Thread: Fog chiller

Ok, I know there's another cheaper version already on this page, but I got this from the Froggy's fog Rep. himself. If you refer to my masterful drawing that I've attatched you will see a perfect representation of a garbage can chiller. Ha ha.

According to froggy man, the best can to use is the grey "Brute" by Rubbermaid. Either the 33 gal, or larger will work. They've worked this out with different brands, and the thickness of the wall of the can makes a difference. Metal transferred too much heat from the outside, etc.

The inlet end of the inner hose is supposed to be about 4 inches from the bottom. The outlet, was supposed to be 2 or so. There is supposed to be a 1 or 2 inch gap between the fogger and the opening where it goes in at the bottom. You would think you would want it sealed, but froggy man says that it causes a venturie effect, and makes it work better, you can experiment with this yourself.

The inner hose is just inexpensive dryer vent hose, about 20 feet worth. You want it to go up through the middle, and the coil around itself all the way to the bottom. It's not easy to get it done, but the more times it coils, the better it will cool the fog. He cautioned you not to run an exhaust hose too far from the can, or the fog will start heating, and it will not be as effective. He suggested to keep it short, like 15 feet, if i remember correctly.

After you have wrestled this mess of hose into place, you add ice in the middle of the coil. He suggested adding a layer of salt, represented in white in the awesome drawing, then ice, represented in blue. Layer it all the way to the top, and you've got the super chiller.

I will be making one, and will let you know how it works out, but it sounds like this guy has messed around with this a LOT, and I believe him when he says it is the best chiller that you can make. Just wanted to share one of the many things that I learned at the West Coast Haunters Convention. I did this from memory, so forgive me if you see a flaw in the origional design. And please correct me if I'm wrong.

One thing that he didd'nt mention was a drain hole in the bottom, I would think this would be necesary. But I would caution you not to kill your grass with salt water, so I would either put the chiller somewhere it could drain safely, or not use salt? If you wanted to get fancy you could tie in a drain line hose below the exit hose, and run it into a rain drain or something.

Good luck

What fog did he recommend? I know they produce many different types.

Good call, he recommended using the low hanging fog for regular outdoor use. what was weird was that he said to use the indoor, faster dissipating fog if the temp is under 50 degrees. This guy is really sharp when it comes to fog(obviously), and he wants E-mails, or even call him with questions. They are extremely hands on, and he tries to take calls himself. The thing about thier product is that it's safe for aesthmatics, most fog is not. He still suggests to put a sign out warning people anyway.

Great! I just bought a couple of gallons of swamp juice. Thanks for imparting your experience and what you learned from froggy's. I freakin love that place. Just to clarify however, did he say not to seal the hose to the fogger? Thanks again.

That's correct, outlet of the fogger is supposed to be 2 inches away from the opening of the fogger.

I've used the trash can chiller for years. It works great. You leave the gap between the fogger and the inlet of the chiller so that the fog can expand and draw air into the chiller. Otherwise, you will find fog juice pooling up in the bottom of your chiller.

Take a black plastic trash bag and tear a hole in the bottom just big enough to fit over the chiller's outlet. Duct tape this to the outlet. Now take either bags of ice or frozen water bottles and place them inside the other opening of the trash bag. This will keep the wind from blowing the bag around and provide a last stage of cooling for your fog. The trash bag will act like a wide funnel and disperse your fog in a wide sheet and cover more area.

Or, take perforated plastic drainage hose from Home Depot and attach it to the outlet of the chiller. Place several frozen water bottles inside of the drainage hose and then plug the end of the hose. You can run this flexible hose behind your shrubs or a row of tombstones and the fog will flow out of the perforations in the hose.

There are many different types of chillers. Declaring one better than another has been debated in the forums for years and is still debated to this day. It's like discussing religion and politics in polite company. It doesn't stay polite for long!

Haha, I think we can keep I civilized, I just threw out what I heard, and provided the worlds worst drawing, any help is appreciated.