I'm not very good with the search function here, so please forgive if this is a dupe ....

I’ve spent several years making / using different types of fog chillers with mostly mediocre success. Last year I decided to buy a first class fogger (Chauvet 1250 CFM) and try a very cheap, low tech chiller.

• 1ea 30 gallon plastic trash can with lid from Home Depot – about $10 – 12
  
• 2ea 8 ft plasti-foil 3.5 inch diameter dryer hose – not sure, but I think this was about $10
  
• About 18” of duct tape to splice the two lengths of hose together – on hand

Assembly/Arrangement:

• I placed the fog machine on a table (covered on three sides by red box)pointing to the upper 5-6 inches of the trash can.
• One 3.5” hole is cut in the side of the trash can directly in front of the fog machine, another 3.5” hole is on the side of the can very close to the bottom of the can.
• Push one end of the dryer hose through the bottom hole and the other out the top and place it against the front of the Chauvet.
• In my case, I wanted the fog to exit 90 degrees from the upper entry point, but exit placement is irrelevant to operation.
• Because I wanted to make certain it worked, I used 3 20lb bags of crushed ice (about $15). The ice lasted about two days outside and the days are not that cold in So Cal.

The Chauvet shoots the fog out with such force, that little or none leaks between the dryer hose and the front of the Chauvet - no seal is necessary. Also the hose is so cold, that the fog is chilled quickly adding to the downward flow … but I don’t think the Chauvet needs any help.

The trash can has a biohazzard warning sticker on the side and an arm hangin out of the lid. In this pic you see the red box with the fog machine under it and the trash can to the left of Dr. Shivers.

The fog quickly covers our cemetery, then spills out through the open front fence, across the sidewalk, down into the gutter, and out onto the street. A few feet onto the street, the fog starts to warm and revert to “normal.”



Wish I'd thought about taking a pic of the fog during the day. I 'll do that this year.

Sorry to waste your time if you already know about this low tech prop, but it works so well, is so cheap, and goes together so quickly, that I wanted to share.

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Our 2008 Haunt Album is up here on HF - hope you enjoy:

http://www.halloweenforum.com/album.php?albumid=780

I think your post is just fine my man, no need to apologize! I'd like to see some pics if you have 'em...curious to see the way you set it up for such success! Just ice down the middle cavity? Or all around? Or did you try both ways...I made my chiller using the big cooler method, it works ok, I think it just doesnt get cold enough in there...

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Croggy
"Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc"

I'd like to see pics as well if you have them. I have the same fogger and I'm looking to make a chiller for it. Nice setup BTW!

Randy

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No matter where you go , there you are...

Spiral the dryer hose around the insides of the trash can, keeping as much space in the middles as you can. Dump the ice in the center and pack around and between the hose as much as you can - I didn't start with gloves, but I damn sure finished wearing my ski gloves. The thin metalized-plastic hose gets real cold real fast. I think the trash can accepted all of the 3 20lb bags I bought at the grocery store. The hose exits out the back Dr. Shiver's Lab into the cemetary. Exit is cammoed a bit - no pics of the exit.

BTW, I tried the big cooler too and felt the same way. I tossed the guts, drilled bigger holes in the cooler to apply this same "technology" and it worked better (FWIW) than ever before with one of my old foggers. One bag of ice in the middle. Left this ice in a garbage bag because it was up high in my haunt and didn't want water dripping all night long.

Didn't take pics of dryer hose in trash can and the pics of the fog didn't turn out because my only light is 14 4ft black lights. I was so confident this would work I didn't test it ahead of time. This year I will put the ice in during the day, run it and take pics. We don't mow the lawn from Sep 1 to make it look real grungy for the cemetary. The fog was so thick you couldn't see much of the HIGH grass sticking up through it. This year I'm thinking about making some small vents in the side fence to let some of the fog get out the sides. My yard drops down to the sidewalk so the fog does not linger long, but the new fogger really delivers!

Please see the pics in the album links in my sig. The 2007 shows the haunt that used this setup.

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Our 2008 Haunt Album is up here on HF - hope you enjoy:

http://www.halloweenforum.com/album.php?albumid=780

Is your setup similiar to this one?

Ken's Page O' Wonder | Keeping You Informed Since 2004

Randy

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No matter where you go , there you are...

i have seen this before but it's nice to hear that it works, i am going to use either this or the vortex chiller method this year. the last couple years i used the wire mesh tube in a rubber bin/cooler method, but i'm not sure it does much and this year i am thinking about getting a 20,000cfm fogger so my chiller will definitely need to be modified and/or used for another fogger

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"at last, my arm is complete"
todd of the sweenys.
http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc4/guitarist155/

Great Minds!!
Yes, this is pretty close to mine. I don't use those fittings to mate the two tubes, just "screw" them together and duct tape them. Make sure the inside edge is pointed away from the fog machine.

Also, mostly for convenience, but ease of hookup too, I place the entry point high up on the trash can, with the fogger on the table. Does this help the operation? I have no idea, but I don't even need to seal the fog machine to the dryer tube.

FWIW

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Our 2008 Haunt Album is up here on HF - hope you enjoy:

http://www.halloweenforum.com/album.php?albumid=780

Guitarist155<
I thought this method was refferred to as the "vortex"?



If not , what exactly is the "vortex"?

I was going to try the tutorial posted, before reading this thread.

my chiller is based on the gotfog.com chiller but with a bin and not a cooler, the problem is the fog just blows through the tube and is not in the chiler long enough to cool.

i know there is a thread on here somewhere that shows how a vortex chiller works but i can't seem to find it right now

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"at last, my arm is complete"
todd of the sweenys.
http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc4/guitarist155/

I wish I had taken pics during the day so you could see how well this works. The large diameter, aluminized dryer hose is almost SIXTEEN FEET long. It is near freezing because of the ice packed around it. In my setup, the Chauvet "shoots" a large volume of fog at a brisk speed, yet when it exits the dryer tube, it stays low and spreads across the lawn staying low until it eventually flows over the sidewalk and onto the street blacktop. This is not theory folks.

I'd been using the pvc-in-the-ice-chest tech for about three years, until this trash can method. Try it or not. Your choice. I will post pics this season. Others do the same and we'll compare results.

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Our 2008 Haunt Album is up here on HF - hope you enjoy:

http://www.halloweenforum.com/album.php?albumid=780