up? Guess I'll just experiment.

Sometimes direct contact with the ice is better. Also if the fog got backed up that is a good thing. Generally the fog just shoots right through and doesn't really have time to cool

I will be working on my first fog chiller next weekend and from the designs I have seen direct contact with the ice seems to be the way to go. PVC is pretty thick and I don't think it would transfer heat too well. You could use metal pipe but that seems pretty expensive. I plan on doing some sort of vortex design pumping the fog into a expansion area then through ice and out of the other side.

Yeah I have some left over dryer conduit I might use as long as I'm careful not to break the foil... (use all the junk you have on hand already).

Do a search for "Vortex chiller" here. It'll give you all the tips you need. Pack a lunch - there's a lot of info.

The best fog chiller I have made the fog goes through the ice. I have made 3 chillers and the best 1 goes through the ice. The other 2 were junk. I used dryer conduit in 1 and it didn't cool down enough. I know you really have to play with the setting to make sure the fog has time enough to chill before the fogger fires again. And you don't want to shoot to much fog that it gos through with out chilling. Also here is a tip. Add salt to your ice it will get about 5 degrees cooler. Add salt to your cooler at your next pic-nic and see how cold your sodas get.

Originally Posted by Mr.Death

The best fog chiller I have made the fog goes through the ice. I have made 3 chillers and the best 1 goes through the ice. The other 2 were junk. I used dryer conduit in 1 and it didn't cool down enough. I know you really have to play with the setting to make sure the fog has time enough to chill before the fogger fires again. And you don't want to shoot to much fog that it gos through with out chilling. Also here is a tip. Add salt to your ice it will get about 5 degrees cooler. Add salt to your cooler at your next pic-nic and see how cold your sodas get.

Was is it possible that the medium around the dryer conduit wasn't in contact enough? Maybe submerged enough into the cold melt water?

Lordy I know it isn't an exact science but there has to be a happy medium? LOL

The fog will only chill when in contact with the ice. I have tried many variations on an ice chiller, and this one is really the only one that works. If you can get it, use dry ice as it's much colder and makes a big difference.