Good/Cheap Fog Machine?

Anything from spirit or any of the halloween stores will probably work. Just make sure to clean it out before storing it. If you don't they tend to clog up and are damn near useless afterwards.

Last year I was really pleased with the Chauvet 650 Hurricane. Puts out a lot of fog for such a small little guy. Looks like the new model is called the Hurricane 700: Buy Chauvet Hurricane 700 Fog Machine | Fog, Bubble & Snow Effects | Musician's Friend

Be sure to get great fog juice too. I heard Froggy's is good (going to switch to that next year).


.

I would steer clear of any Chauvet products (Sorry Terra! ). Their machines often work well, but when they don't you'll have to deal with their terrible customer service. I would buy a VEI fogger. In fact, I'm going to add one to my collection this year!

cheap fog machines.. boy i could go on about those. I bought a few "cheap fog machines. Luckily for me the halloween express store here is open all year and at about feb/march everything is 50% off. So i can get a fog machine for about $19 or less. However you get what you pay for. After one use i have had 2 of them fail. So i buy the good ones now and use the others as throw away machines if they work great if not oh well. I stock up until the day of halloween or the day after when party city has all their stuff 50% off then i pick up about 2 more fog machines then. The have yet to fail me and i hope tey continue to work well for me in years to come. Whatever you buy , unless you are going to spend an ok amount then think of it as disposable. but that is my opinion and take it as you wish.

Okay, well, here is what I'm looking for... as of this year all I'm going to need is some nice fog rolling off of the balcony (so I'm going to need to build a fog chiller, right?) ...on the balcony it's going to be my FCG (just built, I'm proud of that, its my first ever prop ) a blacklight with it, a big plastic light uppumpkin hanging and a cheap strobe light.

...so... I'm just wanting the fog for a little extra bang to it, on a college students budget.

DawnDead said:

I would steer clear of any Chauvet products (Sorry Terra! ). Their machines often work well, but when they don't you'll have to deal with their terrible customer service. I would buy a VEI fogger. In fact, I'm going to add one to my collection this year!

Click to expand...

Yeah, heard that. Crossing fingers that I don't have to deal with them. Good recommendation on the VEI foggers.

Changed Reality, here's another thought. The fog juice really does make a difference. How about you get a cheapo fogger from Wal-Mart but use the real good fog juice?

Terra said:

Yeah, heard that. Crossing fingers that I don't have to deal with them. Good recommendation on the VEI foggers.

Changed Reality, here's another thought. The fog juice really does make a difference. How about you get a cheapo fogger from Wal-Mart but use the real good fog juice?

Click to expand...

I have 3 or 4 of the "cheapo" 400 watt foggers. I have gotten them on clearance from Target and from a local drug store chain. As far as I can tell, they all are almost identically made and I have not really seen any difference in performance from one to the other. This year I finally broke down and bought some Froggy's juice. In the past I used whatever store bought stuff I could get my hands on and I definitely noticed a difference there. Some of the juice seemed to produce nice thick fog, while other brands made a little more than what looked like steam.

For a balcony, I think the 400 watt fogger will suite your needs and budget. As a yard (ground) fogger, I have found them to be pretty useless though. I use a 700 watt Lite F/X in my graveyard and it works well for me. A chiller is a must if you want it to roll off of your balcony.

So is this one alright? Minions Web Product Pages - VEI Fog Machines - FOG MACHINE VEI V915 FOGGIE, with remote, 400 Watt

It's a VEI fogger that's also pretty cheap. That, plus some froggy's fog juice? What amount would y'all recommend for intermittent use for a month? (night time, on certain nights)


But, yeah, I just think it'd be awesome to look up and all that stuff, plus a nice fog rolling off as a nice little touch.

IMO if you are going to do a chiller anyways why not just get a cheap ground fogger. I know party city has them for about $40 or so? You may end up spending that anyways on making a chiller.

I think a gallon should be enough. Not sure how many hours you'd be running it a night though. It seems the people that do get the Froggy's juice get the Swamp Juice version. Correct me if I'm wrong here....

I personally haven't used the VEI fog machine but I have heard good things about them.

I regards to a ground fog chiller, do those things really work? I've seen them too.

I have both a homemade one and a store bought chiller. i like my home made one more as i put on a cpu fan on the outlet with a switch so i can force more fog out.. works awesomly. the ground fogger works well too and would be better suited for the smaller space IMO.

The advantage of a home made chiller is that you can hook up multiple fog machines to increase the amount of smoke - I have 2 different 400 watt fog machines - one works better than the other - hooked up to a styrofoam cooler with a notch cut out of the bottom. Dry ice in the cooler, turn on the fog machines simultaneously and viola... tons of ground smoke.

I am looking for a better fogger though - might have to get a 1000w after halloween this year.

mkazen said:

The advantage of a home made chiller is that you can hook up multiple fog machines to increase the amount of smoke - I have 2 different 400 watt fog machines - one works better than the other - hooked up to a styrofoam cooler with a notch cut out of the bottom. Dry ice in the cooler, turn on the fog machines simultaneously and viola... tons of ground smoke.

I am looking for a better fogger though - might have to get a 1000w after halloween this year.

Click to expand...

I agree. However original post was college money - cheap fogger - from balcony. sooooooo.

I have priced them here in Houston and Party City is a bit cheaper than Spirits. I have also checked out Party Boy and Halloween Express. I am going to sell my 400w ground fogger and buying 2 1000w foggers and coolers for both of them. Going to cover my yard

Well, I wound up going/buying a FITCO LOW LYING GROUND FOGGER Fog MACHINE 400W... because the price was decent and if it doesn't work well, then I'll buy another one next year... I bought that and some Froggys Freezin Juice 1 Gallon Fog Juice Fog Solution

The machine I am replacing is a 400w Fitco Ground Fogger. It's not a bad machine. It works fine and with Froggys fluid and puts out a bit of fog. The reason I am doing away with it and going with a bigger machine with a chiller is the ice. I found with the fitco, it has a very small compartment for the ice. If you want it to keep putting out low lying fog, you will continuously be adding ice to it. I tried dry ice in it and that didn't last as long as regular ice. If you're on a budget and don't mind filling it quite a bit go for it. If you are willing to spend a little more for the convenience of not having to add ice all the time, do the chiller.

hi, I bought a cheapy fog machine from Walmart last year, still works great. Foe your fog to fall, it needs to be cold, I hooked up a piece of pvc pipe about 6" in diameter, and mounted it to a piece of plywood, stick a few chunks of dry ice in the tube, run the machine, and the fog will stay low, and fall off of your balcony.