[scaryflying]

The ice melts because the fog comes out of the machine hot, not because of the ambient air around the chiller. Unless the environment where you're going to put the chiller is over 70 or 80 degrees, it's not likely that you'd save any appreciable amount of ice in the 4-5 hours you might be running this on Halloween night using an insulated cooler versus a cheap trash can from wal-mart.

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly.

This will be my first time building a chiller and I'm super excited about how it will change the look of my cemetery.

I have one Chauvet 1300 and ordering a second one. I live in the south and it can still be warm on Halloween, but not hot. Of course I don't want to spend more than I have to and a black trash can will also be easier since it's black and won't have to be painted.

Have you ever mixed ice and dry ice or is just straight ice better?

 

[CraigInPA]

I don't have a ready source of dry ice where I am, but others have mentioned that they use dry ice exclusively. Note that most of them are running smaller chillers than a full size trash can, with similar results to a trash can. The key here is that you need to make sure the fog goes over the surface of the ice or dry ice, and doesn't have a path that can avoid contact with the ice or dry ice.

 

[scaryflying]

I don't have a ready source of dry ice where I am, but others have mentioned that they use dry ice exclusively. Note that most of them are running smaller chillers than a full size trash can, with similar results to a trash can. The key here is that you need to make sure the fog goes over the surface of the ice or dry ice, and doesn't have a path that can avoid contact with the ice or dry ice.

Have you had to refill your ice or is it enough for an entire evening?

 

[CraigInPA]

I put 66 pounds in at the start of the night and had about 50 pounds left at the end of the night. The second time I ran it, I put in 48 pounds, and had about 30 pounds remaining at the end of the night. Each night was between 3 and 4 hours.

 

[scaryflying]

Would it help if I bought a larger trash can?

 

[scaryflying]

Or maybe 55 gallon plastic barrels? At $12 they are a good deal and could hold more ice than a smaller trash can.

 

[CraigInPA]

Help in what way?

A larger can would require more ice because it's likely larger in diameter. If you could find a tall thin can, you'd require less ice.

 

[scaryflying]

Got it! So bigger isn't better. Thanks

 

[scaryflying]

One more question.......


Froggy's Fog's Volumizer Crystal?

Is that worth ordering?

 

[butthead]

My biggest problem is getting that freaking holes and pipe in there together. I suck at doing stuff like this, unless I have a good tutorial on how to do it. What I did last year sucked ghost nuts. Can someone point me to a video or so easy instructions an idiot who is unable to hammer a nail in straight. Literally, I can't hammer a nail in straight. I've been shown many times, and I can't get it right most of the time.

 

[Badge]

Let me get some links and show you the simplicity of mine.

 

[Badge]

Here is mine how to and the results. Very simple and very effective.

https://www.amazon.com/photos/share/4taNjrhr0DXF1wIeaC77fJiGOzwk1pd0ZmSWx3wFFXD

https://www.amazon.com/photos/share/3ZHgRN453T0b245yJ28RE0baxUKDqLrlf0xjRFZ9y6B

 

[bobby2003]

Here is mine how to and the results. Very simple and very effective.

https://www.amazon.com/photos/share/4taNjrhr0DXF1wIeaC77fJiGOzwk1pd0ZmSWx3wFFXD

https://www.amazon.com/photos/share/3ZHgRN453T0b245yJ28RE0baxUKDqLrlf0xjRFZ9y6B

I am so stoked right now. I spent about 30 minutes in the pvc aisle of my local Lowes two weekends ago trying to piece together pieces of pvc connector to figure out how I was going to securely attach the pipes to my fog chiller and was basically out of ideas since nothing seemed to quite fit together. As I was leaving the aisle in despair I saw the same flanges you are using, had one of those EUREKA!! moments, grabbed a few and hoped for the best. I hadn't put it together yet so I wasn't quite sure if it would work correctly but I feel better now. I wish that video had been posted two weeks ago I could have saved some time.

 

[Badge]

I know what you mean, I scratched my head many times trying to find a good clean solution that didn't involve spraying expanding phone and junk all over it. The result was better than I hoped for. When you wrench down on the nuts and bolts to clamp it all together the flanges really compress the plastic of the garbage can. I have 0 leaks at either of the two ports. The top is the only area that some fog escapes.

 

[SkeleTom]

You can get some weatherstripping foam and line the inside of the lid where it sits on the rim of the trash can. I drape a black cloth on top of mine to hide it, and a resin tombstone to weight the lid down a little. Leakage out the top is not an issue that way, and with it tucked back in the ranks of tombstones, it blends right in.

 

[Zombie4*]

This is a neat idea and all but can get expensive quickly. Thise flanges cost $7 each! The easiest way is a garbage can with dryer vent tubing. It cost 1/4 of the vortex and has the same results....minus all the leaking issues also. I litterley slapped this chiller together in 10 minutes last year???

 

[SkeleTom]

Make your chiller out of a square-sided trash can and you can use plain old pipe couplers. They are only about 3 bucks apiece. Saw a coupler in half, or maybe quarters to get more parts out of one coupler. Use a hole saw the right size for the outside diameter of the pipe, and clip the pipe in place with a slice of coupler on either side. A little dab of pvc cement to hold it all in place and you are good to go.

 

[kakugori]

I've now built two of the cat litter bucket style from the original post, and am quite happy with them. One fill from a bag of ice lasts all night (using my 1000w fog machine for 4-5 hours, in some pretty warm temperatures - with a 400w machine I've had ice chips leftover the next morning), and minimal issues with leaking (only around the hinge in the lid, which is a weak piece of plastic easily repaired with some duct tape). I haven't felt the need for a bigger one, or extra insulation, and these are so easy to hide, carry, and store.

 

[TosaTerror]

Here is mine how to and the results. Very simple and very effective.

https://www.amazon.com/photos/share/4taNjrhr0DXF1wIeaC77fJiGOzwk1pd0ZmSWx3wFFXD

https://www.amazon.com/photos/share/3ZHgRN453T0b245yJ28RE0baxUKDqLrlf0xjRFZ9y6B

Where do you live? I see your kid is in shorts, so the temp has to be at least 65-70 degrees, right? Being that it's still summer(ish) the warm air temp for creating ground fog is ideal right now. Come Halloween, if you live in the Midwest, NE or NW I'm curious if this can be recreated when it's 30 or 40 degrees colder?

I basically have the same design, but my fog just lingers around 6-10 feet in the air because I live in WI. The air temp here around Halloween (30-40 degrees) isn't conducive for creating fog, even after running it through a chiller. I'm praying that it can be 50 degrees this year on Halloween, I would love to have that ground fog you have. I've seen some great ground fog videos on this site, mostly because I think those people all seem to be from the south....or the video was taken before the temp drops early in the Fall/late Summer.


On a side note, does anyone live in the colder regions of the country (where it gets down to 30-40 at night around Halloween), and still is able to achieve good ground fog like this? I'm curious what your secret is. I believe engineering can only take you so far with these chillers, the air temp and wind really determines how effective your ground fog can be.

 

[Badge]

I live in Georgia those videos were in October of last year. It is in the 70’s here during Halloween.