# Awesome Roadside Find for my Vortex Chiller



## Rob_Raz (Sep 16, 2012)

I made mine a few years ago from a large cat litter container and use 1 400w fog machine. I did splurge and order the Froggy's Fog juice. I was pleasantly suprised with the low lying fog that little guy produced. Hope it works well for you!


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## ryanlamprecht (Oct 8, 2009)

I just picked up two of the new Walmart foggers, but am pretty disappointed in how they've changed them. So now I have this box of timers that won't work for the new ones. In fact, you can't hook up a timer to the new ones at all. You either get a very long 45 second round of fog, or nothing at all. They took a perfectly acceptable little machine, and ruined it. Now the fog chiller is a necessity, because in my opinion, ground fog is pretty much the only thing the new ones are good for.


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## Dyne (Sep 25, 2013)

No need to cap off the side inlet of the wye. Run one fog machine and leave the side branch open as an air intake (the fog entering the straight part sucks air in the other hole as it goes).

I just made a new fog chiller out of an 18 gallon wal-mart storage bin, chicken wire left over from my reaper, a PVC inlet/outlet setup similar to yours (except using 45 deg elbows), and 20 oz soda bottles with frozen water. While the chiller works pretty well thus far, my fog machine (an old 700W model, J0D-FOG-01) could probably overpower it if it ran too frequently or for long bursts (once the chiller fills up, more hot fog coming in starts forcing out existing fog more quickly. That eventually -- as you increase the power of the machine(s), the frequency of bursts, and/or the duration of the bursts -- can mean that the fog coming out hasn't had enough time inside to cool noticeably.

That cooler looks rather smaller than 18 gallons, so two 400W fog machines (either alternating, or in sync) might cross the line. Then again, it might not. Make sure you test that configuration before Halloween if you plan to use it.


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## ryanlamprecht (Oct 8, 2009)

Thanks for the advice, Dyne.


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## ryanlamprecht (Oct 8, 2009)

Okay, something has to go horribly wrong, because that seemed way too easy. Other than a good cleaning, some paint, and freezing some water bottles, I think it's about done..., right?


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## Rob_Raz (Sep 16, 2012)

Looks good to me. By now you should have some water bottles frozen and be ready for your first test run right?? Let us know how it goes.


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## ryanlamprecht (Oct 8, 2009)

I'll be testing it this afternoon, so will post a video of how that goes.


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## ryanlamprecht (Oct 8, 2009)

So, I tested this thing using frozen water bottles, and was not pleased with the results. I've never built or owned a fog chiller before, but I'm guessing I can expect better results than this. I think I'm going to have to use ice. If anyone notices what I might be doing wrong, or how I can improve the results, I'd love to know.


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## sublimewinter (Sep 29, 2014)

My guess is the fog isn't spending enough time in the chiller. Mine has flexible hose coiled inside, and then filled with ice so it can surround all the hose. Mine is just a cheap storage bin, and it works great. I think if you add the hose and ice to your cooler, it will work much better for you.


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## hoegaarden_bier (Nov 1, 2014)

mine worked perfect,.... thanks for the idea.


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